kman0066

Alirght, it has been a progressive probelm. First, the battery would slowly drain and it would be hard to start. Finally, it killed my starter. I replaced the starter and it worked good for a couple of months. Then the battery went dead and would not hold a charge for 5 minutes. I replaced the battery and the car worked great for a couple of weeks. A few months later, the battery will not hold a charge. I am getting a SYS light. An ASR SERVICE light. The engine is running like poo. And finally, I am having some problems with the VATS. Every other time I try to start the car, the stupid VATS prevents me. It usually starts after waiting the required 3 minutes.

I don't think the chances are good that I got two bad batteries in a row and I am hoping all the other problems are a result of the now dead battery. My question is, could a bad coil or opti cause the battery to drain? I don't have any blown fuses, so I don't think there is a short. Or is that my best bet, to look for a short.

I feel like I am having every Corvette problem there is all in one experience.

1993 Corvette 6spd Coupe. w/Crane cams ignition and coil (the first battery died before I put it on)

:cry :cry :cry

offershore

you could have gotten 2 bad batteries. I've had that happen more than once (but i go through a 100 a year) sounds like a bad diode in the alt.


[Modified by offershore, 6:42 AM 8/12/2003]

vader86

yeah i think you have a problem somewhere else

Take the alternator off and have it tested, replace the fusible link or at least check it out, check the wiring to the starter, test the coil

kman0066

I though about the altenator being bad, but when I finally get the car started, it reads around 14 volts. Doesn't this show the altenator is working as advertised?

About the wiring, where all do I need to check. Not being to familiar but seeing a lot under the hod help me out here. I think the negative cable runs straight from the battery to the starter. correct? I know a small positive goes to the started that is always hot, or is it suppose to be? Should you be able to bridge the two points on the starter to start the car with nothing else on, including the key.

So, my best bet is an altenator or a wire, not an Opti?

offershore

the diode lets power run one way only if it blows power will run both ways, the alt will still charge but when you turn the car off the alt. sucks power from the batt. It's kind of funny to see, if you take the belt off the alt. will spin like a starter just no tq.

Richard G

In my area, we have an auto place called Advance Auto Parts. They can check your battery and alternator with them in place. They can do a load test and tell you battery condition and alternator charging rate for free.

jfb

You need to charge up the battery and then remove a battery cable and put an ammeter between the battery post and the removed cable. Wait for the courtesy lights to time out and read the leakage current. If it exceeds 50 milliamps, you need to look for the drain and fix it. You can find the circuit at fault by removing the fuses one at a time and observe the leakage current, the fuse that makes the leakage current drop is the circuit you will have to investigate further. If ok, then remove the nut on the battery jump terminal and remove the 8 wires one at a time and observe the ammeter reading. And.....you still aren't done because there are a number of circuit breakers in your C4 that will need to be disconnected. Car batteries don't like being discharged and recharged nor sitting discharged for long periods because lead sulphate collects on their plates. Lead sulphate is a good insulator and reduces the plate area (amp hour capacity) and eventually makes the battery a door stop. If you park your vette for longer than 4 weeks at a time, charge the battery weekly or get an interval timer and set it for its lowest interval (usually 15 mins) and have it charge your battery every day. Disconnecting the battery won't work because lead acid batteries self discharge 1% every day and you will have a sulphated battery. Let us know what you find.

kman0066

Ok, I removed the cable and stuck the multimeter in between... After finally figuring out which selection to use to get a rading, I got a .5 reading with the courtesy lights off and a 68 with them on. This is the 200mA (DCA) selection on my multimeter. I have used one before for volts, continuity, and even resistance, but this is my first time measuring for amps, so am I doing this right? What is the .5 anyways, is that 50mA or .mA, or what?

Mayab I should have invested in a better multimeter than the 10 dollar special.

This is all of course with a bad battery. I know it's bad now, won't hold a charge for anything now. I can go use my warranty to get a new battery, but I want to fix the drain probelm before I ruin another battery. The store might catch on that I keep ruining batteries.

So, unless I get a new idea, I am going to pull the altenator and get it tested. I will replace the battery as soon as I find the problem or I give up. If money allows, I'll also do the main battery wires.


errrr....sometimes you envy two-cycle motors...

jfb

The courtesy lights draw somewhere around 1 to 2 amps (my guess) and you might read your multimeter instructions. Some meters to measure current you have to plug one of the test leads into a jack marked amps or Ma. Be careful to set your ammeter on a high enough scale so it doesn't pin the meter from the high courtesy lamp current. When the courtesy lights go out, you can switch to lower full scale currents to read the leakage current. The meter switch shows full scale current (such as 200 ma. which would be 200 milliamps, needle full scale). In the example, find a 200 on one of the arcs on the meter and read that scale for the leakage current. For example if the meter switch is on 200 ma and the needle is pointing to 55 on that scale, the meter is measuring 55 milliamps. Hope this helps.

kman0066

UPDATE
----------
I took the battery to Autozone and got the battery tested. They said Good, but a low charge.
I came home, charged the battery and hooked up the multimeter. 68mA's with the lights on, and .5mA with the lights off.
I took it out for a drive, same old same old, though it started a lot quicker. It still took a year and a half of backfiring to get up to higher RPM's.

Could the VATS be causing my problems. I noticed that when the SYS light flashes, that my SECURITY light flashes at the same time. This happens every couple of seconds while driving. I know it is suppose to prevent the car from starting with the wrong key, but what happens if it reads a bad key halfway down the road? And then there is that stupid ASR SERVICE light.

jfb

If you can crank and start it, VATS is working correctly. You need to pull the stored error codes which will tell you where your problems are and where you need to investigate further.

offershore

Is your car even charging? Sounds like NOT.

kman0066

Well, I know something is wrong with the VATS. Either the key or the cylinder because every other time I try to start it, it won't and I wait 3 minutes and it starts. I jumped that with the proper resistor, so that is out of the way. Same problem remains.

I only got a code 12 when I hooked up the reader. And that is just the standard working code.

So, are the CCM codes seperate? I guess I'll try and se if codes are in there.

C4396roadster

I had a similiar prob with my 87 vette with all the hair pulling and new names for the car I narrowed it down to and old relay, and changed them out somewhere along the lines of reading people suggest this anyway maf,fuel, fan relays they wear in time thus how I solved my problem just giving my .02 cents :chevy

kman0066

A relay? That would be cool. I'll g=have to test those.

In the mean time.

Here are my CCM codes
1. C41, C53, H41, H53, H54, ---
4. ERR
9. H62, H72, ---
1.0

This all seems to point to a bad altenator/battery and I know the battery is good, so I guess the altenator is the next step.

This all except code 72. Gear selector switch. I thought that was for automatics only?

Can Autozone test the altenator fully on the car?

offershore

Go buy a cheap dvom and test it yourself! You need it anyway if you are going to work on your own car. (must have tool) with the car running the voltage should be a min. 13.1

kman0066

The volts don't seem to be an issue, though they are fluctuating between mid 13's and low 14's. I am concerned about the amperage however. I'll check back tomorrow with the test results. It's time to take a break and a beer. :sleep:

kman0066

Ok, Autozone says the altenator is fine, but they cannot test the amps outside the car. I put the alt. back in. Now the car runs great, for 2 minutes. Now, I can't even start the car, aparently my battery is definitely dead now. So, back to square one.

...I wonder how much the junk yard would give me for this car... :cuss

offershore

check all your fuseable links ang grounds. :crazy:

oldace84

FYI. When I leave my vette parked for along while I use a battery disconect switch (Mid America), that way if there is a drain, my bat. stays charged enough to start the car while I chase down the voltage draw.
Just my 2 cents worth.
good luck
tony
:chevy