Arevell115

Replaced battery in the middle of last summer. Car was fine the rest of the year, no issues at all. Put the car in storage like I normally do hooked up to a tender. It was 55 today in NY so i went to fire it up and completely dead. Tried to jump it with my wifes ford edge and seemed like i could not get a solid connection for the life of me. Took both terminals off the battery on the vette, cleaned them and put them back on still just didnt have enough juice to turn over. Tried my Duramax next and finally got it to start. Im noticing that both terminals seem loose even when tightening as much as possible especially the negative. Drove the vette around the neighborhood and let it run for a half hour but the odd part is that my radio was completely dead like it had no power. Pulled back in the garage shut it off and again completely dead. My thought is to replace the terminals. Any other suggestions as to what it could be? The same thing happened last winter but last year i just threw a new battery in and it was good the rest of the year (always on tender when parked)

Kruegs

Potentially a possible solution for you but I’ll say that my ‘13 GS also seems to have a loose connection at the negative terminal. I can spin it on the post with light pressure. I believe I’ve seen “sleeves” that go over the posts for this exact issue… to make the circumference a hair wider.

DrKrieger

It also sounds like your battery is toast. Maybe a dead cell? It can happen, however, the loose terminals are a problem.

Arevell115

Definitely could be toast but in all reality its was only put in for the a few months last summer then put in storage so could i have gotten a dud, i suppose?

DrKrieger

You may have had a parasitic drain over the past few months, that could be why it was dead even with a battery tender. That can ruin a battery or cause a dead cell.

dpigguy

Although we don’t store our cars for months at a time down here, have had the dead battery issue even with new battery. Found terminals would loosen up with time and had to re-torque them to get them tight. Also had internal corrosion on the positive side cable which had similar symptoms.

ruxvette

Do your batt clamps have the proper conical nut? They won't tighten correctly if no.

dpigguy

I have stock cables and ends with the proper conical nuts. I found I tighten them down and them wiggled them, I was able to tighten them down a little more and they stay tight.

Arevell115

i will check for this in the AM, part of me wants to say its missing this conical nut but not entirely sure. Im pretty sure i just have a regular nut

ruxvette

dr_gallup

Even if you have the conical nut they can get a groove worn in them and then they won't tighten down properly. Poor design in my book. Hard to understand how GM can screw up something so simple.

Take a look at the other ends of the cables too. Plenty of people have had problems there too.

not08crmanymore

I might have missed it but what year is your car and stick or manual?

c5arlen

GM nuts and "tored" fastners
Well... there's always the better mouse trap to be discovered.... and sometimes it's GM that's doin the trying. 😂

bignikmusic

In my experience once a battery goes fully dead one time it weakens it permanently. My battery doesn't last for **** even though it's only a couple years old. Only lasts about 2 weeks now unless I drive it so i keep it on a trickle charger now.

adding a large gauge ground and power wire made a huge difference and helped my charging system. Went from around 13.5-13.8v to 14.2-14.4v all the time now

Arevell115

My car is an 06 automatic. And I do not have the above conical nut unfortunately

Chatman

Your battery has been on a tender, any tender, and the battery failed to start the car? BS on the battery being bad. Your tender must not work. A pathetic battery will start the car if maintained on a tender. Do some basic battery voltage readings, On tender, with tender disconnected, after trying to start, etc. The battery is not the problem. My 2 cents.

Arevell115

Leaning that direction as well. We had a hell of a time getting a connection just to get it jumped. I think its an issue with my negative terminal

Purple92

IMHO Step 1 -- Take the current battery to an Auto Parts store that will test it for free (e.g Advance Auto). Hopefully the place you bought it from has this service - but if the battery is NG - you'll need some kind of proof for the warranty.

Step 2 - With a known good battery installed in the car- get the terminals nice and clean - and then get them tight. If you need to replace the battery cable - then replace it. No good comes from a loose battery terminal.

Step 3 - Check to see if you have an excessive parasitic draw (Lots of threads about this...)

Step 4 - Verify that your maintainer (battery tender) is working properly - hook it up to another car's battery or to a loose battery and monitor the voltage output. Most battery maintainers will get to output voltages around 14.2 V before moving to a maintenance mode.

dr_gallup

Not true if the battery isn't even connected to the tender due to the bad connector.

candipogo

pull your on star fuse and recheck after you charge it up. This is a drain that often goes un noticed.
Good luck