Dead Battery Question - Again
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 129
Likes: 11
From: Treasure Coast Florida
Dead Battery Question - Again
I have a 2009 with 14K miles. When I purchased the car in Oct 2015 it had 4900 miles and had a new battery. I use the car as my daily driver and the volt meter has always looked good. We just got back from a short 1 week vacation and I found the battery in the Vette dead. Reading through the forum find may post on dead batteries after the car sits for awhile but is a week enough for the car to kill the battery? I have a charger on the car now and will see if it starts in the morning.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Dec 2013
Posts: 2,232
Likes: 315
From: Bridgewater New Jersey
Get it load test after you get the battery up and charged. It should be good for a week, but a bad cell in the battery, could lead to it not holding the charge very long. Auto parts stores should do it for free.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 2,157
Likes: 244
From: carlisle pa
This is one of the nuances of our cars, you read it over and over and over here, anything over three days or so without a tender could kill it. I was cleaning the inside of the car after I got it and my head was by the fuse box and it sounded like a computer room... I've read that the car is always looking for the fob, security etc.
Race Director
Joined: May 2012
Posts: 15,768
Likes: 3,283
From: Phoenix area, AZ
If your battery is only lasting three days without a charger you've got something going on that's killing your battery. It should last 2-3 weeks without having to put a charger on it. Mine sits all week long and only comes out on weekends; I've never put a charger on it and never had a problem with the battery.
Race Director
Joined: Oct 2010
Posts: 14,475
Likes: 785
From: Las Vegas NV
This is one of the nuances of our cars, you read it over and over and over here, anything over three days or so without a tender could kill it. I was cleaning the inside of the car after I got it and my head was by the fuse box and it sounded like a computer room... I've read that the car is always looking for the fob, security etc.
Race Director
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 11,351
Likes: 2,445
From: Eastern
If your battery is only lasting three days without a charger you've got something going on that's killing your battery. It should last 2-3 weeks without having to put a charger on it. Mine sits all week long and only comes out on weekends; I've never put a charger on it and never had a problem with the battery.
It should be good for 2-3 weeks if you have a good battery and there is no parasitic draw on the system. A normal draw with the car off after 20 minutes should be less than 0.02 amps. Anything more and it's an issue that needs to be found and fixed.
Last edited by 4SUMERZ; May 20, 2016 at 01:29 AM.
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Race Director
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 11,367
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From: Edgewood Washington
St. Jude Donor '11-'12-'13-'14-'15
The car shuts everything down, except the RCDLR so you can use your fob buttons, and unless there is a problem with some kind of parasitic power draw, the car should be able to sit for a couple weeks with a good battery.
Of course that isn't ideal and a battery tender is a pretty cheap addition to maintain your battery for years of reliable use.
Team Owner
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 21,502
Likes: 462
From: Southern Utah
Simple test. I have no Onstar, which also uses a bit of current when sitting, but mine draws 11 - 17 ma after a few minutes of calm-down time. (.011-.017 amps).
Heel & Toe
Joined: Nov 2012
Posts: 24
Likes: 2
From: Caledonia, MI
If you're going to leave your C6 parked for more than a few days, and its a manual 6 speed, then you need to place the shifter in reverse and set the emergency brake. Apparently this shuts down some of the larger parasitic electronic draws on the battery.
My car used to NOT start after less than a week of sitting. Now it goes more than three weeks and still starts. I know, I know I should drive it every day.
There was also a software fix for this, that I would think a 2009 would already have.
My car used to NOT start after less than a week of sitting. Now it goes more than three weeks and still starts. I know, I know I should drive it every day.
There was also a software fix for this, that I would think a 2009 would already have.
Last edited by gloffer; May 20, 2016 at 02:03 PM.
Race Director
Joined: Oct 2010
Posts: 14,475
Likes: 785
From: Las Vegas NV
If you're going to leave your C6 parked for more than a few days, and its a manual 6 speed, then you need to place the shifter in reverse and set the emergency brake. Apparently this shuts down some of the larger parasitic electronic draws on the battery.
My car used to NOT start after less than a week of sitting. Now it goes more than three weeks and still starts. I know, I know I should drive it every day.
There was also a software fix for this, that I would think a 2009 would already have.
My car used to NOT start after less than a week of sitting. Now it goes more than three weeks and still starts. I know, I know I should drive it every day.
There was also a software fix for this, that I would think a 2009 would already have.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 6,486
Likes: 1,659
From: Las Vegas NV
No, it does NOT need to be on a tender if you're going to park it for a few days. If it doesn't last at least two weeks of park time -- DON'T band-aid it with a tender, get it fixed!
No, it does NOT need to be in reverse -- that was ONLY for 2005 MT C6's, (as has been mentioned by EVrose)
Also, now that your battery has been dead, it won't last as long. Every time you let your battery go dead, it shortens its life, even after you recharge it.
No, it does NOT need to be in reverse -- that was ONLY for 2005 MT C6's, (as has been mentioned by EVrose)
Also, now that your battery has been dead, it won't last as long. Every time you let your battery go dead, it shortens its life, even after you recharge it.
Last edited by Kent1999; May 20, 2016 at 03:31 PM.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 6,486
Likes: 1,659
From: Las Vegas NV
Something might have fixed your problem, but it just is not possible that it was "shifting to reverse".
Last edited by Kent1999; May 21, 2016 at 09:48 AM.
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 129
Likes: 11
From: Treasure Coast Florida
Thank you for all of the input. Here is where I am at this point:
I charged the battery at 2A over night and in the morning the car started w/o issue. I decided to take the car into the Chevy store for them to look at. They reported that they performed the following:
Charged the battery to full
Load tested the battery and it was fine
Connected the car to equipment to check the car and all was fine.
Reported that the car only drew 20mA after everything shut down
Since the car had killed the battery they put the car in the corner and reran the test several times throughout the day and each time it came back to 20mA.
I was very shocked and happy that I was only charged 1/2 hour labor.
Today I removed my CTEK charger from my generator (house backup) and connected it to the car. This charger not only slow charges a battery and will keep it floating it will also report back any battery issues. It takes many hours to analyze the battery so will not know till morning.
BTW the car is normally driven daily so never have worried about a slow charger for it. The car sat for 6 days as we were out of state.
I charged the battery at 2A over night and in the morning the car started w/o issue. I decided to take the car into the Chevy store for them to look at. They reported that they performed the following:
Charged the battery to full
Load tested the battery and it was fine
Connected the car to equipment to check the car and all was fine.
Reported that the car only drew 20mA after everything shut down
Since the car had killed the battery they put the car in the corner and reran the test several times throughout the day and each time it came back to 20mA.
I was very shocked and happy that I was only charged 1/2 hour labor.
Today I removed my CTEK charger from my generator (house backup) and connected it to the car. This charger not only slow charges a battery and will keep it floating it will also report back any battery issues. It takes many hours to analyze the battery so will not know till morning.
BTW the car is normally driven daily so never have worried about a slow charger for it. The car sat for 6 days as we were out of state.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Feb 2012
Posts: 5,661
Likes: 541
From: SE Pa
If your battery is only lasting three days without a charger you've got something going on that's killing your battery. It should last 2-3 weeks without having to put a charger on it. Mine sits all week long and only comes out on weekends; I've never put a charger on it and never had a problem with the battery.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Oct 2015
Posts: 1,139
Likes: 108
From: Arlington Texas
Not sure if this applies to our C6's, but Silverados have a problem where the instrument panel will draw a battery down overnight. Apparently because lead cannot be used in solder due to E.P.A. restrictions. This causes the solder they now use to flake off like dust and short out the leads on the circuit boards. Sometimes all it takes is to remove the gauge assembly and wipe off the leads on the circuit boards to correct this. There are also companies that rebuild gauge assemblies redone with rosin core solder.