My battery loses charge .... any ideas

[silverbullit99]

Last summer my battery didn't seem to keep it's charge,, so I bought a Red Top. That seemed to work great for a while. then it started losing power again. I would have to charge every few days. I put the car away for storage last fall and brought back the Red Top.. This spring I went out and got another brand of battery. It was great for the past 2 weeks. Today it died on me again.. ad
I have no idea as to what could possibly drain the battery. Any of you have any ideas ?? :confused Could it be the alternator ? I have not driven the car yet this year, only took it out of storage today.. What a start ..............;help

 

[bossvette]

a friend had a simular problem it seems he would hang his keys on a nail by the garage door to the house and the closeness of the fob to the car kept the door locks cycleing; I either leave the keys in mine or bring them all the way in the house.

 

[silverbullit99]

a friend had a simular problem it seems he would hang his keys on a nail by the garage door to the house and the closeness of the fob to the car kept the door locks cycleing; I either leave the keys in mine or bring them all the way in the house.

Nope not the keys,, I just got a new fob and set it up last week. This has happened even before I activated the fob. I have 99 with passive entry ,, I have that turned off. Strange.............:confused

 

[leadfoot4]

I have a 2001 coupe. Bought it new in late June of '01. When the scare over the batteries leaking on the computers first flared up a few years ago, my car was 2 years old. Not wanting to deal with any issues, I immediately replacd the OE battery with an Optima red top.

Things were good for a year or so, but eventually, the normal battery drain of the C-5's computers were killing the battery during the car's winter storage. If I didn't put a charger on the car for at least 30-45 minutes every week, the battery would die. Due to where the car was being stored at that time, a battery tender wasn't an option, so I could charge it only on the weekends.

About a year and a half ago, I noticed some corrosion on my negatige battery cable's connector. I replaced the cable, and had a load test done on the battery. At the time, the battery was only 3 years old, but the test showed it was only "OK". I replaced the battery again.

It just seems to be the nature of a C-5 to kill batteries if the car isn't driven daily. The computers draw a fair amount of current.....

 

[bossvette]

It just seems to be the nature of a C-5 to kill batteries if the car isn't driven daily. The computers draw a fair amount of current.....

Yes If you don't drive them the batteries go dead, we had a bunch of snow this year so mine sat for about a month, first time since I've owned it. sure enough the battery was dead, but the 68 right next to it started right up.
We had a fairly mild winter this year until we got hammered so I was driving both quite often in the daytime and never really put them away. Now I'm back to driving the C5 daily and working to get the 68 ready for top down weather.

 

[silverbullit99]

Well,,,, took the vette in this morning to get the electrical checked. Found that the new battery I bought last week should have had more amprage. And they also found that where the negative cable gets screwed into the battery it was as tight as it could go but it was still loose.. The original battery cable screw was not compatiable with the battery.:confused It seems that the hole where you connect the cable to was not deep enough therefore could not be tightened any further. So I bought an original GM battery installed it. It fit like a glove. I just hope it works well enough. The dealer did say that corvettes draw power and if it's not used the battery drains. I still find this bizare. A battery tender seems like a good idea. Although I do have a battery charger.. Anyways Thanks everyone for all your feedback.. Until next time. Drive safe and be happy !

 

[rickrendo]

I've been having this problem with my ZR-1 so I went to Corvette Central and purchased a side post battery switch with a bypass fuse. Give the knob a twist and you cut off the current at the battery. The bypass fused link gives a trinkle charge so the radio and clock will still function. Seems to work so far.

 

[LLC5]

Well,,,, took the vette in this morning to get the electrical checked. Found that the new battery I bought last week should have had more amprage. And they also found that where the negative cable gets screwed into the battery it was as tight as it could go but it was still loose.. The original battery cable screw was not compatiable with the battery.:confused It seems that the hole where you connect the cable to was not deep enough therefore could not be tightened any further. So I bought an original GM battery installed it. It fit like a glove. I just hope it works well enough. The dealer did say that corvettes draw power and if it's not used the battery drains. I still find this bizare. A battery tender seems like a good idea. Although I do have a battery charger.. Anyways Thanks everyone for all your feedback.. Until next time. Drive safe and be happy !

I have found many times where the terminal bolt is tight, but the cable is still loose. You always need to wiggle the cable after tightning the bolt to make sure the connection is tight, not just the bolt.

A tender is a good idea. A battery charger can over charge and damage your battery, even a trickle charger. The more electronics a car has, the more parasitic drain on the battery, and corvettes have a lot of electronic components. When a battery is discharged it will sulfate and go bad. A tender will lessen the possibilty of sulfation and extend the life of the battery, I would definately get one.