[Boomer]

This summer while I am "out of town" I will have to store my C7 unattended for two months in a commercial storage facility with no AC to hook up a tender.

It seems the prevailing wisdom is to disconnect the battery in this situation. My question is: What happens to the settings and what is necessary to properly bring the car back to life?

Specifically:

1) Do I lose and therefore need to reprogram infotainment settings?

2) I have my npp set open(off). Does it revert back to the default setting of "auto"?

3) Does the ECM lose its memory of learned engine operation? If so what is the impact?

4) What is the best technique for disconnecting/reconnecting the battery?

5) What other issues or considerations should I be aware of?

You can answer one or more of the Qs and refer to the Q number above to provide input. Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[glen e]

I have had my batt disconnected for a weekend, and the ONLY thing I lost was window indexing...which means raise and lower your windows once on reconnect.

Can't speak for months at a time but I believe all other settings are on non volatile ram, meaning they stay during the hiatus.

The neg ground is all that needs to come off, and then reconnected.

 

[Chip]

Make sure the battery is fully charged before you disconnect it.

 

[Boomer]

Can't speak for months at a time but I believe all other settings are on non volatile ram, meaning they stay during the hiatus.

What about the ECM? You think it is "non volatile ram"?

 

[glen e]

I said "all other settings"....so I think so....

 

[Ragtop]

How hard is it to access battery? Couldn't hurt to put it on a tender elsewhere it is cool enough to keep it trickled. Be ready to go when you get back. As far as what is volatile/non-volatile memory, no clue.

 

[mjw930]

Don't over think this. Nothing important will get erased, just remove the negative terminal and close her up.

I'm sure this is obvious to anyone who has had a previous generation Vette but, you won't be able to lock the car but that won't matter because as long as the windows are up no one else can since the latch is electromechanical. You will need to use the key to open the rear hatch when you want back in. See section 2 in the manual.


Sent from my iPad using Corvette Stingray Forum

 

[Boomer]

Don't over think this. Nothing important will get erased, just remove the negative terminal and close her up. /QUOTE]

Thanks. I thought Glen was the "don't over think" guy.

 

[rdslon01]

He is. Haha!

 

[mjw930]

We trade off.


Sent from my iPad using Corvette Stingray Forum

 

[Boomer]

Boomer’s C7 Storage Report

I had to put my C7 in storage for two months while I was away. My best option was to lock it in a commercial storage unit without access to electricity. Since I could not keep a battery tender on it and no one would have access to the C7, I sought advice on this Forum for the best way to proceed.

As a result, I parked the C7 in the storage unit and disconnected the negative battery terminal. The battery was accessible at the right rear of the cargo compartment. I disconnected the negative terminal which was very easy using a socket wrench to loosen the bolt on the connector and then pulled the connector off the negative terminal. Then I placed the battery cover over the battery and rested the negative terminal on top of the cover to avoid any inadvertent contact with the negative terminal of the battery. I left the rear hatch unlatched to allow me easy access to the battery when I returned. I rested the hatch on a towel between the hatch and its latch. I also left the driver’s side door unlatched so I would be able to easily gain access if there was a problem when I reconnected the negative cable. Then I put a cover on the car and locked it away for two months.

Upon return, I opened the storage unit, opened the rear hatch and reconnected the negative terminal. After a couple seconds the lights in the cargo area came on so that was encouraging. After reconnecting, I got in the driver’s seat. I noticed none of the typical DIC or infotainment system lights/icons came on. I pressed the brake pedal and pushed the start button. The car seemed to attempt to turn over but then nothing. I took my foot off the brake and then all the lights/icons in the DIC and infotainment came on as they do once the car is started. However in this case the car had not been started. I put my foot on the brake again and again pressed the start button. The car turned over good and started right up and everything seemed normal.

As I moved out of the storage unit and allowed it to warm up I noticed my DIC was back to a default setting so my DIC settings were gone. However it was easy to reprogram back the DIC configuration I wanted. So the DIC settings must not be “non-volatile ram” as Glen described it. All the other settings for the infotainment (radio presets etc.) were still there so the infotainment settings must be non-volatile ram. Also the NPP remained programmed open/off.

The DIC displayed a message instructing me to index the windows by raising and lowering them. So I did that and they re-indexed no problem. When I was driving home everything seemed fine but I did notice the outside temp gauge was not registering a temp. Later when I restarted, the outside temp gauge was working normally. I am assuming the ECM maintained its operational knowledge or at least I didn’t notice any difference in the car’s operation.

So all in all it was a good experience and that is the method I will use each year when I have to leave it locked away in storage for a couple of months. Thanks to mjw930, Glen and other Forum members that offered me advice on how to handle this situation.

Any comments questions or advice is welcome.

 

[jsvette]

Boomer thanks for the detailed report and glad it worked so well! Curious, did you park with the rear near the storage unit door in the event that you needed to get the battery jumped?

 

[glen e]

Congrats, the "non start" after reconnect is normal, mine always starts 2nd attempt after batt is reconnected, even if just disconnected for a few minutes.

 

[Boomer]

Boomer thanks for the detailed report and glad it worked so well! Curious, did you park with the rear near the storage unit door in the event that you needed to get the battery jumped?

Yes I sure did!

 

[Chip]

Thanks for the report Boomer.

 

[U.S. Marine]

Boomer, informative write up and good info for others who plan to store theirs. I know you were happy when your C7 fired up and you were back to wheeling around Md. again.

SF
Rick

 

[smajicek]

looks like my car is starting to show signs that the battery is getting weaker. it will be 4 years old in 1 month. If I remove it and take it to my local Auto Zone to buy a new one how much time do I have to get it installed before losing some settings? The store is only 4 miles away. I plan on getting the Duralast Platinum Battery. 760 Cold cranking amps (950 cranking amps)***. 120/70 reserve minutes. Warranty consists of 3 years free replacement. Battery is vented to outside of vehicle. 47 lbs
They sell Duralast Gold Battery that has 3 year free replacement warranty plus 2 additional prorated. 730 Cold cranking amps (950 Cranking Amps)***. 72 reserve minutes. Warranty consists of 3 years free replacement plus 2 years prorated. Battery is vented to outside of vehicle and is 39 lbs
Which would you buy?

 

[jsvette]

Might want to see this http://www.stingrayforums.com/forum/how-diy-guides/62705-redhot-gets-battery-her-upcoming-4th-birthday-3.html#post735601.

 

[Milliwatt Rob]

If you can get voltage into the "always live" 12 volt socket in the rear of the car, no computers should see a loss of voltage. I have a jumper pack, with a 12 volt socket, and a male to male 12 volt cable. But be aware, this would mean that the battery cables would also be "live" while you change the battery.

I have also seen memory saver devices, that would plug into the car socket, that run off of a 9 volt battery, I think.

 

[smajicek]

If you can get voltage into the "always live" 12 volt socket in the rear of the car, no computers should see a loss of voltage. I have a jumper pack, with a 12 volt socket, and a male to male 12 volt cable. But be aware, this would mean that the battery cables would also be "live" while you change the battery.

I have also seen memory saver devices, that would plug into the car socket, that run off of a 9 volt battery, I think.

what always live socket you talking about? I can probably take a 9 volt battery with 2 alligator clip wires and connect to the + and - and be fine?