Battery Draining Issues
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 180
Likes: 1
From: Montrose CO
Battery Draining Issues
For some reason I can go weeks without any starting problems but then days like today - I drove to work and came home... Two hours later it's dead as a door nail! All the lights were off, CD player turned off and the AC turned off before I turned off the engine... But not even a click! Any suggestions...??
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 180
Likes: 1
From: Montrose CO
Do you know the battery is dead? Could be one of a couple of other causes like the security system is not recognising your key.
Pull the codes and post them:
http://www.c5forum.com/ayc/dtcdic.php
Include the subgroup and the H or C or HC after each code.
Pull the codes and post them:
http://www.c5forum.com/ayc/dtcdic.php
Include the subgroup and the H or C or HC after each code.
(Of course, it's been raining cats and dogs here all day!)
So I yanked them both into my work shed out of the rain and charged both of them! The Interstate would charge up fairly quick but the nut insert and positive bolt stripped out as I was hurrying to put it in out in the rain but the Delco would never charge past 65-70% and wouldn't hold that even!!
I was reading in a thread on what battery everyone recommends and most agreed to get a Wal-Mart Yellow MAXX because they worked good and were easy to get replaced so that's what I ended up doing and it fired right up! If it was just dumb luck due to the new battery - you'll see me back here tomorrow askin' more dumb questions! LOL... That post #590 about common electrical issues in C5s gave me some good ideas on what to look for so I printed it out for future reference! Hope I never need it but I know me too well to fall for that one!! LOL
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 180
Likes: 1
From: Montrose CO
TWO REASONS mostly:
When trying to take the MOTOR OUT - I found that once I removed the three screws that hold the bezel(?) around the headlight and the four screws (with the star head on them) that hold the painted cover plate over the headlights... If I removed the two bolts in the back of the headlight assembly that the lights pivot / hinge on to go up and down - the whole assembly will easily pivot out of the way so that its easy to remove the nut that attaches it to the motor.
That has to come apart anyway and once that nut is off you can set the whole unit out somewhere to get easy access to the motor you are about to remove.
Once the motor is removed (three bolts hold it in place), I had read that you needed to take two screwdrivers to pry the housing apart! I must have gotten lucky because mine was held together with three screws and a cork gasket that was a piece of cake to work with!
Then I was under the impression that the gear only turned half way around and you could flip it or...?? and it would be like new or...?? Mine was all chewed up all along the top edge from where it made many revolutions and meshed with a worm gear in the motor.
You could not spin it or flip it or anything to do a quick fix as such because it would only work in there in one direction!
However... When it sat down into the housing it has two spacers on either side of the gear that keep it in place. They, too, are plastic and are about 1/4" to 3/8" wide. I simply took the bottom one off and put it next to the one on top. That allowed the gear to sit a little deeper inside of the housing and - NOW! - the teeth on the plastic gear were in great shape where it meshes with the worm gear and works just fine like that as a quick, easy, TEMPORARY fix! As a matter of fact, I will probably toss the new plastic one in my glove box just in case while I wait for two new BRASS ones to arrive!
It really was a pretty easy task all in all and NOT ANYWHERE CLOSE to the intimidating project I had imagined! Thanks to everyone here for their posts and / or replies! This place is the greatest!!
1) It was raining cats and dogs here all day the day I was trying to diagnose my battery drain delema and the little shop I bought it from because of the price was on the opposite side of town! If you have ever driven in Las Vegas, NV before then you will understand my choice to just return the old one this weekend when the sun is shining! These idiots can't decide where they're going with clear, blue skies - throw a few sprinkles in the mix and you may as well put your insurance agent on hold for a few minutes because you WILL need to talk with him shortly! Not to mention that Nevada DOT has a unique way of doing road repair... They decide that all of their roads pretty much suck! So they tear them ALL UP at once and then have contests with the under-manned crews to see who can cause the most havoc without causing a fatality as their employee incentive plan! It seems to be working as planned because they all appear to be happy campers and you can't get anywhere without going through construction at least once!
2) I took everyone's advice on the Wal-Mart MAXX battery because of its availability should this happen later when I'm visiting grandma in Tim-buk-tu or...??
When I called around needing to replace either the gear or the motor ASAP because this is my ride to work, I found several new motors in Las Vegas for $275+ and NAPA Auto Parts could get me a new plastic gear in two days for $14. Because of the time I ordered that one for now to get me by. I will order TWO brass ones shortly and do them both, but in trying to do a quick, temporary fix real quick to get me going such as turning the gear 180 degrees or...?? as I had read in other posts, I discovered a few things that I wanted to share on replacing that gear that might be helpful...When trying to take the MOTOR OUT - I found that once I removed the three screws that hold the bezel(?) around the headlight and the four screws (with the star head on them) that hold the painted cover plate over the headlights... If I removed the two bolts in the back of the headlight assembly that the lights pivot / hinge on to go up and down - the whole assembly will easily pivot out of the way so that its easy to remove the nut that attaches it to the motor.
That has to come apart anyway and once that nut is off you can set the whole unit out somewhere to get easy access to the motor you are about to remove.
Once the motor is removed (three bolts hold it in place), I had read that you needed to take two screwdrivers to pry the housing apart! I must have gotten lucky because mine was held together with three screws and a cork gasket that was a piece of cake to work with!
Then I was under the impression that the gear only turned half way around and you could flip it or...?? and it would be like new or...?? Mine was all chewed up all along the top edge from where it made many revolutions and meshed with a worm gear in the motor.
You could not spin it or flip it or anything to do a quick fix as such because it would only work in there in one direction!
However... When it sat down into the housing it has two spacers on either side of the gear that keep it in place. They, too, are plastic and are about 1/4" to 3/8" wide. I simply took the bottom one off and put it next to the one on top. That allowed the gear to sit a little deeper inside of the housing and - NOW! - the teeth on the plastic gear were in great shape where it meshes with the worm gear and works just fine like that as a quick, easy, TEMPORARY fix! As a matter of fact, I will probably toss the new plastic one in my glove box just in case while I wait for two new BRASS ones to arrive!
It really was a pretty easy task all in all and NOT ANYWHERE CLOSE to the intimidating project I had imagined! Thanks to everyone here for their posts and / or replies! This place is the greatest!!
