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Under hood charging points

66K views 68 replies 27 participants last post by  Administrator jsvette 
#1 · (Edited)
Just in case you need to jump start your car or want to hook up your battery float charger in the front of your car.
Positive terminal cover piece Auto part Engine


Positive terminal w/ cover removed Auto part Vehicle Automotive exterior Car Engine


One of several good available ground connections Auto part Vehicle Engine Automobile pedal Car
 
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#5 · (Edited)
I agree, if Chevy wants these locatins to be used they should show them in the manual!
I had questioned if this was the correct terminal since it is not shown in the owner’s manual. In fact the only owner's manual statement is on page 1-20; “Access to the battery is not necessary for jump starting. There are remote positive (+) and negative (−) terminals under the hood for this purpose.” However the only discussion of how to jump start is on pages 10-65 to 10-68 with sketches. It only discusses using the rear battery posts and does not mention or show any sketches about jump starting from the front of the car.
Every other car I have owned with a rear or under seat mounted battery has easy access terminal covers and large posts marked properly under the hood. In addition, I used a much larger wire when I wired my street rod (a ’34 Ford sedan with a big block Chevy) from a far rear mounted battery to the starter. The wire powering the C7 front fuse panel is not nearly as large as what I used for that current (can be up to 250 amps) and that distance. However Chevy reps that monitor forum comments, said in a private message, their “contacts” said the statements in the manual were correct but they would not define the underhood locations!
I looked at the 2013 Z06 manual knowing it also had a rear mounted battery. It clearly shows the positive terminal, in sketch form, is the connection to the front fuse panel as Chip notes. For the ground connection they recommend and show a sketch of using an engine bolt head under the cylinder head! Looks a bit Mickey Mouse to me! Chips suggestion for a ground is better. His comment for a location to connect a battery charger is also a good idea.
 
#4 ·
This is great information Chip as well as timely for me. I should be picking up my car and have it about a week before I have to be gone for 10 or so days. I am not planning on buying anything for the car until after I get it. So this is perfect as it lets me know I can use my current battery tender that I keep on the S2000 as I was wondering if there was a hook up under the hood. Thanks for the link into this thread.
 
#8 ·
Thank you Chip-I would really like to find a red cross that I would stick real well on top of the positive cover.
 
#13 ·
Glad it is helpful, but who will be the first to create some suitable + & - indications (hand painted or decals) for these locations? I would love to see a small lightning bolt shown as the positive indicator. ;) If you do decide to customize it be sure to take some pictures of your finished work.
 
#14 · (Edited)
I’ve changed my opinion from my Post # 5 in this Thread with the advent of the 2015 owner’s manual! I have questioned the size of the wire supplying power to the front fuse panel being capable of delivering several hundred amps for the starter by first going all the way to the rear. I defined the required wire size to handle starter current and used a much larger wire in my ’34 sedan street rod that has the battery in the far right rear, about the same distance as in the C7.
The 2014 Owner’s Manual had a reference to an under hood jump starting location in the front introduction section but nothing in the section that referred to Jump Starting. Only the battery was mentioned as appropriate in that section. I asked the Chevy folks monitoring the forum about the official location and they could not get an answer to where the points are from their "sources” as they quoted in their responses. Now I note that the 2015 owner’s manual says nothing about an under hood jump start location in the front of the manual or in the rear section on Jump Starting! It only mentiones using the battery!
In addition, removing that plastic post cover is also not easy and you would have to be careful not to short jumper cables to a ground. It is also NOT the location I mistakenly mentioned in my post #5 that was referenced for the older Z06! That was shown under the fuse panel cover. Have looked under my 2014 cover and no such terminal!
It is a great location to install a wire to get power for an accessory or to connect a battery charging plug wire but to transmit several hundred amps for a jump start??? Would like GM to confirm that this location is acceptable before i would use it; which appears unlikely they will! My Service Manual is on order, let’s see what it shows!
 
#15 ·
Jerry, I don't think there's much for GM to say, the manual spells it out quite clearly, to Jump Start the vehicle you must connect the jumper cables to the battery itself. They dedicate 3 pages in the manual to Jump Starting. The "In Brief" section of the 2014 manual that states you don't need to go to the battery to Jump Start was removed in the 2015 manual.
 
#16 ·
I agree Mark. However I got caught up in where folks said it was when the Chevy Customer service folks, when I asked if the statement in the front of the 2014 manual was correct, came back and said the manual was correct! Then when I asked them to define where it was, they could not get an answer from their “sources” as they refer to them! They tried twice. Can’t blame them as they can only relay what info they are given.
I agree with your comments, it appears the front section of the 2014 manual was incorrect and I don't expect GM to admit something was wrong!
 
#17 ·
Charging and jump starting have very different amperage requirements. As noted earlier in this thread there are 'under the hood' locations for charging, but it still remains that the easiest is the accessory outlet in the right rear of the trunk of our Stingrays designed specifically for charging. And directly under that area is the access to the battery terminals which remain the safest and surest method for jump starting our cars if necessary. As a reminder for 'newbies' here, if your Stingray is totally without power and locked you have a manual (physical) key as part of your key fob that will allow you to open the trunk (the key hole is to the right of the license plate lights). This will provide you the necessary access to your battery for jump starting or the accessory outlet for charging.
 
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#18 ·
I have never felt that jumping any vehicle using both terminals of the dead battery to be safe. My experience has been that the safest way to jump start a car is to use only the positive terminal on the battery and a good ground point other than the negative battery terminal.(on the dead battery) Buy using this method there will be no way for a spark to ignite any hydrogen gas possibly coming from the dead battery.
 
#19 · (Edited)
Here are GM's specific instructions for our Stingrays, consistent with my post #17 this thread: Text Font
Text Diagram Font Technology
Text Font
 
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#20 ·
How big of a hassle is it to get to the pos/neg terminals on the rear battery?
If the right battery cable was available/produced is it at all possible to clamp onto a good battery and just plug into the rear cigarette lighter style receptacle?
 
#21 ·
It is not any issue to get directly to the Stingray battery. Very accessible when you carefully lift the carpeting and do it as shown in my post #19. I would not recommend hooking up an accessory adapter directly to a 'good battery' and attempt to jump start through the accessory outlet. If you have a good battery and a normal set of jumper cables then hook up to the Stingray battery if the problem arises as shown in post #19.
 
#22 ·
It takes well over 100 amperes of current to crank and start a v8 engine. An accessory cigarette type power connector cannot handle anywhere near that amount of current.
 
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#23 ·
Milliwatt Rob,
That is what I was thinking too, especially given the gauge of the wires in the OEM battery tender- but since I have never had a car with an always hot accessory outlet installed for trickle/float charging I thought perhaps there was a slight possibility. I have not opened up the battery compartment but when I read the manual on battery replacement and the need to remove (move out of the way?) the fuse block on top it made me wonder if there was a better way. I truly hope a jump is possible and safe from under the hood but will wait to hear from those here who are much more electrically inclined-
Mark
 
#24 ·
You do not have to move anything other than the carpeting back to get to the battery posts. There is no fuse block on top of it that interferes with the access to the positive and negative terminals. It is really easy and very safe.
 
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#27 ·
Thank you Jerry,
As its cold down here (nothing like the northern colonies are enduring) and can't drive the car I will start poking around in the car in the morning.
 
#28 ·
You’re welcome. Wonder if it was as cold in 1620 when the Plymouth Colony had all their problems! Even we have been cold and rainy in the “Sunny South,” although it will be 65 tomorrow but rainy!
Just be careful when pulling up the carpet. Need to pop the plastic wheel well bottom clips so you don’t rip the carpet. Easy to do maybe even using just your fingers. Only need to remove the bottom clips and not deal with the upper rings etc. Go slow and you’ll be fine. Goes back easy with the side of a closed fist.
As John Wayne would say with all this cold weather, “Take Care Pilgrim!”
 
#32 · (Edited)
So now I'm really confused. What is the general consensus. Jump start from under the hood, or in the trunk? I was originally going to ask how to get the cover off the positive terminal under the hood, but if jumping at the battery is the preferred method, it's a mute point. Which is it?
 
#34 ·
So now I'm really confused. What is the general concenus. Jump start from under the hood, or in the trunk? I was originally going to ask how to get the cover off the positive terminal under the hood, but if jumping at the battery is the preferred method, it's a mute point. Which is it?
The OM for my 2014 clearly states in section 10-66 to jump start the vehicle using the battery in the rear. Not under the hood and not through the power port. The power port is only for using a battery tender but not jump starting.
 
#36 · (Edited)
I think that, for jump starting the vehicle, doing it under the hood would be preferable if there were a suitable positive connecton point,, as the positive connection to a good power source would be closest to the starter motor. However, for charging the battery, using the power port in the trunk is the best way to go. And it is closest to the rear battery.

I had a 1996 Oldsmobile Aurora where the battery was under the rear seat. You jump started it from under the hood from a connection point under a red plastic cover.
 
#38 ·
Chip, thanks for the great pictures. Now that I know WHERE the terminals are, I still can't figure out HOW to get the cover off. Can you use a screw driver to pry it off? I tried pulling it off with my fingers but it didn't budge. Can you give a detailed instruction on how to do this? Thanks.
 
#43 ·
Thanks guys for all the great info. I guess I'll jump at the battery. Chip, did you ever actually jump from under the hood?
 
#45 ·
Chip, want to belatedly thank you for posting this information... long story I'll try to make short. I have two GM 'StingRay' chargers... one I'd been using in the rear charging port and another that I'd cut the plug off of (because I broke it... another story) and replaced with clamps. The charger I was using on the rear port started showing a continuous charge for several weeks... would transition to the right, green, light. There's another thread, concerning batteries apparently going bad prematurely, and I initially thought that was what I was encountering. Didn't know how to check the battery easily, until I remembered seeing your post... (quick use of search function)... attached the charger with the clamps to the under hood points and it functioned properly... going to the green, indicator after a short time.
So now I'm assuming that I've got a defective charger (the newer one, purchased from dealer as a gift for me)... and, thankfully, appears to NOT be a battery issue. Will try to trouble shoot to determine if this is really the case (I was using a home made extension with that charger).
BTW... I could not find any reference to the location of a positive connection point in my manual(?).
Thanks again!

Just in case you need to jump start your car or want to hook up your battery float charger in the front of your car.
Positive terminal cover piece View attachment 1716

Positive terminal w/ cover removed View attachment 1717

One of several good available ground connections View attachment 1718
 
#47 · (Edited)
Just want to emphasis that the locations you referenced in your "thank you" to an old post referenced jump starting at the positive power input to the front fuse panel. Although that is a good location to get "always hot" 12 volt power for accessories (or to connect a charger,) the comment (only in the front section) in the 2014 Owner's Manual about jump starting from under the hood, was apparently in error and "never said where!" In fact GM refused to indicate where that was. In the 2015/2016 Owner's Manuals there is NO reference to underhood jump starting, only at the battery, which was also the only place shown in the appropriate section of the 2014 manual!
Unlike other cars with rear or under seat mounted batteries including some C6, Z06's (see my post # 44,) there are no terminals designated for jump starting a C7 under the hood! Refer to my posts, 35, 41, 44 in this thread.
 
#46 · (Edited)
The battery on the C7 in rear hatch has 10mm battery posts for connecting a smart charger. I use this method of connecting all my CTEK MUS 4.3 smart chargers on all of my sportscars. It's an easy set up and you know the smart charger is going direct to the battery. I simply use the plug and play CTEK cord to connect to the battery. I use the CTEK 100% of he time the C7 is parked in the garage. My choice for a smart charger is the CTEK MUS4.3...8 step...smartcharger. One of the best available and far superior to the OEM GM US3300 charger. The CTEK MUS4.3 is priced less than the OEM GM US3300 which is $100 MSRP.
 

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