=TheStig=

Hey guys,

My new Z06 sat in the garage for 5 days......and the battery was stone dead. What is going on with this issue? Any ideas what could be causing this? How can I fix this, is there a TSB or soultion?

Does changing the battery to an Optima or other brand work?

I think it's pretty rediculous that a car as high performance, and high $$$, would have such a drastic issue. Any information you can supply would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Hawkeye2

Same thing with mine. I have a call into the Service Manager
at the dealer.

I did a post about this earlier, in the meantime I'm checking on
the Optima and Odessey batteries.

Will post if I get a call back from the dealer.

Erix

No one here is psychic so no way to know based on that info.

You need to try to charge it to see if it holds or if the battery is truly bad.

You could very well have left the courtesy lights on as they are not protected by the auto shutoff battery drain saver thingy.

Or your battery could have shat itself.

But you wont know till you check.

BTW, that $75000 car still have a standard battery. No guarentees implied with that kind of thing just because someone considers a car expensive. And those Goodyears are just as likely to grab a nail and go flat as your Kmart $29 tire too.

Z06LINK

I hard wired the leads to a battery tender plus in my Z. Pigtail comes out right above the license plate. Just park it in the garage and plug it in--- All is cure and no worries.

BernieR

Stig,

I haven't been on for a few weeks due to illness and work...but this morning (and I drive my 08 Z every day regardless of being sick) I couldn't start without jumping from another car...and battery is now only comning up to 13.9 volts where previoisl;y it was 14.4-14.5 volts depending on ambient temperature. I'm in North Texas and today was warm.

Previously, some of the other Z "bretheren" say that 08 Z's shouldn't have to be left in reverse... leaving in neutral to avoid DBS was one of the issues with 06 and some 07 C-6's and Z06's.

Is that right?

Also my M2W wireless switch/controler shouldn't draw.....at least this is what has been sd ...and until this morning I never had a problem....so I'm perplexed as to what caused the low battery performance this AM!!

This morning, I bought a 600cranking amps Battery Booster and a good Battery charger so I won't have to be stranded again...but the large question I have, and so do you, STIG, is whah hoppend????

Maybe some of the better connected (with GM/Bowling Green) brothers will chime in.....hopefully!!

Bernie

=TheStig=

Ok, well let me provide more information:

Courtesy lights were NOT left on. Battery is charged now and holding charge. Battery has been load tested, passed. I have checked, the issue is somewhere in the car.

I am implying, that my $26k VW GTi can sit for 2 weeks, outside, just fine. Starts right up when I need it. So naturally, it is quite perplexing, isn't it? Why is a car, which is valued at less than half, with the same "standard battery" not plagued by this? Curious, to say the least....

levrac68

I like that Idea... Mine went dead 2 days ago. I accidentally hit the alarm button in my pocket and I had to go into my garage, get in the car and push the start button to shut the alarm off. I suspect that I may have unknowingly put the ACCESSORY mode on. I'm not sure if that would kill the battery overnight, but SOMETHING did. I couldn't even get the door open in the morning. It took 1/2 an hour with a jump charger to get any lights to come on at all. Now she seems to be back to normal.

805Z06

I noticed that if you leave any doors/hatch open, it will drain the battery for some reason. The lights stay on for some time.

Also, using accessory mode a few times will drain out the battery.

I will be upgrading to Optima yellow and priority start + battery tender

=TheStig=

Thanks for the responses guys. I am 100% confident that I did not leave anything on. I am in my shop almost daily, and constantly looking at the car.

I am hopeful we can get to the bottom of this, because surely I am not the only one with this issue.

C6Tim

I read a lot about guys having problems with dead batteries in their Z's. I know this was an issue with the 06's, but I thought it was supposed to be fixed. However, I still see a number of folks complaining about it and it does not seem to be restricted to any particular year. I've read complaints from 06-08 Z's. Also, even if you did leave some lights on they are supposed to turn off after 10 or 15 minutes automatically as a safety measure. I'll have to look at the owners manual to check the exact length of time before the safety feature kicks in, but I believe it is the same for all C6's.

You should not have to have a trickle charger on a car that only sits a few days or even a couple weeks between starts. Are the stock batteries just crap or is their another lingering problem?

I only ask because I am planning on getting a 09 Z.

titletaker

It's something to do with the flux capacitor drawing amperage during down periods.

NorCalDelta

Mine's gone DOA several times in my '06, once requiring a AAA boost to get me back to the dealer. The kept it two weeks, did some TSB update, verified that the battery was Ok, then it happened again a week later. After toasting it pretty good with the charger @home, I reprogrammed the preferences to remove passive locking and passive unlocking. Now a month later it's still going strong and holding without a glitch. Last interval it sat 2 weeks and fired right up. I'm suspecting that the passive unlocking creates a heavy m.a. draw, but I wish the dealer had figured it out conclusively.

Wanderer Z06

Had the same problem on my 07. The first time I brought it to the dealers and the battery checked out ok. Happened again a week or so after that. It had sat in the garage for a couple of days and dead again. I brought it back to the dealer and the battery had a bad cell... and they replaced it ....um go figure that one.

Haven't had a problem with it after that.

If you let it sit for a while or put it away for the winter put a trickle charger on it!


I'm sure your dealer will find your problem and fix it.

obzidian

guys, it's the battery GM uses. Happens in a 35k tahoe, in a 25k cobalt, 51k cts-v and 60k+ escalades. This is my third GM vehicle i have own, besides my 1998 camaro and all the other cars my pops has owned from gm.

It has something to do with their batteries... i had to replace my hummer battery almost constantly if i let her sit for a while. Same thing with my old CTS-V. This hasn't happened to me in the Z and it's an 08' with 8k miles. I would get road side assistance to get you another, get a trickle charger and tend the battery. Or, save yourself a hassle and get a optima RED, and trickle charger it anyways!

Also, a RED top is fine for just about everyone. The yellows are for longer pulls, high-end stereo setups accompanied with a dual or big single alternator setup.

Dasweetgirl

I agree. It must be the 1.21 giga-watts the flux capicitor uses thats killing the batteries

BernieR

NorCalDelta, Stig...This change in Options programming worked for me...so far!!

Plus I changed the "Approcah Lights" setting which probably doesn't influence this issue too much, since it's a one-time draw!!

Anyway..I got my booster pak and a new battery charger so screw it I'll get a warranty battery if this $hit happens again.

yeah...pretty disappointong for a 79K car...but WTF..the bean counters at GM are trying to cut corners and sustain a margin at our expense.

That's life in 2008 I guess. Rhetorically speaking/asking..."what are ya gonna do??" etc. ad nauseam

Bernie

04Z16

There was a TSB out for battery issues but I don't think it applied to the 08 model year.
I have had mine sit for 3 weeks with no issues for starting. The only time I have had the DBS is at the shop when they took the door off. The computer kept trying to find the window switches and door mechanism until it killed the battery. After a jump and drive I have had zero problems with the battery. Some people have had a problem with the FOBS being to close to the car, for example on the other side of the wall from the garage. There was a post up about how this can kill the battery because the car and FOB are constantly talking back and forth. This might be why taking the car away from passive mode helps the battery.

Poor-sha

Dear Corvette Forum, I never thought it would happen to me...

Seriously, I drive the car on Saturday, went out Sunday and put it in acc mode to set the clock, then went to drive it Monday morning and it was dead as a door nail (plus I had to reset again).

After I put a charger on for a few hours it started up fine and appears to hold a charge fine.

I'm going to chalk this one up to maybe I left it in acc mode - but I seriously doubt I missed the dinging and lights in the dark after I set the clock. It also wasn't like the car had been sitting for weeks - we're talking a day and a half.

I've let the Z sit for a couple weeks before without a problem so I'll chalk this one up to me being stupid but...

BernieR

To all and Obzidian...

NOTE: I use my Z every day...so therefore, I was big time pissed and perplexed when I couldn't start the $79K Plastic POS, (Sorry boys)!!!!

Back to the point....I have a cousin and a nephew who work at GMBG and confirmed what obzidian has posted.

Cheapie non-dependable batteries...some are better than others ... by luck of the draw...all this trickle charger, reprogramming options crap shouldn't be necessary with a decent battery....the reason (IMHO) that there is no TSB for the sub-standard '08 Z batteries is purely $ avoidance by Chevy. It is true that keeping the fob a distance away (>25') will prevent the "wireless hunt" mode.

That was confirmed this morning.

So now, the "Mysterioso" is 92.44%
solved.

Again, IMHO!!

Bernie

GotGIG

Reprogramming the passive locking worked for me as well, decided to start using a battery tender....no further issues.