Uptospeed

Hello:

I have a 2000 six speed.

Unfortunately, there is an annoying drain on the battery; every three days, if I don't drive the car, the battery gets run down and the car won't start.

When the ignition is off, something that should be off is still on. I had the battery tested at a couple of shops and that's what they told me.

Does anyone have any idea what the problem could be or how I could track it down myself before taking it to the dealer?

Thanks.

az57chevy

There's two ways. This assumes your battery really is good. I'm sure a shop would have tried to sell you a new one if it wasn't.

#1 Hook up meter to check the readings. Pull a fuse and wait a day and see if that drain is still present. Keep on going one fuse at a time.

#2 Take good notes and pull half the fuses ! If drain still persists, replace those and pull half of the remaining half. A little faster but you need to keep good notes.

We are assuming no recent installs and a quick glance doesn't see any loose wires, humming noises or weird sounds

Greg_E

Here's a pretty good link showing how to hook up a multimeter to check the current draw. If you search the C5 tech archives for battery drain, battery discharging, battery dead, you will find many more threads on this, that may help point you in the right direction.

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show...=Battery+drain

Uptospeed

Thanks for the tips (pulling fuses and the link). I'll work on it this weekend and get back to you with an update.

Vette19

Pull the negative cable off your battery.hook one end of a test light to the cable and one end to the post .If the light comes on there is a draw.Now pull a fuse...if the light goes out ,that is the curcuit,if not ,replace the fuse and try another.This is fast and accurate.Remember that any open door or hood light will cause a light ,so disable those(or just hold in the switch.) Good Luck!

Bill Curlee

That will NOT work. You can NOT use a test light!! The C5 has a constant 20 milliamp drain due the the BCM and PCM needing to be powered all the time. Use the amp meter test! If your much higher than 20 milliamps you can pull fuses and relay t see where the excessive current draw is coming from. You will not be able to pull the BCM fuses cause the BCM controls everything.

BC

Uptospeed

I appreciate the test light idea. I'll try that first, since I'm not a mechanic and that approach seems simple enough.

I went looking for a digital multimeter today, but am not sure which brand/type to get or what the capabilities of it should be.

Any suggestions?

Uptospeed

I need a suggestion on the type of multimeter to use. Please advise.

Bill Curlee

Go to radio shack, sears, and even Auto Zone or Advanced. You do not need to get fancy or expensive. You need to measure AC Volts, DC Volts, Resistance (ohms) and Current. The meter should be able read to at least 10 AMPS. You should be able to find one for around $30-$50 bucks.

Here is my meter in series reading the correct reading:








BC

verskel

When you 'park' your 6-spd......make sure it's left in 'R'-reverse gear.

Reverse shuts off any electric accessories - a C5 flaw.

Uptospeed

Thanks for the pictures.

I'm looking at the second one and want to double check the way you've got the wires/cable connected.

Here's what it looks like to me:

The negative black lead from the multimeter is connected to a green wire, which is connected to the negative battery terminal. Another green lead from that terminal is connected to the positive red wire, which leads back to the multimeter and goes into the 10A plug on the meter. Right?

Also, thanks for the heads up on leaving the car in reverse.

Greg_E

To measure current (Amps) you put the meter in the circuit. The black meter lead goes to the - battery terminal. The red meter lead goes to the - battery cable. Make sure you have the meter set to DC amps, as shown in Bill's picture.

battery negative terminal> black meter lead> -or com plug on the meter> through the meter >10 amp plug on the meter> red meter lead> negative battery cable.

Uptospeed

Got it!

I bought a meter. Will try to post a photo of it tomorrrow.

Bill Curlee

Where in the WORLD did you hear this?????

This is another C6 (NOT C5 ) issue. The 05 & some 06 C6 cars had this issue! C5's NEVER had this issue! It is just an un true statement! The "owners manual does state to shift the trans to reverse upon leaving the car but not to shut off electrical accessories!!!

So now Ive herd that the C5 has a DBS (dead battery syndrome) issue and now this!

If you can tell me what electric accessories it shuts off and how it does it, ill eat crow!!!

Bill C

BC

Uptospeed

Okay, so it looks like I can't post the photo of my meter.

Here's the link, if you want to have a look at it.

http://www.amazon.com/Equus-3320-Inn.../dp/B000EVYGZA

The meter should work.

What about the green connecting wires shown in Bill Curlee's pictures. Would any wire do, or is there a specific gauge?

Dan_the_C5_Man

Last time I checked our T-56's didn't have a gear selection switch. Looks like you put him straight.

Bill Curlee

Any decent size stranded wire will do. Thats just some wire I had hanging around! The meter looks fine!


BC

Uptospeed

I bought some wire today, but it is not stranded. It's easy enough for me to pick up some stranded wire tomorrow.

Bill Curlee

It dosent matter much what type of wire as long as it not something like phone or bell wire! Current needs wire diameter to flow properly. If you try to shove too many electrons too rapidly through a very small wire it will heat up and effect the device operation. Your only working with 7-8 amps for a breif period of time.

BC

Sully1882

My 2000 had this problem, it ended up being a problem with the instrument cluster panel going bad..... that was the constant drain. I went through the battery and alternator tests and it wasn't either. After doing the meter test that Bill had suggested I figured out it was the cluster... got that fixed and now no more problems. Test the Battery and alternator.... then clean grounds.... then perform the meter test on the battery.... read the codes fromm the DIC and then post here and we'll all figure it out! Good luck... and keep us posted.

Thomas