Need assistance fast please!
06-15-2013, 01:40 PM
#1
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St. Jude Donor '13
Need assistance fast please!
First off- 03 Vert I have had for two weeks.
I have not had any issues at all with it and drove it 3 days ago. Ran fine started fine, no codes...nothing special.
Wife and I are supposed to go out for a ride today. I went out to clean it up just now and the car was completely dead. Trunk would not open doors would not unlock with the key fob. I opened the door and all dead inside too. Put key in...nothing. I went out and got my volt meter. Took voltage at battery (new battery) 2.4 volts. I noticed the ground cable was a little loose and tightened that up. I went out and got my battery charger. Hooked it up and it too read 2.4 volts. Started a charge on the battery and then I noticed a noise coming from the passenger side floor board. I pulled the carpet back and I see two boxes in there. One is a black fuse box (on the right) and the other is a silver box on the left. There is a clicking and buzzing sound coming from the silver box that does not sound good. I just unhooked the battery charger and don't know what to do next. Something has drawn the battery down fast. This car is bone stock with 87K on the odometer. Help PLEASE!
I have not had any issues at all with it and drove it 3 days ago. Ran fine started fine, no codes...nothing special.
Wife and I are supposed to go out for a ride today. I went out to clean it up just now and the car was completely dead. Trunk would not open doors would not unlock with the key fob. I opened the door and all dead inside too. Put key in...nothing. I went out and got my volt meter. Took voltage at battery (new battery) 2.4 volts. I noticed the ground cable was a little loose and tightened that up. I went out and got my battery charger. Hooked it up and it too read 2.4 volts. Started a charge on the battery and then I noticed a noise coming from the passenger side floor board. I pulled the carpet back and I see two boxes in there. One is a black fuse box (on the right) and the other is a silver box on the left. There is a clicking and buzzing sound coming from the silver box that does not sound good. I just unhooked the battery charger and don't know what to do next. Something has drawn the battery down fast. This car is bone stock with 87K on the odometer. Help PLEASE!
Last edited by PNW Vett; 06-15-2013 at 02:25 PM.
06-15-2013, 02:15 PM
#3
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St. Jude Donor '13
With the battery still in and charging I got enough voltage to get the dash to light up, but not enough to get to the codes. The silver/aluminum box under the passenger side floor board is buzzing and clicking on occasion. Sounds like there is a short or a stuck relay in that box.
06-15-2013, 03:18 PM
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St. Jude Donor '13
That box is the Body Control Module or BCM. It is the brains of the car and contains lots of relays.
STRONGLY suggest you disconnect the battery to charge it. Likely you have something in the car that is drawing the battery down if you measured only 2.4 volts.
Once the battery is fully charged have it load tested to insure that the battery itself in not the problem. If the battery load tests good, then reinstall it connecting the neg cable last.
Give the car a minute or two to stabilize the electrical and then get in the car and carefully listen for motors that might be running or relays clicking. Here 's some info and a link for diagnosing battery drains from Bill Curlee along with a list of which devices are common causes:
The correct BCM current draw should be 20 Milliamps or less. Most C5 run around 25ma
but I have see some as low as 15 ma.
Leave the engine compartment fuse box for last and start with the passengers compartment
box first. Pull the power seat breakers FIRST! The power seats have a tendancy stay on
and cause this issue.
Also pull the fuses for the Bose system amp.
Examine the car in the dark for lights staying ON.
Once you prove the interior circuits good,,, check the headlight circuits, and then test
the current draw of the alternator.
Look at my electrical stickey. I think I cover this in detail in that post.
There are several COMMON things that cause excessive current draw
-Seat multifunction switch & Lumbar Switch
- Bose Amp relay stuck on
- Alternator didoes bad and drawing current
- Headlight control module bad
- Interior light on (check in the dark)
- Added aftermarket accessory not shutting off
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/1567522286-post590.html
STRONGLY suggest you disconnect the battery to charge it. Likely you have something in the car that is drawing the battery down if you measured only 2.4 volts.
Once the battery is fully charged have it load tested to insure that the battery itself in not the problem. If the battery load tests good, then reinstall it connecting the neg cable last.
Give the car a minute or two to stabilize the electrical and then get in the car and carefully listen for motors that might be running or relays clicking. Here 's some info and a link for diagnosing battery drains from Bill Curlee along with a list of which devices are common causes:
The correct BCM current draw should be 20 Milliamps or less. Most C5 run around 25ma
but I have see some as low as 15 ma.
Leave the engine compartment fuse box for last and start with the passengers compartment
box first. Pull the power seat breakers FIRST! The power seats have a tendancy stay on
and cause this issue.
Also pull the fuses for the Bose system amp.
Examine the car in the dark for lights staying ON.
Once you prove the interior circuits good,,, check the headlight circuits, and then test
the current draw of the alternator.
Look at my electrical stickey. I think I cover this in detail in that post.
There are several COMMON things that cause excessive current draw
-Seat multifunction switch & Lumbar Switch
- Bose Amp relay stuck on
- Alternator didoes bad and drawing current
- Headlight control module bad
- Interior light on (check in the dark)
- Added aftermarket accessory not shutting off
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/1567522286-post590.html
06-15-2013, 08:18 PM
#6
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St. Jude Donor '13
Well, got the battery back in and the noises from the BCM stopped. I called a friend and he told me that the low voltage state of the battery would cause the BCM relays to cycle and I am now convinced that is what I was hearing. The battery load tested fine, so that is not the issue. Still cannot figure out what is drawing the battery down. I did sit in the car after I reinstalled the battery as 8VETTE suggested and did not hear or see anything out of the ordinary (no motors running, relays clicking or lights on). I pulled codes and here is what I have: (all codes had the "H" after them) BCM- 2592, 2593, 2809, 1016 and 1096. LDCM- 2282, 2286, 2284. RDCM- 2283 and 2285. SCM- 0851, 0856 and 1016. B0-RFA- 1000, 1255, 1096 and 1016. Most codes appear to be caused by removing the battery for charging. The one that might be of concern is the LDCM 2286. That one is described as a +5V Reference Fault. Not sure what that means, and some of the others may be of concern to those of you that know what they mean. I got the car started and everything seemed fine. Because the weather was nice and we had not been out in the car with the top down for a drive yet, I decided to chance it and off we went. We went for a good long drive, stopped and had lunch. The car was off for about an hour while we were having lunch and I was really hoping it would start again after lunch. Well, it did and we came home. All in all a good day! When I got the car home, put it in the garage and put the top up I once again made sure there were no lights on inside and no motors running or anything. Again, not sure what would have drawn the battery down to 2.4 volts after sitting for 3 days before all this started. I am hoping it was just a stuck seat switch or something. I don't really know how to measure draw on the battery while it is sitting, but would like to try that if someone would explain to me what to do with my meter. Oh, by the way...I still love this car! Thanks to those that assisted thus far! -Glenn
Last edited by PNW Vett; 06-15-2013 at 08:21 PM.