Went to take a short blast to town, car was deader than a hammer. Opened the hood and found it was already unlatched (didn't get it closed all the way the other day apparently) and I assume the under-hood lights running for 3 days was enough to kill the battery.

Jumped it, started right up, showed good voltage at the battery but the idle was wonky, wandering all over the place. "Well, it's cold, so..."

Hopped in, pulled out of the garage, stopped at the end of the driveway to wait for traffic (both cars...) and the idle dropped to the point where the engine died. Car's dead again.

Opened the hood and wiggled the battery cables in preparation for jumping it again, and the hood lights came on, car started. Ah...loose cable. Tightened it, started to drive to town, came to the first corner and noticed the idle dropping and the engine died again. Fortunately I was rolling fast enough to bump start it and drove about a mile up the road figuring the alternator would get the battery up to snuff. Double checked by shoving the clutch in and sure enough the idle drifted down until the engine quit.

Bump started it, turned around and went the hell home. Checked, battery showing 8 volts.

Pulled the cables off, buffed everything with a wire brush, reassembled with a dab of dielectric grease, put the smart charger on it and took a nap.

Went back out, charger showed 100%, battery was showing 14.5x at idle so I drove it to town and back, no issues.

My assumption is that low battery voltage was confusing the ECU which was screwing up the idle air/throttle position sensors. In any event, it's fine now.

I was envisioning the $$$ flying out the window...

Fuel Injection also not happy with too low voltage.

Being on the edge of "just enough" can give you fits like "run" "don't run", "run" "don't run", "run" "don't run"...

But your on the right track.

No electronic fuel injection likes low voltage or especially loose battery connections. The stupid side terminal batteries put on GM vehicles for ~40 years are bad for this.

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:
No electronic fuel injection likes low voltage or especially loose battery connections. The stupid side terminal batteries put on GM vehicles for ~40 years are bad for this.

Bright side is the new Ford truck is up to the task of towing home the old chevy

My '04 isn't happy below 12v, and starts going nuts if the voltage drops below 11v.

quote:

Vette scared me silly!

Was wondering whether you were going to tell us that all that power got out of control, or slippery road, or something.

If your vette doesn't scare you a little, you have the wrong car.

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:

quote:

Vette scared me silly!

Was wondering whether you were going to tell us that all that power got out of control, or slippery road, or something.

Or maybe like the 1964 Stingray I drove, the car went airborne at a little over 85mph. (Zora Arkus Duntov didn't understand aerodynamics very well).

quote:

Originally posted by Rightwire:
If your vette doesn't scare you a little, you have the wrong car.

Hasn't yet, but I suspect there are two reasons for that:

1. At 74, going stupid fast just because I can has pretty much lost it's attraction, and

B. The car is 35 years old and beating on it seems counterproductive.

Not to say it couldn't happen of course...

quote:

Originally posted by old rugged cross:

Bright side is the new Ford truck is up to the task of towing home the old chevy

Had a 2017 Grand Sport that I had to keep on a trickle charger. Even with a new AGM the security system will deplete the battery and that car will do all sought of weird things, also make sure fobs have fresh batteries

quote:

Originally posted by PHPaul:

quote:

Originally posted by Rightwire:
If your vette doesn't scare you a little, you have the wrong car.

Hasn't yet, but I suspect there are two reasons for that:

1. At 74, going stupid fast just because I can has pretty much lost it's attraction, and

B. The car is 35 years old and beating on it seems counterproductive.

Not to say it couldn't happen of course...

My 86yo father got his a bit sideways pulling out of the Church parking lot this last Sunday. Stupid fast not required for things to get exciting.

Low voltage in Chevy’s (and I suspect a host of other manufacturers with the “evolution” of under hood electronics) will create all manner of gremlins. I have an 05 Colorado that due to a compromised rear differential was not being driven until my brother and I can rebuild it. The battery went completely flat and refused to jump until it had charged via jumper cables to a sufficient level.

After I got it running again, it took a couple of days before the auto locks would work with the fob, the auto windows to respond to switches (passenger side came back first, then a few days later the drivers side), instrument lights in and out, and blower motor in and out. Now I keep it charged with a weekly start up and light drive near the house and all seems well.

Not sure what year your car is but some of the 90's and mid 2000 GM vehicles need to be driven after a battery replacement or dead battery recharge to relearn the idle speed, quite common and a 15 drive will usually take care of it.

So I was waxing the Vette and maybe I put it on a little thick, and had to buff out that little crack around the hood and I must have left it open and unlatched for a couple of days...

That generation - known as C4 - was bad for squeaks and rattles over any bump in the road even when new. How is yours after 35 years?

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:
That generation - known as C4 - was bad for squeaks and rattles over any bump in the road when new. How is yours after 35 years?

Remarkably free of squeaks (unless they're in my dead range and I just don't hear them) and doesn't rattle significantly more than my new truck. Roads are rougher than thunder right now.

Only somewhat annoying thing I notice is wind noise and that's most likely just a feature of being a ragtop.

quote:

Originally posted by Calif Phil:
Not sure what year your car is but some of the 90's and mid 2000 GM vehicles need to be driven after a battery replacement or dead battery recharge to relearn the idle speed, quite common and a 15 drive will usually take care of it.

Good to know. Mine's a '90 so falls right in that range.

quote:

Originally posted by chellim1:
So I was waxing the Vette and maybe I put it on a little thick, and had to buff out that little crack around the hood and I must have left it open and unlatched for a couple of days...

I'm just jealous because I don't have one... yet!