Battery Replacement
#1
Racer
Thread Starter
Battery Replacement
I replaced my battery in my '14 C7 Z51 and it took me about a week while dealing with health issues along the way. Finally got it installed and everything hooked up. Lights come on briefly when FOB is activated and can hear trunk lid and door lock solenoids clicking but nothing is happening. Won't unlock and let me retrieve my manual and try to start or anything. Is there a way to do this manually or what do I need to do next? Thanks for your help in advance!
Doug in Texas
Doug in Texas
Last edited by lynndm; 12-25-2018 at 01:05 PM.
#2
Burning Brakes
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Doug if you can’t physically get to the interior of your car, insert your key in the slot above your license plate, open the hatch/trunk, then pull the manual release for the drivers door. Sounds like your battery may not be charged.
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Elmer
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Vegas1500 (12-27-2018)
#4
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#5
Racer
Thread Starter
Thanks for your help guys but I'm pretty sure the battery is charged. Pushing the buttons on the key fob will activate the lights briefly, and you can hear loud cycling of the trunk and door solenoids (all at the same time) but neither the trunk or either door is releasing. Can anyone tell me where the manual release for the door is located in the trunk? I can't get to my owner's manual in the glove box...lol.
Doug
Doug
#6
Burning Brakes
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Thanks for your help guys but I'm pretty sure the battery is charged. Pushing the buttons on the key fob will activate the lights briefly, and you can hear loud cycling of the trunk and door solenoids (all at the same time) but neither the trunk or either door is releasing. Can anyone tell me where the manual release for the door is located in the trunk? I can't get to my owner's manual in the glove box...lol.
Doug
Doug
#7
Racer
Thread Starter
If I can get into the interior, I'll try to start it. That should tell one way or another. And you may be correct but the lights and solenoid clicking are very strong and my hunch is the battery is up. Thanks for the location of the door release cable. I'll go try that shortly and let everyone know.
Doug
Doug
#8
You may have a bad new battery or the connections are not secured properly at the battery.
#9
Racer
Thread Starter
You guys are good! Battery is very very low. In spite of the Chevy dealer telling me it had a fresh charge. Put it on a 10 charger for an hour and the doors still won't open, making me wonder is I got everything hooked up correctly or if I could have gotten a bad battery. I'm sure the connections are clean and tight. But I first expected to have the battery back in the car in 30 minutes until I discovered the after-market battery I first bought was 100 amps too little and 2 inches too short. And then no one local had an OEM battery in stock and had to drive a few miles to get one. But it's possible I missed something when I reinstalled all the cables, wiring and buss assembly. Normally I would take some pics if I were going to leave something apart for a few days, but didn't anticipate not being physically able to work on it for several days. I guess the next few hours will tell the story.
Doug
Doug
Last edited by lynndm; 12-25-2018 at 06:16 PM.
#10
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I believe there is a fuse that could also be an issue. Not sure how you check it. Hopefully once the battery is fully charged all will be well.
#12
Racer
Thread Starter
I hope you're right. I've got my fingers crossed.
I just want to add that whoever engineered the battery hold down apparatus on that battery consisting of the cross bar, the two rods and the anchors at the bottom must have been a very sick individual. I literally worked for two days before I could get the two rods tight without one or the other slipping out of the anchor on the other side while trying to work with the opposite one. I ended up making a wire hook to hold the anchors in place while tightening the nut on top of the cross piece else the rod would slip out of the side slot every time. And the buss bar setup is right in the way. Had to put a small woodworking clamp on it and run a nylon cord from the clamp to the strut on the left side to keep the buss bar pulled back far enough. And if anyone can explain to me the purpose of the anchors dropping into the floor about an inch to the point the rods wont reach them, I'd sure like to know.
I purposely didn't take it to the dealer to get the battery installed because the mechanics there are trying to get it done as fast as possible and everything is done fast and dirty. They leave more hidden damage that has to be corrected later or just looks like hell. I try to do as much of my own work as possible and have a beautiful shop full of SnapOn tools but being 71 and height challenged and fat sure made for getting that heavy battery out of that deep hole in the trunk interesting. lol
Doug
I just want to add that whoever engineered the battery hold down apparatus on that battery consisting of the cross bar, the two rods and the anchors at the bottom must have been a very sick individual. I literally worked for two days before I could get the two rods tight without one or the other slipping out of the anchor on the other side while trying to work with the opposite one. I ended up making a wire hook to hold the anchors in place while tightening the nut on top of the cross piece else the rod would slip out of the side slot every time. And the buss bar setup is right in the way. Had to put a small woodworking clamp on it and run a nylon cord from the clamp to the strut on the left side to keep the buss bar pulled back far enough. And if anyone can explain to me the purpose of the anchors dropping into the floor about an inch to the point the rods wont reach them, I'd sure like to know.
I purposely didn't take it to the dealer to get the battery installed because the mechanics there are trying to get it done as fast as possible and everything is done fast and dirty. They leave more hidden damage that has to be corrected later or just looks like hell. I try to do as much of my own work as possible and have a beautiful shop full of SnapOn tools but being 71 and height challenged and fat sure made for getting that heavy battery out of that deep hole in the trunk interesting. lol
Doug
#13
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Hope things work out with the battery and that the time spent on the charger solves the problems.
#14
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A "failure" to start after a battery change is usually caused by:
1) Loose connections at the battery (Be sure everything lines up exactly as it was OEM. Sometimes the leads aren't "Square" and there is a loose wire connection and the car hates those.)
2) Improperly charged "new" battery
2) Blown 300a fuse that sits on top of the battery.
As far as gettin in the car, post #4 covers it completely.
#1 is the big cause of the car failing to start after battery replacement.
Elmer
1) Loose connections at the battery (Be sure everything lines up exactly as it was OEM. Sometimes the leads aren't "Square" and there is a loose wire connection and the car hates those.)
2) Improperly charged "new" battery
2) Blown 300a fuse that sits on top of the battery.
As far as gettin in the car, post #4 covers it completely.
#1 is the big cause of the car failing to start after battery replacement.
Elmer
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been there done that...I will bet my next pension check it is the same gremlin that just about killed me last year when I had to change the battery. You have a loose, or should I say, a poor connection...that's all it is, but it's a pain to address. As you so well pointed out, the design must have been done by a disgruntled GM engineer who didn't get a raise at his last performance review. Because you are looking down into an abyss, you cannot see what's going on with the fasteners...you think you have the nut seated, but IT IS NOT! Go back in there and fix it and come back and celebrate with us!
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https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...ow-to-fix.html
Here is my nightmare battery fiasco....enjoy reading through from the start, but if you want to skip the drama, go to post #42.....
Here is my nightmare battery fiasco....enjoy reading through from the start, but if you want to skip the drama, go to post #42.....
#18
Racer
Thread Starter
Didn't get a chance to mess with it today other than to try to open the doors. Still no change. Tomorrow I will spend time analyzing exactly what is happening and not happening, verify the integrity of the clamp's tightness on the posts, take pics of the re-installation and post pics on here and report back. As anxious as I am to get it running, I sure don't want to flat-bed it to the local stealership.
Some observations thus far:
When operating the remote, lights come on for a few seconds as normal, just not opening the doors or trunk latch.
All the warning bells, buzzers are sounding and are not weak sounding like a dead battery should indicate.
No interior lights, no horn, no radio.
Windows go up and down at what seems to be normal speed.
Trunk lights come on for a short time at normal intensity and then cut off when trunk is open.
Doug
Some observations thus far:
When operating the remote, lights come on for a few seconds as normal, just not opening the doors or trunk latch.
All the warning bells, buzzers are sounding and are not weak sounding like a dead battery should indicate.
No interior lights, no horn, no radio.
Windows go up and down at what seems to be normal speed.
Trunk lights come on for a short time at normal intensity and then cut off when trunk is open.
Doug
#19
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Didn't get a chance to mess with it today other than to try to open the doors. Still no change. Tomorrow I will spend time analyzing exactly what is happening and not happening, verify the integrity of the clamp's tightness on the posts, take pics of the re-installation and post pics on here and report back. As anxious as I am to get it running, I sure don't want to flat-bed it to the local stealership.
Some observations thus far:
When operating the remote, lights come on for a few seconds as normal, just not opening the doors or trunk latch.
All the warning bells, buzzers are sounding and are not weak sounding like a dead battery should indicate.
No interior lights, no horn, no radio.
Windows go up and down at what seems to be normal speed.
Trunk lights come on for a short time at normal intensity and then cut off when trunk is open.
Doug
Some observations thus far:
When operating the remote, lights come on for a few seconds as normal, just not opening the doors or trunk latch.
All the warning bells, buzzers are sounding and are not weak sounding like a dead battery should indicate.
No interior lights, no horn, no radio.
Windows go up and down at what seems to be normal speed.
Trunk lights come on for a short time at normal intensity and then cut off when trunk is open.
Doug
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lynndm (12-27-2018)
#20
Le Mans Master
^^^
I remember when you made that thread. Funny how something so small can have such a big impact.
I remember when you made that thread. Funny how something so small can have such a big impact.