livewire516

My car's old battery couldn't hold a charge after sitting for about 10 days. After quick-charging that and testing it, I bought a new one. I installed the new battery and it started better than ever before and I turned it off. Now I just tried to start the engine and everything went dead- chimes, lights, radio screen etc.

Is the old rule of thumb true: Should I have driven the car around first thing? The sudden manner it went from strong to completely dead has me wondering about a faulty connection or short.

Also, it seems as though I have an aftermarket switch in front of the shiftboot in the center console, and I've seen a small, incandescent bulb underneath the center console storage...thing. I'm pretty sure it's always on--what could that have been, is it factory, and how can I get it to turn off. I have a feeling the switch and light are related but I can't really know until I get the batter charged I guess.

All help would be appreciated.

n2ceptor

The bulb is a 194... I removed mine.... At one time, I had left the map light on(lights in the rear view mirror) by accident.... Might check to see if those are off to...

Do you have any aftermarket item hooked up??? IE: amp, lights, etc.

livewire516

I myself haven't added anything aftermarket but there's a non-functional 6-disc in the trunk.

n2ceptor

If its hooked up, that might be draining the battery..

shoebox

Check the tightness of your battery connections.

livewire516

Removed the 6-disc and I'll give the battery a second check, and let you know the details.

95camaroinok

Also check the condition of your battery cables. I just bought a Z28 that had been diagnosed with a locked up engine and got it to start and run by cutting the rubber rings off around the battery bolts on the cable and cleaning all the metal contact area and bolts. Factory sidepost cables suck.

livewire516

I'll admit embarrassingly that it may have just been that the terminals weren't tight enough. I re-installed the battery to double check my steps and it started right up.

But I do seem to have electrical problems that need sorting out. Now whenever i turn the engine off the passenger door unlocks. It's a cute courtesy feature but that screams short to me.

Thanks for reminding me, I'll check the cables and give the terminals and hookups a cleaning.

Thanks for everyone's help.