Hello all,

I just want to preface this thread by saying that I have a plethora of problems attached to my C6 convertible and I know it's asking a lot to troubleshoot something like this over a thread but I would really appreciate any advice or perspective from someone who's had any of these problems. Thanks!

I've had my 2006 C6 convertible for just shy of a year now and I've had nothing but problems. I'm in my early 20s and make an ok amount of money but am finding the mechanical defects a bit much to handle for my bank account. This isn't too much of a surprise considering it's a salvage title that I bought off of my dad. My dad is a huge car buff and his purchase of the Vette was considered a mid-life crisis by my mother and eventually I think he lost interest and sold it to me. I haven't paid it off yet as I've been paying him monthly on top of what I can afford every month.

Anyways, back to the issue at hand, the mechanical problems. The Vette was t-boned when the original owner went through a green and got slammed into by someone running a red light. The door was fixed but everything was a little torn up form the accident. The door doesn't close right, or open correctly sometimes and now the panel just started coming off. That's not the biggest problem I'm having, though. First time I got stranded I got my car towed back to the house and got under it and pulled the starter off, turns out the solenoid was completely fried. I took it to the Corvette repair place by my house prior to this and they said it was a bad starter and wanted to replace it somewhere around $600 with labor. I told them they were crazy and pulled the starter myself, took it down to the starter repair place next to my house and had him rebuild the solenoid for $40.

After that it ran fine for about 3 months and then it wouldn't start again one morning after work. Luckily for me I got it started after a few time hearing the starter click and got it home. I thought that the battery had been drained because the door didn't close all the way and the cab light stayed on, the volt meter read the batter was at about 10.3 volts. I'm pretty sure that isn't enough to start the car for a cold crank? I drove her home and felt some power loss issues as I was driving home, there appeared to be no power when pressing the accelerator but I got her home nonetheless. Anyhow, I got under the vehicle again the other day to see if the solenoid was burnt out again and that wasn't the issue upon visual inspection. I know that doesn't mean everything, but I thought something might be bound up so I loosened everything on the starter to shift it around thinking the bendix mechanism might not have aligned properly or the main connection, I don't know.

After charging the battery overnight and loosening and re-tightening the starter I got it to start again. I've been driving it for a couple days now and it starts almost every time on the first try. Sometimes I get the click on the first try and then it starts. I'm wondering if there's anything I can troubleshoot next in order to find and fix the problem.

Note: all of my battery terminal connections are tight, I even switched from the aluminum knife-blade stock connectors to the bolt/nut and clamp alternative to ensure it was tight enough.

I've always been taught to fix cars by myself but realize that not everything can be fixed in your back yard with the more complex electrical problems. I don't want to spend a ton of money if it's something I can fix myself. Also of note is that a couple months ago one of the foreign nationals that I work with backed into my car and somehow jarred it hard enough to dislodge the HUD to fall back into the dashboard, I don't know if this could be causing electrical issues but I've yet to fix that problem. Thanks for the advice, if any.

Cheers,
A newby, perplexed Corvette owner

 

I'll leave the salvage title for someone else. As to the car, everything I've read here is that once a batt. goes down as low as 10, it has a hard time ever getting back to normal. I say, replace the batt., not just charge it. These cars are very undersized for charging/batt. system. That's first.

Second, you need about 12.2 I think it was on passive mode to note if batt. is properly charged at time of shutoff of engine.

Third, some have had problems w. aftermarket batt. connectors such as the type you're talking about. Do an advanced search on here but it may be worth the money to get an original, new set of batt. cables.

Finally, note that there are quite a few other things that can seriously affect your car going into limp mode which is what yours did, such as a bad gas pedal sensor (there are two at the gas pedal), but from what you're seeing it looks like it's all under the hood. The solenoid could've just gone bad from age/use. Remember, too, that with an undersized charging system, what you may have done is worn down the alternator trying to charge a bad or failing batt. and that may be the next thing to go.

 

Cool. This is the second battery that I've bought brand new for this car. I kept leaving my cell phone charger plugged into the first one which I think was what was impacting the low charge of the first one. When I check the voltage output on the console it says I'm charged up to 14.2 whilst driving. I also want to note that I have to plug my fob into the charging slot located in the glove box because it won't start without it now. I thought maybe it was a bad fob but both (my spare and primary) started acting up at the same time, but perhaps they could both be old? I also don't know if it's an indicator of the batter being good still in the fob but it still works to unlock the door manually, just doesn't read it if I try and simply open the door or start without putting it in the glove box slot.

How can I check if the alternator is bad? I disconnected the ground when it was started to see if the vehicle would still run and get a good charge from the alternator, is that a good indicator? I'm all for replacing the alternator if that'll fix my problem. Sorry for such a complex issue, I know I have lots of questions.

 

I would get a new battery and have the charging system checked. A body shop to straighten the car and align the panels.

 

Thanks, that's one of my options. What exactly would the "charging system" entail aside from the alternator and the battery?

 

First observation, it's really hard to read one long run-on post where there are no paragraph breaks. Hitting enter at the grammatically correct places would make your first post much easier to follow.

I leave a charger plugged into my car. The car has sat idle for up to 2.5 weeks and still started with no problem.

Sounds like the alternator is doing its job.

Batteries for the fob are cheap, try replacing one and see if that helps.

Take the car for a decent drive, perhaps 30 minutes or more. When you get home, check the battery voltage with a multimeter. Measure it a few times directly on the battery posts. Record this number. Let it sit overnight and measure it again. The voltage will drop a little, but not a huge amount. If it's dropping a large amount, you may have a parasitic drain that's discharging the battery, or the battery is weak and won't hold a charge.

If you do think there's a parasitic drain, do a search for some additional diagnostic work you could do to confirm it.

Alternatively, places that sell batteries will often test both battery and charging system for free.

 

Sorry about the lack of paragraph breaks, I was just trying to get a lot out and forgot about it. I'm going to go down to the dealership and get a battery for the fob after I get off of work today. I'll also take a trip down to Autozone or some such place and see about them testing my charging system. Thanks!

 

This may sound obvious or even insulting but did you thoroughly clean the battery cables? The alternator charging at 14.2 does not mean that the battery is accepting the charge if the connections are corroded. I have owned nothing but GM vehicles all of my life (21 different ones to be precise) and the number one issue with the electrical system has been corroded battery connections, especially the negative cable.

 

I've spent over 5 minutes with my eyes glazing over. I give up.

Very bad idea. The alternator is operated by the Engine Control Module (ECM) computer. Without a battery the voltage could spike very high before the computer figured out something was very wrong and shut the alternator down. This wasn't a good idea even on a '53 Buick although in the olden days the worst that could happen was you might lose some light bulbs. You test an alternator with a tester done free at some auto parts places or you see what voltage a known good battery maintains.

As far as all the rest, I didn't get that far without paragraphs so I don't want to waste more time trying to see what the issues are.

 

Well I'm used to working on older cars. I had a 75 Dart before this so it didn't occur to me not to do that. As for the paragraphs, I fixed that issue about 10 minutes ago so you can stop crying about that.

 

Yessir, the cables are clean....and the negative is a new one. Thanks for checking though!

 

THANK YOU!!!

Guess how I know you can blow lights on an older car by disconnecting the battery?

10.3 shouldn't open the doors, let alone start the car. This car is totally computer controlled by the Body Control Module (BCM) computer which handles most of the car and the Engine Control Module (ECM) which handles the engine and transmission. Then there are a few dozen other smaller computers handling local items and communicating over the serial data bus to the main computers. For example, each door has a computer to handle the switches and power the motors for that door. Computers don't like low voltage.

As far as draining the battery, the BCM monitors all power usage and shuts off power with time delays after last activity. You can leave the door open and all the lights will go out after 10 minutes so that won't drain a good battery.

That's a sure symptom of either a dead battery or a loose connection.

It shouldn't. If the car was hit that hard I'd be more concerned about all the wiring in the rear bumper area. The BCM monitors power usage but if you have shorted or intermittent wiring issues...

First recommendation is read the codes. Some people don't like all the computers these cars have but one advantage is they diagnose themselves and will often tell you exactly what the issue is. For example, if you have wires intermittently shorting in the rear bumper area a code should be set which will tell you which wires and intermittent or shorted or open. A simple $25 OBDII/CAN compliant code reader is all you need. The "complex" electrical systems actually make it easier to fix the car right rather than just good enough. They do make it much harder to modify.

 

Saw you edited the first post, much improved.

For the fob battery, you shouldn't need to go to the dealer, it's a standard watch type battery. You can get them at Walmart, etc probably at a much lower price than a dealer. My FOB lists type CR2032 on the back, check yours. Also, just to be safe, make sure your car is UNLOCKED before you change the battery, just in case the car doesn't recognize it.