Hi all,

Relatively new to the forum.

I have a 2010 Corvette C6 base model, coupe, LT1. It's completely stock besides some quality-of-life upgrades: aftermarket head unit, backup camera, MGW short-throw shifter, Mild2Wild exhaust, aftermarket speakers, aftermarket amplifier. I'm seeking some assistance with solving a strange electrical problem. Here's the story:

I drove the car to a local store and left it in the parking lot for approximately 10 minutes while inside. Car was turned off and unlocked. When attempting to open the door, the car was behaving as if the battery was dead. The key fob would not unlock the door or indicate any communication with the car whatsoever. The doors would not open as there was no going to the door switches. It would not go into accessory mode, nor would it start. Oddly, the backup camera was displayed on the head unit despite the car being in neutral when parked.

After roughly 5 minutes, it suddenly began behaving somewhat normally. The fob was able to unlock the doors, and the car started normally. However, there were lots of warning lights illuminated on the dash (see picture below): tire pressure warning, ABS, brake, security, airbag. Also, the oil pressure, fuel level, and coolant temperature gauges were reading 0. The speedometer, tachometer, and battery voltage gauges were reading normally. There were some warning messages appearing on the dash such as "Low Fuel Level," "Service ABS System," etc.

The car ran and drove perfectly normal the entire way home with no hiccups. At some point during the drive, the gauges returned to their normal operational state and some of the warning lights disappeared. I restarted the car when home, and it behaved perfectly normally. No warning lights on the dash, no service messages, no trouble starting. I was able to pull some DTCs during this time (see screenshots).

Any information would be most helpful as I'm scratching my head trying to comprehend why this may be occurring. It seems like all of problematic systems are controlled by the body control module (BCM). Thanks in advance!

 

First thing to do is disconnect the battery, wait a couple of minutes then reconnect. Many times this will reset the computer. The other thing is that your battery connections may be loose, or the ground connection under the battery is possibly corroded. And I would have the battery checked for a possible weak cell. Let us know if any of this helps...

 

Multiple CELs are indicative of a falling battery.
Have battery load tested.

 

Also, unless the alternator was heat soaked, at those rpm’s should be seeing 14.5 volts, not 13.5. Could be the alternator struggling against a dying battery?

 

In addition to the battery connections, make sure that the connections at the starter are clean and tight.

 

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. Highly appreciate the information! I think I may have determined the root cause of the issue and am embarrassed to say that it was my fault. I disconnected the positive and negative battery cables to have the battery load tested at my local auto parts store. The negative cable was clamped tight, but I did not even need to loosen the terminal connection nut for the positive cable to pop off the post. It was very loose.

I have an aftermarket external amplifier as mentioned in the original post. This was wired directly to the positive terminal on the battery. I connected it underneath the positive terminal connection nut. Lo and behold, the nut is tapered to compress the clamp when tightened. The additional amplifier wire connection was interfering with the nut's ability to secure positive battery wire to the battery terminal. I'm speculating that this caused intermittent connection issues.

Regardless, I still opted to have the battery tested. It passed without issue. The cold cranking amps were a bit lower than the rated value but it still manages to start the car no problem. Additionally, I left the battery disconnected for ~30 minutes with the positive and negative cables touching to clear the adaptative memory in the ECM. I relocated the amplifier power wire to the stud in the nearby fuse box with a flat nut.

Everything appears to be working properly now. The car starts up fine with no warning lights / messages. I will drive it and keep everyone posted if the issue persists but am fairly confident given the nature of the symptoms, DTCs, etc. that the loose positive battery connection was the root of the problem. Choke this one up to user error for now.

 

If you have those crappy OE battery terminals I’d get rid of them and get some better terminals especially since you mentioned you didn’t even have to loosen the terminal to remove the battery cable.

 

The car does have the OEM battery terminals. Yours look super secure. Do you have a link for the part?

 

I picked mine up at Autozone and they are made by Duralast and should be on the wall where all their battery stuff is located…about $15.00 each and the gold plating (I’m assuming) makes them super conductive and will NOT loosen by hand !!