C5 Tech Corvette Tech/Performance: LS1 Corvette Technical Info, Internal Engine, External Engine, Tech Topics, Basic Tech, Maintenance, How to Remove & Replace
Sponsored by:
Sponsored by:

BIG Electrical Problem After LED install

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old Nov 19, 2025 | 11:31 PM
  #21  
JJG01Silver's Avatar
JJG01Silver
Thread Starter
Advanced
20 Year Member
Conversation Starter
All Eyes On Me
 
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 67
Likes: 0
From: Manalapan, New Jersey
Default

I haven't pulled all the fuses and relays yet - just those in any way remotely connected to the fog lamps, lighting in general and BCM fuses - i'd guess about 70%. The only ones that gave me a slight reduction were the BCM related. I am leaning toward a short because when I check voltage from the fog lamp relay pin 85 slot which should be the ground I get the full 12.5 volts. Same for the horn relay and the spare relay for non-existant rear fog lamps. All three of those are on the same wire harness. Finally, the ground wire from the switch harness does not show good continuity to ground and the fog lamp switch was destroyed when the new LEDs were put in.

I'll keep trying.
Reply
Old Nov 20, 2025 | 06:16 PM
  #22  
JJG01Silver's Avatar
JJG01Silver
Thread Starter
Advanced
20 Year Member
Conversation Starter
All Eyes On Me
 
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 67
Likes: 0
From: Manalapan, New Jersey
Default

This morning first thing I tested for the parasitic draw and found absolutely zero. Last night before giving up it was 1.44 amps. i checked all other functions on the meter and the 10 amp fuse and they were all fine. I retested for the draw once more and found zero. Walked away for a few hours and still nothing. I began to look for the short in the ground wire from the log lamp switch harness and during that retested several times with zero draw. I am at a loss!!!.

I did trace the ground wire to the splice pack 100 at ground point 102. After separating the splice pack from the grounding strap I probed each wire to chassis ground and found only one with continuity to ground. Then test continuity to that wire and the black wire at the switch harness and that was the one. Now I am going to try to find the best way to run a new ground from the harness to the splice pack or from the harness to ground and the lamp socket to ground.

There are too many posts on this forum to mention each that I have reviewed but I want to thank everyone for posting and I also used the Google AI which in many cases pointed me to posts on the forum. I will contnue to test for the draw tobe absolutely sure.
Reply
Old Nov 23, 2025 | 10:34 PM
  #23  
JJG01Silver's Avatar
JJG01Silver
Thread Starter
Advanced
20 Year Member
Conversation Starter
All Eyes On Me
 
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 67
Likes: 0
From: Manalapan, New Jersey
Default

I'm back with some new info.

First the draw was there all the time. While the fuse was good in the 10 amp circuit of my multimeter the fuse holder was loose. I did install new ground wire from the fog lamp switch and the fog lamp sockets to chassis ground. Have not fully tested that yet, still waiting for the switch to arrive and don't want to take a chance of jumping the switch for a number of reasons, not the lease of which is next.

I did a parasitic draw test again, this time pulling each and every fuse, relay, etc in number order in both fuse boxes. The only significant drop in draw (.40 amps) occurred when pulling fuse 25 (BCM - Ignition 1, Insrtrument Panel Control) and returned when it was reinstalled. There was a smaller drop (.15 amps) when fuse 31 (Power feed door right) was pulled but that stayed down when every other fuse was pulled and reinstalled.

This certainly looks like a BCM issue caused by the LED fog light install which burnt out the switch and caused the car to totally shut down. Didn't restart until the next morning. I 'm going to be looking for BCM diagnostic help and/or resetting procedures.

Reply
Old Nov 24, 2025 | 10:44 PM
  #24  
Ed Ramberger's Avatar
Ed Ramberger
Drifting
15 Year Member
Liked
Loved
Community Favorite
 
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 1,693
Likes: 490
From: Denver, NC
Default

Going back to the first post, it sure read like you have a bad battery. Also when you had a discharged battery, a tender will not bring it up to full charge overnight - saw that in another post. You should have the battery properly load tested. It may not be all your problems, but I would have it tested to know you have a solid battery as a foundation for all of this.

At this point, I am totally without power in the car. No lights, no starting, no messeges - nothing. Battery tests great with the negative terminal disconnected but after installing the negative terminal the voltage drops to about 7.5 volts.
Reply




All times are GMT -4. The time now is 02:44 AM.

story-0
Top 10 Most Explosive Corvettes Ever Made: Power-to-Weight Ratio Ranked!

Slideshow: The 10 most explosive Corvettes ever built based on power-to-weight ratio.

By Joe Kucinski | 2026-05-20 07:23:03


VIEW MORE
story-1
150 hp to 1,250 hp: Every Corvette Generation Compared by the Specs That Matter

Slideshow: From C1 to C8 we compare every Corvette generation by the numbers.

By Joe Kucinski | 2026-05-12 16:54:12


VIEW MORE
story-2
8 Coolest Corvette Pace Cars (and Replicas) of All Time

Slideshow: Some Corvette pace cars became collectible legends, while others perfectly captured the look and attitude of their era.

By Verdad Gallardo | 2026-05-11 09:50:51


VIEW MORE
story-3
Top 10 Corvette Engines RANKED by Peak Torque (70+ Years of Muscle!)

Slideshow: Ranking the top 10 Corvette engines by torque output.

By Joe Kucinski | 2026-05-05 11:58:09


VIEW MORE
story-4
Corvette ZR1X Will Be Pacing the Indy 500, And Could Probably Race, Too!

Slideshow: A Corvette pace car nearly matching IndyCar speeds sounds exaggerated, until you look at the numbers.

By Verdad Gallardo | 2026-05-04 20:03:36


VIEW MORE
story-5
Top 10 Corvettes Coming to Mecum Indy 2026!

Among a rather large group of them.

By Brett Foote | 2026-05-04 13:56:44


VIEW MORE
story-6
Top 10 C9 Corvette MUST-HAVES to Fix These C8 Generation Flaws!

Slideshow: the top 10 things Corvette owners want in the C9 Corvette

By Michael S. Palmer | 2026-04-30 12:41:15


VIEW MORE
story-7
10 Revolutionary 'Corvette Firsts' Most People Don't Know

Slideshow: 10 Important Corvette 'firsts' that every fan should know.

By Joe Kucinski | 2026-04-29 17:02:16


VIEW MORE
story-8
5 Reasons to Upgrade to an LS6-Powered Corvette; 5 Reasons to Stay LT2

Slideshow: Should you buy a 2020-2026 Corvette or wait for 2027?

By Michael S. Palmer | 2026-04-22 10:08:58


VIEW MORE
story-9
2027 Corvette vs The World: Every C8 vs Its Closest Competitor

Slideshow: 2027 Corvette lineup vs the world.

By Joe Kucinski | 2026-04-24 16:12:42


VIEW MORE