Yet another dead battery thread
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Mar 2016
Posts: 419
Likes: 87
From: Amory MS
Yet another dead battery thread
OK. My 2006 Z06 has a new (3 mo old) battery. Autozone, Top of the line. I keep the car on a tender. The battery went down after not driving the car for a week. When I raise the hatch and the battery is good, I have noticed the LED hatch lights glow dimly. I would assume that this is not good, but I also assume that the tender should be able to overcome this. The LEDs are fairly new. What do ya'll think?
Also, Passive lock is on. I have read somewhere that this should not cause drain, but how can it help, since the car would have to be monitoring the fob frequency continually?
Unless someone can come up with a better idea, I plan to eliminate these two possible drain causes one at a time, then we will see...
Also, Passive lock is on. I have read somewhere that this should not cause drain, but how can it help, since the car would have to be monitoring the fob frequency continually?
Unless someone can come up with a better idea, I plan to eliminate these two possible drain causes one at a time, then we will see...
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Mar 2016
Posts: 419
Likes: 87
From: Amory MS
If that is true, then explain to me why/how do the "lock" "unlock" buttons on the fob work? There MUST be a receiver 'listening."
Race Director
Joined: Oct 2010
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From: Las Vegas NV
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Mar 2016
Posts: 419
Likes: 87
From: Amory MS
Gotcha, thanks! So the receiver is waiting for a signal from the door pad, at which time it recognizes the fob. So when I get out of the car, it waits for the fob to get out of range to passive lock (when the fob is no longer recognized) which is a very short distance (that's why there are 4 antennas)
So the passive system "ON" wouldn't require any more receiver drain than passive system "OFF."
Yes. We can eliminate that as a cause of extra drain.
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Pro
Joined: Dec 2016
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From: Indianapolis
I've had my C6Z for a year and have done a lot of reading here on the forum, that rule seems to apply for a lot of what can go wrong in a C6.
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Mar 2016
Posts: 419
Likes: 87
From: Amory MS
Yes. I agree. I have a load tester and plan to use it later today. I am concerned that a battery that has gone completely dead could possibly have a bad cell now, if not before.
I also noticed when I was in the garage a few minutes ago that the Tender Junior was alternately blinking red, then green. Does anybody know what this indicates?
Thanks for the help,
Tom
Race Director
Joined: Oct 2010
Posts: 14,475
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From: Las Vegas NV
Yes. I agree. I have a load tester and plan to use it later today. I am concerned that a battery that has gone completely dead could possibly have a bad cell now, if not before.
I also noticed when I was in the garage a few minutes ago that the Tender Junior was alternately blinking red, then green. Does anybody know what this indicates?
Thanks for the help,
Tom
I also noticed when I was in the garage a few minutes ago that the Tender Junior was alternately blinking red, then green. Does anybody know what this indicates?
Thanks for the help,
Tom
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 9,246
Likes: 221
From: Dryden MI
Agree on battery. My tender indicated fully charged with a bad cell in battery. Most tenders have a chart indicating meaning of leds. My tender blinking red and green means a 90 % charge. Whenever you purchase a battery, have them show you the date of manufacture. If it’s a sealed battery, acid was put in at manufacture date and it might already be several years old. Batteries with caps, acid is generally added at time if purchase, that will be a new battery with no shelf life.
Is anyone using marine batteries?
Is anyone using marine batteries?
Team Owner
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 23,900
Likes: 218
From: Foxtrot Delta Tango
Yes. I agree. I have a load tester and plan to use it later today. I am concerned that a battery that has gone completely dead could possibly have a bad cell now, if not before.
I also noticed when I was in the garage a few minutes ago that the Tender Junior was alternately blinking red, then green. Does anybody know what this indicates?
Thanks for the help,
Tom
I also noticed when I was in the garage a few minutes ago that the Tender Junior was alternately blinking red, then green. Does anybody know what this indicates?
Thanks for the help,
Tom
LIGHT ORANGE (JUNIOR) – This is abnormal and most likely indicates
either that the battery is sulfated or that there is a poor electrical
connection between the charger DC output and the battery posts. For the
BT Plus models it may indicate a reverse polarity connection on the DC
output cables (the battery is hooked up backwards)."
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Mar 2016
Posts: 419
Likes: 87
From: Amory MS
This from the company today:
If the lights are alternating, it is no longer charging.
It could mean several things. Marginal battery or a bad charger. It could also mean that if the red light stayed solid in charge mode for more than 80 hours it exceeded the safety timer and stopped charging. It could be that the battery would not hold a charge or it may have started off really low and the charger at .750 mA could not fully charge it within 72 hours.
First thing to try would be to unplug it from the wall outlet and the car battery. Then just plug it into the wall outlet. It should flash red only.
If it does anything other than flash red then there is something wrong with the charger and they have a 5 year warranty.
Do you have a smaller battery that you could try it in to get a faster result? Like on a 11 volt lawnmower battery.
Let me know if you have any questions please.
If the lights are alternating, it is no longer charging.
It could mean several things. Marginal battery or a bad charger. It could also mean that if the red light stayed solid in charge mode for more than 80 hours it exceeded the safety timer and stopped charging. It could be that the battery would not hold a charge or it may have started off really low and the charger at .750 mA could not fully charge it within 72 hours.
First thing to try would be to unplug it from the wall outlet and the car battery. Then just plug it into the wall outlet. It should flash red only.
If it does anything other than flash red then there is something wrong with the charger and they have a 5 year warranty.
Do you have a smaller battery that you could try it in to get a faster result? Like on a 11 volt lawnmower battery.
Let me know if you have any questions please.
Team Owner
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 46,295
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From: Northern, VA
St. Jude Donor '15
"In honor of jpee"
Do you have any electrical modifications, i.e., different radio, subwoofer, different front/side/rear lights, radar detector blendmount at rearview mirror, cell phone charger left in dash socket, etc.? At times, these have had "installation" issues.
Team Owner
Joined: Apr 2013
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From: Chirper Island
The problem with many LEDs is that they draw little enough current that they never tip the threshold where the car "times out," so the car continues to keep them lit, and over time..... well, you can guess the rest. I can't answer the tender issue, I just know that LEDs have been a problem draining batteries.
Pro
Joined: Mar 2012
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From: San Diego CA
My 05 Z51 57K would get below min. start voltage , I would do the battery cable remove reset on the control unit . This made me cuss in three languages .
The start button just made relays click and panel lights dim , the charge voltage was lower than I liked , especially with short trips . So I installed a direct push button switch ,wired like the button on the floor from the 50s . About 5 -10 amp on the solenoid , even at 11 volts it rolls over and lights . A direct cable to the battery from the alternator output bumped up the charge voltage .7 -1.0 volt . 3 weeks later ,,, lights every time , even when my optima charger shows a cryptic 60 % charge ,,, before the start . I have an after market audio , subwoofer .
The start button just made relays click and panel lights dim , the charge voltage was lower than I liked , especially with short trips . So I installed a direct push button switch ,wired like the button on the floor from the 50s . About 5 -10 amp on the solenoid , even at 11 volts it rolls over and lights . A direct cable to the battery from the alternator output bumped up the charge voltage .7 -1.0 volt . 3 weeks later ,,, lights every time , even when my optima charger shows a cryptic 60 % charge ,,, before the start . I have an after market audio , subwoofer .
Last edited by heli-vette; Apr 26, 2018 at 12:19 AM.
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Mar 2016
Posts: 419
Likes: 87
From: Amory MS
Only a homebrew radar detector mount, but it is a year old with no side effects. Thanks for trying, though!
Right now I'm thinking the tender is dead, and I am worried that the battery might have suffered damage because it was totally dead.
