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Funny, I just hard wired a maintainer to mine this afternoon. Because my C7 will sit on the hoist a lot this winter I ran the wire to the bottom under the front bumper. The charger is mounted on the hoist arm and plugged into a outlet on the hoist. I used the ground pictured above but used the positive feed terminal on the alternator.(under the rubber boot) I would have used the terminal on the fuse box but I would of had to lengthen the harness. Remember, if you are hard wiring, fuse and secure the harness as if it gets damaged it has full battery voltage to short out. I don't like draping a cord over the front fender, the spoiler, or rear fender.
The positive terminal is alongside the fuse box on the passenger side closest to the windshield. It's covered by a plastic cover which you can flip up from the fender side.
This is the positive terminal after flipping up the cover
Here's a good ground located on passenger side down and to the right of the alternator
As I heard that this is a good place to tap for power (charger, license plate show and go and front sensor) does anyone know the size nuts that will go over these lugs? I just want to connect over the top of these hugs and add an addition nut on top?
That is what I did. I connected my curb alert to those terminals. The positive terminal nut at the fuse box was really tight, so instead of breaking something, I just got another nut and attached wire on top of existing nut. There was plenty of threads left to just run another nut on terminal.
I took the lights out in the back, they come out easy and unplug easy, then I set the hatch down, run the cord down the side with some towel protection, then put the cover on..works great. I would never slam the hatch shut with the cord in there
I've mentioned this before and will repeat now. With your finger or similar, you can trip the latch in the receiver for the striker and the light will go out. Then just rest the lid on the rubber seal. When ready to close the lid, open the latch with the key fob or with the button on the rear bumper or the dashboard. Light goes on and your ready to close the lid.
I am still using my $20 wonder from Pep-Boys. I used it on my C6 for 4 years with no problems. My tender has a fairly long cord to which I added and extension piece. I plug into the rear port, run the cord under the carpet forward and leave it behind the passenger seat. When I need to use it I open the passenger side window 1/4" and run the cord out to my charger that hangs next to the car. I adapted my C6 setup. I really don't like the idea of closing the cord in the weather stripping of the hatch. Eventually it may deform or damage the stripping in some way.
The positive terminal is alongside the fuse box on the passenger side closest to the windshield. It's covered by a plastic cover which you can flip up from the fender side.
This is the positive terminal after flipping up the cover
Here's a good ground located on passenger side down and to the right of the alternator
For some reason I could not see these pictures. Can you send them another way please. I know this is an old post and understand if you don't have them anymore. I have a 2017 and was wondering where under the hood the + connector is. I would assume I have to find a good ground. Thanks
It always amazes me how we have to save $70 on an $80,000.00 car.
It is likely that the people who can afford an 80000$ toy(Vette) got there by frugal spending. My Grandpa always said "if you take care with your pennies the dollars will take care of themselves".
For some reason I could not see these pictures. Can you send them another way please. I know this is an old post and understand if you don't have them anymore. I have a 2017 and was wondering where under the hood the + connector is. I would assume I have to find a good ground. Thanks
Both +/- are on the passenger side.
P.S. This is my '14 C7, I'm assuming this hasn't changed through 2017
For those of us that have short term memory loss. I put this on my back window so I see it when I open my garage. My gift to you guys, just drag the image to your desktop and print it out.
Just tried it and it works. I will keep the battery charged until tomorrow morning.
just open the window just a little and run it through that way. Put a towel under the cord plugged into it. Put your cover on, all is good. 😄 But read my notes about the battery post at least on my 2015 Z06.
I have been using my battery tender in my new c7 for the last month and I slam the door on it with no problems.
with all of y’all being men, telling somebody to slam a door or a hatch on an electrical cord is pretty stupid to me. Asking for trouble. There are other ways. Good luck when your cord cuts and something terrible happens Bevsvet
You don't need to close the hatch unless you just want to do it, or if your garage is not secure. If you leave the hatch ajar the car will go into sleep mode in 20 min. or so, during that time the interior lights will remain on, but since it's already on the battery maintainer there will be little draw from the battery in that short time. When in sleep mode it will leave the car with the security system disabled and it can be accessed without a fob just as though you left it unlocked, but that wouldn't likely be a problem in a secured garage. I've been doing it that way four four years and have had no problems.
I guess your concern is leaving your car open too. My cars are always inside. It is fine you run it through the hatch with it shut. I just don’t feel comfortable closing an electrical wire hooked up to power mashed in a car or anything. There isn’t a problem with your battery tender, it is fine. do you leave your car outside charging? I heard your concern of your car not being secured open? I am not sure what I would do if mine had to be charged outside. I have always had coupes until this one I have now and I would crack the window open and run the cord through there with something to protect the cord against rubbing on the car and cover it. So you do this everyday, drive it a lot? Mine sits a lot and needs the charger.
Really not sure what I would do if it sat outside with the charger. If driven more than not, seems you wouldn’t need a charger. Before I retired and years ago, I never put a charger in my car because I drove it to work everyday. Never needed one. It stayed fine. Is that a hole through your hatch area? Where you ran a cord? I couldn’t figure that out. But I have no answer for a car kept outside charged. I have always tried to find a house with garages. If you put an outdoor cover on it no one would see it open anywhere and a car with no remote is built to shut down so it can’t be stolen and the alarm goes off if tampered with!also. Now I have a 71 that would be easy to steal, not technical like new ones.