Help! Battery Issues

[UncleBuck]

I thought I would post this as a different thread, it doesn't seem to be a security code issue. Just when you thought you were safe! Security light came on again on the way home from the golf course. Had the P1631 code again, reset that and car seemed okay. Went out that evening, car would not start. No codes, seemed like low battery. Charged it over night, but it is 4 years old. I reviewed the CL video were Paul talked about the importance of batteries. Decided I probably need a new battery. Got the ACDelco 86PS as recommended by the thread. However, it is rated at 590 CCA and 110 RC. Not the specs recommended by the thread. What's up with that? Is this still the battery I should use or should I get something else????? New battery is currently on the charger awaiting a good response.

 

[LLC5]

I thought I would post this as a different thread, it doesn't seem to be a security code issue. Just when you thought you were safe! Security light came on again on the way home from the golf course. Had the P1631 code again, reset that and car seemed okay. Went out that evening, car would not start. No codes, seemed like low battery. Charged it over night, but it is 4 years old. I reviewed the CL video were Paul talked about the importance of batteries. Decided I probably need a new battery. Got the ACDelco 86PS as recommended by the thread. However, it is rated at 590 CCA and 110 RC. Not the specs recommended by the thread. What's up with that? Is this still the battery I should use or should I get something else????? New battery is currently on the charger awaiting a good response.

Your CCA is fine, the RC is slightly lower than 120 at 110, but you will be ok with it. Here's the deal, a brand new battery that was just purchased can be bad or weak depending on how long it has sat with out being charged, as they will self discharge on a shelf and can sulfate internally. After fully charging the battery it needs to be tested by a quality load tester to be sure that it is in good health. Good luck with it.

 

[UncleBuck]

Battery Info

Thanks much for the quick reply. Battery is on charger now, in the old days I would have just put it in the car and took off. The old battery is an Advanced Auto Parts battery that I did just that with 4 years ago(before I was a member of this forum). It was rated at 640 CCA but only 105 RC.

 

[6401]

Just Installed an AC DELCO Group 78PS Battery

I thought I would post this as a different thread, it doesn't seem to be a security code issue. Just when you thought you were safe! Security light came on again on the way home from the golf course. Had the P1631 code again, reset that and car seemed okay. Went out that evening, car would not start. No codes, seemed like low battery. Charged it over night, but it is 4 years old. I reviewed the CL video were Paul talked about the importance of batteries. Decided I probably need a new battery. Got the ACDelco 86PS as recommended by the thread. However, it is rated at 590 CCA and 110 RC. Not the specs recommended by the thread. What's up with that? Is this still the battery I should use or should I get something else????? New battery is currently on the charger awaiting a good response.

I just installed an AC Delco Group 78PS battery to replace the AC Delco Group 75A-72 that I installed back in August 2006. The Group 78 battery was recommended on another Corvette forum. The AC Delco 78PS has 700 CCA and a 120 RC. I paid $99 at United Auto Supply. A local Chevy dealer had quoted $139 and I had a 10% discount coupon which would have brought it down to $125. The one I bought from United Auto Supply had a manufacturer Date Code of May 2014 so I was pleased that it had just been produced. I charged it fully using a Battery Tender before I installed it and also connected a portable battery jumper pack to the (+) connector located under the sliding cover on the fuse block next to the battery and the (-) jumper lead to a bare metal part on the engine block. This avoided losing the memory functions in the radio and on-board computers. As expected, it cranks over quicker with the new battery and the biggest improvement is that it appears to maintain voltage better after the car hadn't been started for a week. The old battery had deteriorated to the point that the voltage would dip low enough to lose the fuel mileage average from memory if I hadn't started it in a week - even with the Battery Tender hooked up to it.

 

[UncleBuck]

Re: 78PS

I believe the 78 PS is a side post battery. In 2004 Chevy went to a top post battery for the corvettes. I couldn't use a 78PS. Glad it worked well for you, I hope my replacement goes as e-z. My new 86 PS is still on my "Battery Tender" charger being charged since about 10 am yesterday. So much for being "fully" charged at purchase.

 

[catbert]

Even allowing for the fact that new cars are full of background power vampires that use power 24/7, it seems that batteries do not last as they used to. Vettes, beginning with the C5 are famous for draining batteries if parked for a couple weeks. Whatever the reason, figure on 4 trouble-free years for a battery, if used with an intelligent, desulfating charger. Anything over that seems to be a bonus. Going through batteries quickly is one of the problems with driving a car only once or twice every couple of weeks - according to a rep for a battery company I spoke to a few years ago.

 

[6401]

I believe the 78 PS is a side post battery. In 2004 Chevy went to a top post battery for the corvettes. I couldn't use a 78PS. Glad it worked well for you, I hope my replacement goes as e-z. My new 86 PS is still on my "Battery Tender" charger being charged since about 10 am yesterday. So much for being "fully" charged at purchase.

Yes, you're right, the 78PS is a side post battery. I had missed the fact that yours is an '04 and therefore uses the top post battery. BTW, my 78PS is 6 lbs heavier than my old 75 (38 lbs vs 32 lbs). More plates/lead increases the capacity but comes at the expense of weight!

 

[UncleBuck]

Even allowing for the fact that new cars are full of background power vampires that use power 24/7, it seems that batteries do not last as they used to. Vettes, beginning with the C5 are famous for draining batteries if parked for a couple weeks. Whatever the reason, figure on 4 trouble-free years for a battery, if used with an intelligent, desulfating charger. Anything over that seems to be a bonus. Going through batteries quickly is one of the problems with driving a car only once or twice every couple of weeks - according to a rep for a battery company I spoke to a few years ago.

Yeah ain't that the truth. Right now I live in NE Ohio and do not drive the car in the winter! But we are moving to Florida where the temperatures are even harder on batteries.

 

[UncleBuck]

Battery Install

Well new battery finally showed full charge. Swapped out old one, it was leaking a little. What's up with that large coffee cup size "hole" under the battery? Is that for smuggling or what? Had to clean that up with some baking soda. New battery is in and "seems" to be working fine. If anything else happens I'll repost the info. Thanks for the support!