zr13z3

Drove my 2010 4 days ago. Pulled it out of the garage to set up Bluetooth on my new iphone. Half hour later and it won't start. Had to put it on a trickle charge for a day and half for it to start. Is this common ?

barduch

Simply put, YES! Some type of battery tender is a must. I thought that I had a bad battery. The dealer tested it and said no problem with the battery. I didn't believe them so I bought a new Interstate and had the same problem immediately. I use a C-tek and like their products a lot.

05dsom

what does this mean..do you put your tender on every night?
the OP didn't say the car sat idle for 4 months, did he?
I'm not getting why you would need a tender after 4 days of not driving it...I leave mine idle for weeks in the early spring and late fall without a problem

Gary '09 C6

I use my Deltran Battery Tender Plus (w/cig lighter adapter) whenever the car is parked in the garage.
So excepting overnight travel using the ZR1, that's almost 24/7...

barduch

Four days is extreme. Mine, however, has gone dead in less than two weeks more than once. After it did the same with the fresh battery I simply resigned myself to using the battery maintainer. I know that many, here on the forum, have the same problem while others seem to be immune to the issue. I can only guess that some of our cars, for unknown reasons, have a greater parasitic/passive draw on the battery when the ignition is off and the alarm has been set. Chasing electrical gremlins forever is not my idea of fun. I'd much rather just enjoy driving the car without worrying that it won't start after a week or two. My C-tek plugs into the 12V power outlet in the center console in about 10 seconds and unplugs just as easily. I also think that using the C-tek, at least on my corvette, will actually extend the useful life of the new battery. I will certainly include the C-tek with the car if I ever sell it.

It may be that we should have a 12 step program for owning a corvette with the credo of:
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
The courage to change the things I can,
And wisdom to know the difference

911/Q45

I laughed out loud when I read this, great stuff! Now multiply it by about 10 and you've got the ownership experience of a euro sports car.

zr13z3

Thanks for the information guys. I guess I'm one of the lucky ones that will have to keep the tender on constantly

pcguy2u

Curious though, after the comment above about those who may experience the problem because they leave the vette sitting with the alarm on - is this the case with yours?

grandsport4me1963

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gary '09 C6

I use my Deltran Battery Tender Plus (w/cig lighter adapter) whenever the car is parked in the garage.
So excepting overnight travel using the ZR1, that's almost 24/7...

x 2

pcguy2u

Have 11k in 3.5 years and rarely ever use the tender - maybe twice. Also, garaged and no alarm on.

Californiapch

I charged my car once a month this past winter but that didn't seem to be the best. I had a tender too... should have used it daily/weekly

Ended up putting a battery in my 09 yesterday... let me tell you it is a 2 person job. Pain in the butt.

I had my car stored in Las Vegas and never seen the car for 4-6 weeks one time and the battery drained out... and just didn't seem to take the charger this past winter.


As our cars get older we will be changing out batteries. Make sure they are the same size... the stupid cables make the battery hard to get out... and no room to tuck them out when pulling the battery up.

A rubber battery puller is needed too

My 2cents on this

Brian

zr13z3

I don't leave the alarm on in the garage, but you got me thinking about another possibility. Last year I installed the Wild to Mild exhaust mod and that's about when I started having this problem. Has anyone experienced this ?

911/Q45

I'm curious, how do you leave the alarm off? I thought it was on whenever the car was locked.

pcguy2u

IIRC, the mild to wild can be installed two different ways and one of those ways can cause battery drain if you're not paying attention.

ZR1Cat

I guess I must have installed my M2W old school version the right way as I have had no battery drain issues (before or after install).

Mr. Gizmo

I use the battery tender once a week. Put it on saturday evening, and the light starts glowing green meaning fully charged in about 2 to 4 hours and leave it on until mid-day sunday.

2009 - Build date May of 2009, so battery is probably march or april 2009. never a problem. will probably put a new battery in sometime later this summer.

----How do you disable the alarm? I did not know this was a possibility -- I do put the car in reverse whenever I turn it off and park it.

pcguy2u

An option in the DIC, can't remember exactly, but it causes the doors to be unlocked if you walk away and in which case, you need to manually lock the doors with the FOB.

zr13z3

I don't leave the alarm on in the garage. It's not programmed for auto lock

zr13z3

It's my understanding that if you leave it programmed for the original muffler sound, it won't draw down the battery

911/Q45

Now I understand, I could never give up my autolock though!