charging / battery issues?
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 128
Likes: 0
From: Sioux Falls South Dakota
charging / battery issues?
my battery keeps going dead,
i let it sit for a week and it wont start, battery is dead
charge it, its fine, today i drove it for an our or 2 today, go to start it 30 min later... again and its dead, no go...
take the battery (optima red top) to autozone and it tests fine
they are keeping it over night on their charger and gonna test it again
ii have a feeling that its gonna test good (just because thats how **** seems to roll)
but here is my other thoughts
the car is an auto, and has a larger cam in it and it pulls a bit off idle,(maybe needs a converter) so really arround town the car just idles it spends alot of time just idleing arround at 950rpms
is this enough that would not cause the alt. to not put out enough?
the volt gauge shows like 13.9 arround town
maybe ill need to ave the alt. rebuilt and have it switched to put out voltage any time its turning?
any thoughts or tips?
i let it sit for a week and it wont start, battery is dead
charge it, its fine, today i drove it for an our or 2 today, go to start it 30 min later... again and its dead, no go...
take the battery (optima red top) to autozone and it tests fine
they are keeping it over night on their charger and gonna test it again
ii have a feeling that its gonna test good (just because thats how **** seems to roll)
but here is my other thoughts
the car is an auto, and has a larger cam in it and it pulls a bit off idle,(maybe needs a converter) so really arround town the car just idles it spends alot of time just idleing arround at 950rpms
is this enough that would not cause the alt. to not put out enough?
the volt gauge shows like 13.9 arround town
maybe ill need to ave the alt. rebuilt and have it switched to put out voltage any time its turning?
any thoughts or tips?
Tech Contributor
Joined: Dec 1999
Posts: 32,910
Likes: 2,402
From: Anthony TX
CI 6,7,8,9,11 Vet
St. Jude Donor '08
13.9 volts is fine to maintain the battery once its charged. Have you checked the actual charging voltage at the BATT terminal on the back of the alternator and directly on the battery terminals???
There are several issues that can reduce the charging voltage to the battery. The optimum charging voltage is 14.1 but, if you read the BATT output on the alternator, I bet it very close to that. Get a volt meter and check things out and post the results.
The OTHER side of the problem is what is the parasitic current draw on the battery when the car is shutdown and its in the SLEEP SECURITY MODE? You need to test that before you get too deep in throwing cash at the charging system.
BC
There are several issues that can reduce the charging voltage to the battery. The optimum charging voltage is 14.1 but, if you read the BATT output on the alternator, I bet it very close to that. Get a volt meter and check things out and post the results.
The OTHER side of the problem is what is the parasitic current draw on the battery when the car is shutdown and its in the SLEEP SECURITY MODE? You need to test that before you get too deep in throwing cash at the charging system.
BC
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 128
Likes: 0
From: Sioux Falls South Dakota
my battery was fully charged, went for a drive stopped by my grandpas house went to leave 30 min later and not enough juice to start
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 1,170
Likes: 27
From: Magnolia Greens NC
get rid of that Red Top...mine did the same thing.....even though it will recharge & show no problem on the test meter, it won't hold that charge for more than 15 minutes...it is bad,bad .. I got a full $ value trade-in for a Optima Yellow Top at Advance Auto...paid the difference. No problems with the Yellow Top...Red Tops have a high % failure rate..especially in Vettes..
Tech Contributor
Joined: Dec 1999
Posts: 32,910
Likes: 2,402
From: Anthony TX
CI 6,7,8,9,11 Vet
St. Jude Donor '08
Thats the FIRST thing that you need to do. Ive seen NEW batteries fail this test.
Next! Obtain a Volt/Ohm/AMP meter and using the 0-10 amp scale, put the DC Amp meter in "SERIES" between the NEGATIVE battery terminal and the NEGATIVE battery cable.
This will allow you to see how much current the electrical system is drawing when the car is shut down and in the SLEEP/SECURITY MODE. It should be very close to .025 amps.
BC
Tech Contributor
Joined: Dec 1999
Posts: 32,910
Likes: 2,402
From: Anthony TX
CI 6,7,8,9,11 Vet
St. Jude Donor '08
get rid of that Red Top...mine did the same thing.....even though it will recharge & show no problem on the test meter, it won't hold that charge for more than 15 minutes...it is bad,bad .. I got a full $ value trade-in for a Optima Yellow Top at Advance Auto...paid the difference. No problems with the Yellow Top...Red Tops have a high % failure rate..especially in Vettes..
Get that battery tested!!!!! My first red top failed outright 3 months after I purchased it. Wouldnt even click when you turned the key!
If its still under warranty, get it replaced.
BC
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 128
Likes: 0
From: Sioux Falls South Dakota
i have never had good luck with red tops, always liked the yellow better
a few weeks ago they tested it and it still showed being good, the guy said if i kept having problems to bring it in, (so i did yesterday)
i would like to pay the differance and have a yellow top
i hope that is what i can do....
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 128
Likes: 0
From: Sioux Falls South Dakota
Is your battery really up to keeping your C5 alive????? Take it out and fully charge it. Then take it somewhere that can LOAD TEST the battery. Applying a full load to it and monitoring the voltage output will tell you if all the cells are working properly. If there not, the battery will not be able to remain fully charged for any length of time.
Thats the FIRST thing that you need to do. Ive seen NEW batteries fail this test.
Next! Obtain a Volt/Ohm/AMP meter and using the 0-10 amp scale, put the DC Amp meter in "SERIES" between the NEGATIVE battery terminal and the NEGATIVE battery cable.
This will allow you to see how much current the electrical system is drawing when the car is shut down and in the SLEEP/SECURITY MODE. It should be very close to .025 amps.
BC
Thats the FIRST thing that you need to do. Ive seen NEW batteries fail this test.
Next! Obtain a Volt/Ohm/AMP meter and using the 0-10 amp scale, put the DC Amp meter in "SERIES" between the NEGATIVE battery terminal and the NEGATIVE battery cable.
This will allow you to see how much current the electrical system is drawing when the car is shut down and in the SLEEP/SECURITY MODE. It should be very close to .025 amps.
BC
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Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 128
Likes: 0
From: Sioux Falls South Dakota
well, the parts store charged the battery and they showed that it was taking a charge, and was indeed charged,.. but i guess their machine wasnt working because i guess he couldnt put a load on it to check it further,(whatever) i had him warranty the battery, and i upgraded to the larger one of the yellow top, it cost me $47 more out of pocket but i feel that i got a much better battery
poped it in fired it up and the voltage on the display was showing 14.0 so its like 1V higher than the red top was
well see how it goes, and i will be seeing how much drain is comming off with the car powered off
thanks for the replys, and thanks for the pics and info Bill, i appreaciate it
poped it in fired it up and the voltage on the display was showing 14.0 so its like 1V higher than the red top was
well see how it goes, and i will be seeing how much drain is comming off with the car powered off
thanks for the replys, and thanks for the pics and info Bill, i appreaciate it
