cpaxson

I've been having battery drain problems one of which had resulted in a dead battery (no, it's a brand new Optima). I'm still in the middle of tracking what is causing the drain but now I have a road trip that I have to make. My plan, to make sure I don't come down from my hotel room to a drained and dead battery, is to put a disconnect switch on the battery but...... I'm not sure if cutting all the power will still allow me to unlock the car - in other words, if the door lock is mechanical and requires no power, no problem; however if I have the battery disconnected and the lock is tied to the car power and won't work if the battery is disconnected, I'm locked out with no way to get in.

Obviously, I don't want to try this without knowing as I'll end up with no way to get into the car if the lock does require power.

Anybody know for sure? - and not just guessing.........

Thanks,
Charles

MSG C5

I installed an aftermarket amp that blew out and drained my battery bone dry before dying. After a long road trip when the amp blew out due to excessive heat, I parked the car in my garage not knowing the amp was still draining the battery. The next day, the battery was completely dead as the fob would not open the doors or windows (Window Valet).

I simply used the key, unlocked the driver's side door (no keyhole on passenger side), popped the hood and then recharged the battery. I then had the amp replaced. All is good.

Also, if you have any concern that the battery may fail, purchase a high voltage battery charger to bring with you. Not a trickle charger as they don't have enough power to completely recharge a dead battery.

65GGvert

Assuming you have a c5 since you posted in this forum, the key will open at least the driver's door. You don't need power to use the door key.

cpaxson

AGGGRRRRHHH! So sorry, yes, I omitted that basic information, this is a 2001.

Thanks very much. I knew the fob wouldn't work, obviously, but was unsure the key would unlock the door mechanically. I didn't want to try it, find out the key needed a power connection to work as well, and then be locked out. As long as I know just the key will open the door I'm fine.

As to the battery, I'll put in a pat on the back for something that worked well for me. My battery was a brand new Optime Yellow Top AGM. The drain killed it but I had a BatteryMinder 2012-AGM maintainer so I disconnected the neg cable, hooked up the charger and it brought the battery back. Did an absolutely fantastic job over 24 hours reaching just over 13.3 V, no problem since. YMMV.

Thanks again,
Charles

Mr.Bill

How long does your car sit when you come out to a dead battery?
Mr.Bill

lwise4

Ihad a similiar problem with my 01. In my case the problem was that the underhood light was not going off after closing the hood. I believe that it has a mercury switch that is finicky. My fix was to just unplug the light and to plug it in when needed which is not too often. I now have a 03 Z06 and the first thing I did was unplug the light.

And yes, I also used the key to unlock the door. The most annoying part was losing the memory settings.

memmer

lwise4, you can reprogram your fob just go to search and type in reprogram key fob and you will find the instrctions there.GL
Fred

cpaxson

It's not easly to publically admit you're an idiot but I am. Here's what hapened and I'm embarrassed at the actual cause:

it seems I had a garage door opener hooked to the driver's sun visor and the clip on the control slid under the mirror cover on the back of the visor just enough to activate the vanity mirror light but didn't lift the cover high enough so I could tell that the light was on. The tech that traced the problem back to that is either the best or luckiest guy in the business; whichever THANK YOU, man.

I'll be looking into doing the HomeLink mod that someone posted here a while back.

Thanks to everyone who posted suggestions. It's what makes this group of Corvette people great.

Charles

lwise4

Fred Thanks for the advice but I do not know why you are giving it to me? I was responding to the originator of the post.

lwise4

Glad you found the problem it makes sense. I have had similar experiences when the dome light has been left on. It is amazing how a little light bulb can run down a big battery!

If I may, I would still pull the plug on the under hood light as a precausion. You can always plug it in when it is needed.