I'm posting this experience in hopes that it might help others. I picked up another Z06 a few weeks ago. I knew it had one or two items i would have to address. So yesterday on a road trip I started having strange electrical gremlins. When I adjusted the seat and saved it to memory, it change my radio and AC settings. I thought that strange and thought it could be the start of a long arduous battle with the electrical system. I would wait for the gremlin to raise its head again. I didn't wait very long. This morning, on the way to church, the volt gauge dropped to 11.5v and a service charging system code came on. I assumed the alternator died. But remembering yesterday's episode, it really acted like a loose/bad ground or connection. That's where I started. All the alternator connections were good. All the fuses and connections at the fuse box were good. Last stop, the starter. Yep, the main + connection on the starter was loose. Although the starter still worked fine, the alternator wouldn't get charge to the battery. For those of you that don't know, the alternator wire and battery wire are on the same lug on the starter. So the next time you think you have an alternator issue, check the lugs on the starter before you make that assumption, or before you take it to the dealer for them to scratch there heads over it.

The lugs on the starter are notorious for two things, breaking off (cheap bakelite plastic or similar) and the nut coming loose. Both are caused by the heat soak from the cat or header. I hope this helps others in the future when you start fighting electrical gremlins.

starter alternator charging electrical loose connector

 

My connections didn’t look like that but it looks ok to me. Maybe your alternator just went? You should probably do the SAC big two starter bypass at some point though.