I would like to comment on "clean" titles. In Michigan, it doesn't mean much. Can't say what it may, or may not mean, in other states. In Michigan, if your car is totaled, and you buy it back from insurance company BEFORE it goes to auction, it will have a clean title. I once had an IROC-Z stolen. I had a small fortune in the engine (unbeknownst to the insurance company, of course). I asked the agent if they thought it was totaled. He said yes. I asked him how I could retain the car, without going to an auction and bidding on it. He said they'll give me a "buy back" price. He did, and I bought it. Found out from him that under such a scenario, the title would stay clean, and no record of the theft would show anywhere. If it would've been an ACCIDENT, that would've been different. A flood is not an accident, and depending on which state requires what, it may be possible that it was in a flood somehow, and perhaps it didn't show up on the title. Who knows. I do believe that is harder to do now, and laws may have changed. But who knows. Guess I'm just saying anything is possible......

 

3.4mA is nothing. That will not drain your battery in a very, very long time.

I still think the problem is related to that monster stereo you had installed. 2000W is 160A at max power. No way a factory electrical system can handle that kind of power. Leave that monster fuse out and drive the car around to see if the problem still exists.

 

I hope it works out, you are not the first guy to instal a very different load demand on a tightly engineered C5 electrical design and receive a free bonus surprise learning curve.. I suppose it can be done, but I certainly don't have the skills to offer help, unfortunately.

I do know the old cost limited computer design in the car freaks out if it gets s signal outside of it's understanding, and the stock alternator output is key to preserving the system function and language.

Some electrical systems are very sensitive in unexpected ways, ask any guy with an old jag. These jags have a recognized great straight six motor, but only run best with champion brand spark plugs, which were the OEM brand plugs, and use a small internal gap in the ceramic plug body as a resistor, where other plugs achieve the same measurements without the air gap. They are interchangeable as far as anyone can tell, but after switching to my favorite Japanese brand plug , I had to switch back to champion , and the car ran better. Something about the other plugs upset the system, usually old car systems are more forgiving.

When I was installing a modern radio in an old jag, I learned that many competitive radio guys were installing alternators from fire trucks to get their needed power, and I suppose a lot of other electrical upgrades were needed to support that kind of installation.

I am not strong enough with electrical systems to mess around, so I simply changed the antique ground to positive and hooked everything up, omitting my planned second set of speakers . I once had a bunch of girls in the car who cranked up the tunes while I was in the liquor store, and ran down the battery so the car wouldn't start , during the brief time I was in the store. I had the biggest battery that would fit in the battery space, the car had a generator system.
The stock radio was a crude one speaker deal, replaced with high end electronics and speakers . Not an absolutely good match, but it worked, within limits.

I often wonder about people would buy a performance design that was engineered down to the last ounce, within the price constraints , and then treat it as a Luxo barge , stuffing in as many extra pounds of soundproofing and entertainment as they desire , but I never question their happiness. I am a guy who still questions the need for side windows on a sports car, because of the weight.

 

I took the monster 200A fuse out of the power wire for the amp to see what it will do over the course of the next two days. It was connected to the fuse box bolt instead of the battery could that cause a parasitic drain?
I will let you know how the voltage is on the DIC once I get back home from work tonight.

6 Quick questions I need answered before I do this

1). How long does it take a C5 Z06 computer to goto sleep?

2). Can I safely put the car to sleep manually with a screw driver without having any remote on hand to unlock the doors again. I'm worried that I won't be able to release the lock again to close the door without a remote onhand. Every single video I have watched online. they use a remote to unlock the door again so they can shut it and lock it all back up normally. I don't have one available. Its kind of risky for me to lock the door with a screwdriver if I won't be able to unlock it again after I have manually locked the latches. When I locked the drivers side door latch with a screwdriver as a test last night it took alot to get it unlocked again. I inserted the key and tried to manually unlock the door. It was a no go, reguardless of whether I turned the key outside left or right the latch remained in the lock position. The only way the latch released was pressing unlock twice on the driver side door. I could not disengage the latch with the screwdriver. will pressing the unlock twice again unlock the passenger side door also? I hate to ask such a dumb question, but I want to know for sure before I attempt this otherwise my door will be stuck where I will be unable to close it without a remote.

3). Do I need to arm to the car to put the system to sleep when I latch the passenger door or can I leave the doors manually locked by latching it with the alarm off. Sorry for the crazy questions I am just new to this and I want to make sure I do it right.

4). Besides the fuse box under the hood and the one under the passenger side footwell is there any other places that have fuse boxes on a 2001 c5 z06?

5). Do you recommend I do the test with the multimeter in series with the negative battery cable disconnected or should I check the fuses with the battery connected? The video above shows testing with everything still hooked up.

6). Do I use the 10A plug on the multimeter with DCV selected and it set to 200m or is a 10A plug too low to check this.

I ask this, because I picked up a cheap little $6.00 multimeter at harbor freight to do this. I just want to make sure it will work. This is the one I got
10ADC plug > DCV setting > 200m setting?
Does it matter which sides of the fuse I am testing. Is one side meant for the hot and one side meant for cold?

Thanks again and sorry for the dumb questions. I hate to have to ask you all of this, but I just want to make sure I do everything right. You guys are awsome, thank you for all of your help.

I know its not often when someone doesn't have a remote to their car onhand, but mine would go off randomly anytime I inserted a battery into the remote. Without a battery in the remote my car operates normally. I bought 3 different remotes over the course of 2 years off of amazon and every single one made the car alarm go off randomly. So I just pulled the battery out of them and said forget it. Now just use the ignition key to unlock the doors manually. I'm thinking I need the car to be able to arm with a remote to properly put it to sleep for this test. If thats the case I will have to buy another remote to perform this test. Please let me know if thats needed.

 

Since you don't know how much current you will be reading I would use the 10ADC connector (top one). The 200mA setting requires use of the 200mA connector (middle one) which has a max current of 200mA. Using The 10ADC connector means you will not have a range setting. You must use the Red dot 10A setting. But you should be able to read large mA currents since this meter seems to have 3 digits.

I prefer to run the multimeter in series with the battery to measure current. Unless you have an inductive meter (really cool btw). I don't know about any of your other questions.

 

Daily report and findings:
So I went 1 day without my 200A fuse connected for my audio system and here was the result. Driving in rain with the wipers going on high for a total trip of 80 minutes to work and back with my iphone plugged in to the USB on my pioneer radio, my ac on sixty degrees cranked to max with defrosters on for extra load, and the radio was at 46 out of 62 to see how the car would act under load. Here is my findings... Without the 200A fuse hooked up for my audio system, the car maintains 13.7-13.9 at all times while driving or idlng, sometimes it will drop to 13.5, but then it will go right back up to 13.8 or 13.9 we are talking 1-2 seconds of drop according to the DIC. when I slow down the car dips to 12.7-12.8, and maybe sometimes 12.5, then it immediately jumps right back up to 13.5, 13.8-13.9. I'm not sure why this happens, but it does according to the DIC. I was watching it very closely while driving to work. The DIC kept dropping down to 12.5v when I let off the gas or I came to a stop, then it said 12.7, 12.8, then jumped right back up to 13.9v place with those small dips when I let off, slowed down, or idled this dipping only lasted for a maximium of 2-3 seconds. Example my DIC was reading 12.2v in the car, but when pulled over to test the actual voltage it was reading 13.9v on a multimeter. To confirm this I asked my buddy to pull out his multimeter and check it with me outside of work. It was delivering 13.9v constant while it was idling in the parking lot for 10-15 minutes. So we know I am getting 13.7-13.9v almost constantly while driving without the 200A fuse connected. Not one single time did the window fail to roll down or the computer throw up a service active handling code.

Additional checks:
I took the battery out of the car when I got home, stuck a multimeter on it and watched it for about 5-10 minutes. It was steady at 12.82v with no drop during that time when I removed it from the car. It was 13.9v when it was reconnected and fired up.
I then cut the car back off confirming it was still 12.82v disconnected. Then I stuck the 200A fuse back in the amp power line and reconnected the battery. With nothing turned on at all and all usb devices disconnected the voltage dropped to 13.2v when the car was running and showed 12.2v on the dic. and 12.2v on a multimer when the car was turned off, but still connected.

So now that we have 1 day of testing and confirmation of the readings by multiple multimeters what can I do to keep the car operating how it should, but still have a little bit of bass in my car with my music. What are my options if I have to remove the amp.I was thinking maybe a better battery or a better alternator, but mine requires certain things that are not present on high output alternators that I have seen like.. (K63), VALEO IR & IF. Its my understand that my DIC needs this exact model or it will do some strange things. As others have said this car hates any alternator thats not the original OEM. Even the dealer told me never to put anything not OE in or I would have problems due to a Z06's onboard computer and how it reads. As mentioned I went to the dealer and it turns out this is my OE alternator that was originally installed. GM-10316182 110 AMP GENERATOR(K63), VALEO IR & IF, AMPS 110.

When I have the sub hooked up in the car...
The sub only pushes 250-400 RMS continuously eventhough its K-9106D capable of actually delivering 1000w RMS. I have set the voltage at 28.28 to deliver no more than 400w to my sub continuously.
2 ohm x 400 = 800
Square root of 800 is 28.28v
Thats what I recalibrated the subwoofer amp for 28.28v. I should have been more clear about that before. The max power of this amp is 2000w peak, but realistically its 1000w in 2 ohms continuous at its max rms load. I am only using it at 400w 28.28v otherwise I would blow out my rockford fosgate P | 3.
Peak power is 2000W
2 Ohms on the amp is 1000w x 1 RMS
4 ohms on the amp is 500w x 1 RMS
The amp has 3 40 Amp fuses.
Operating Voltage 14.4V（11-16V allowable）
Voltage Current Consumption 65A

 

Interesting finding. I think you mentioned the big 3 earlier. That is probably advisable.

Just thinking... Can the ECU be reprogrammed so you wouldn't need a variable output alternator? Then you could put in a higher output alternator with out issues? I don't know much about the details of how the system works.

If a higher output alternator is not possible you may be able to help the system with another battery or capacitor. It should help the short trip issues you were having. Not a great solution though.

Maybe just do a big 3 for now and see how much better it gets.

 

I agree with BOTH your statements. 3.4Ma-If I remember correctly-is just over 3 thousandths of 1A. Nothing to worry about. You have said you're "only" using 400 watts RMS. Why not sell/trade your 1,000 watt amp for maybe a 500 watt amp? I'm not total electronics geek, but this amp seems to be the problem. Also, since the alternator is still charging a 12v battery with 13.2 volts, I don't believe you have any "headroom" for other options or accessories. I wonder what your alternator is doing when listening at higher volume levels, with the A/C on, after dark with your headlights on. I don't know if running an amp that large is possible, at least on a C5. If I remember correctly, watts divided by volts=Amps. 1,000 watts÷12v=83.3 amps!! If you have a 110 amp alternator, you're at 75% alternator capacity. Good luck to the OP, and hoping you find a way to use it successfully.......

 

Okay so to better understand what all I am saying that is going on with this car when it has the amp connected I have recorded some videos and uploaded them. Hopefully someone can tell me why this is happening or how to fix it. Remember that without the amp connected the car pulls 14.28v constantly.



This first one here is with the amp gain all the way down running idle and watching the DIC voltage display



This next one is checking the voltage at night before driving home from work.



This one here is how the voltage reads with the car being driven in stop and go traffic home from work with the amp connected with only 400 watts (28.28v). Sorry its a long video, but I wanted to show you what happens with the amp connected. The voltage goes up as I drive, but as soon as I slow down or let off the gas the voltage drops. Forgive the shakiness my car is cammed so it shakes like crazy. The longer I sit in a drive thru or in a spot idle the more the voltage will drop overtime.


Is that voltage fluctuation normal in a corvette or should I have the car checked by an electrical expert to find out what is going on. If you notice torward the end of the video once I sit idle again the voltage starts dropping.

 

Watch the voltage drop from 2000 RPM's to 1,000 RPMs at 14:10 in the video. This is what I mean by how the car acts when the car is idle running or sitting in a drive thru stopped. Notice I am still rolling in 6th at 1000 RPMS , but I am not giving it gas. Look at the voltage drop even at 50 MPH!!! Now watch the voltage increase at 15:30 in the video from 2,000-3,000 RPMs. Finally watch next video it shows what happens when the car is running idle after driving for 40 minutes.

Finally watch next video it shows what happens when the car is running idle after driving for 40 minutes. Notice the battery indicator and all the car is doing is running idle after getting home from work. What starts at 13.4v ends at 11.8v

If you noticed when the car was driving for those 40 minutes the voltage kept going up so long as the car was driving and the rpm was above 2000 rpms
It drops when the car sits idle or waits at a red light. If climbs again while driving, but its the voltage fluctuation that worries me. It jumps all around as you can clearly see from the videos. Is this normal for a C5 Z06?

 

An alternator output current varies as a function of the engine rpm. When the engine is idling, the alternator output is very low. Even at 400W your stereo is drawing 30A. That is not insignificant. The factory alternator output is 110A at something like 3000 RPM. Google alternator output current vs rpm. At 1000 rpm the alternator isn't doing much.

Didn't you already determine that with the amp unplugged there was no issue. Now you run the amp and it drains the battery. There can only be a few problems. Alternator output current (not Voltage) is not high enough. Battery does not have enough stored charge. Or both. It really is a fairly simple circuit. Current into the battery from the alternator, and current out of the battery to the car's electrical components.

Maybe you should take the car to an electrical specialist. Even though I am one (believe it or not. lol). It is difficult to discuss, diagnose, etc over an internet forum.

 

Sorry fuggles I did not mean to upset you. I am grateful for your help. I am just trying to figure out a workaround. I'd like to keep my amp if possible, but as you can see it makes the voltage jumps all over the place even when the gain is turned totally down. The fluctuations worry me, because it dips from 12.5 to 12.8 to 13.5 then back up to 13.9v is this normal in a c5 z06's DIC or is my cars computer doing strange things? Sorry I'm just curious if this is way other peoples DIC acts or if its just my car.

I should also note that I only drive my car 20 mins to work and 20 mins back home 5 days a week. Is that enough time for the alternator to re-charge the battery just going those small distances driving right below or right at 2,000 rpms for those 20 minutes?
As you could see from the videos I typically keep my rpm's right below or right at 2,000 rpms.

 

I'm not upset. Don't worry about the voltage fluctuations. That is just a function of the wire inductance and the dynamic current draw. You could add lower inductance wiring (ie. the big 3) which would improve those numbers but that will not stop the battery voltage drain at idle.

The only way to fix that battery voltage drop at idle is a higher output alternator or bigger battery. By bigger i mean the battery reserve capacity. If you are only driving 20 minutes you could just add more battery and recharge charge when you get home. I think you want 40 minutes of capacity so you can get to work and back. It is kludgy though.

To your question about time and recharge, that would depend on the alternator rpm, and the current draw (your amp). So there is no fixed answer.

Another option is to change the pulley size on your alternator. If you put a smaller pulley, the alternator will rotate faster at idle which would create more output current and solve that problem. Maybe you don't have a stock pulley? Underdrive? idk. But you could try to go lower.

 

A bit off topic, but I'd call BS if I hadn't actually lived thru seeing how Champion spark plugs can affect certain engines. I once worked as a mechanic at a Honda motorcycle shop. 350cc Honda's kept coming in with holed pistons. EVERY ONE of them had Champion spark plugs installed. It got so bad, Honda released a TSB stating no warranty coverage on any 350cc motorcycles running Champion plugs!

 

Oops!! Forgot this is Root Mean Square wattage! Sorry. Back to the issue. Do you know if previous owner installed an underdrive pulley/balancer? When I installed a 25% underdrive pulley/balancer, it came with a smaller "overdrive" pulley for the alternator. Perhaps this is the issue, or part of it?

 

Yes. The root mean square is used on AC currents such as audio equipment outputs. One other thing to note, which I neglected to mention earlier, is these class D amplifiers are around 50% efficient which means the input power is twice the output power. And input power is DC, P=I*V.

 

Do not use that meter to measure/diagnose resistance. We actually buy those to show students in class how inaccurate they are with resistance. Usually they are decent for testing voltage but this is more of a meter you keep to check the trailer wiring, not critical electronic checks.