01 Trans-Am WS6

iTrader: (5)

Well I bought my T/A WS6 back in March, the day I got it a new battery was put in the car. The dealer put in a NAPA battery for me with a 75 month 75k mile warranty on it. I know NAPA batteries aren't the best, but its what I have. Well from March-Sept it gave me no problems, no signs of dying or anything. The one Sept. day I went to start the car and it was dead. It was only sitting for over night in my garage, so no extreme conditions, it was VERY, VERY dead. I hooked up jumper cables and it took a while for it to turn over, sounded very weak. Well it did that a few times, sometimes starting right back up after the jump and other times sounding very weak. So mid Sept. I finally had enough and brought it to NAPA, they checked the battery and sure enough that was it. They replaced it. Not even 5 days later it was dead again. I had it put in, then the next day I went up to Boston for the weekend. When I came back I went to start the car Monday morning, and sure enough it was dead...a 5 day old battery. I jumped it as usual. Every now and then since then it has been dead when I go to start it. The car gets driven everyday, so it is no sitting for long periods of time, also it is garage kept so no extreme conditions, something is obviously draining it.


Before I exit the car I always check and make sure everything is off. CD player, radar detector, shift light, head/fog lights, interior lights, etc. Only thing "on" in the car is the factory alarm. Anyway yesterday I started the car, backed it out of the garage and left it in the driveway. A few hours later I went to start it again and it was dead. Now this morning, the car was VERY dead again. When I went to start it no lights or radio came om, no clicking, just like I was sitting in it off. I jumped it, sounded very weak.


Short Story, my car keeps dying, battery was replaced and is 1 month old. Sometimes it makes the clicking noise while trying to start and the dash lights are on and the radio, other times it is "more" dead and no dash lights come on and no radio. I am very tired of this problem, they checked the alternator aswell when I replaced the battery and it was ok. Car never shuts off while on or driving, only thing that worries me is after it starts, the idle surges for a while, drops very low to 350-400RPM then shoots up until it is charged. Now once you start driving it is supposed to charge, one day after I jumped it, I drove it 30 mins, the whole way there whenever I put it in neutral or was at a stop light, the idle constantly dropped lower then normal into the 400-600RPM range. Normal idle for my cari s 850-up.

Anyone have any thought on what it can be??? I have no aftermarket stereo system other then a Pioneer headunit, just have the headunit, shift light, radar, and a misc. light on a switch that was in there when I bought it that I always have off.

kirkjames90

iTrader: (5)

same thing happened to me the other day i was like wtf i got jumped and went home turned the car off then tried to start it up and it was dead

well i found out it wasnt dead the corrosion was really back so u might wanna check for that solved my prob

01 Trans-Am WS6

iTrader: (5)

I checked for corrision, there is none at all.

koolaid_kid

iTrader: (21)

I would get an ammeter, check the current draw with the car off. If something is drawing a significant amount of current, I would start checking things. Starting with pulling the fuse on the alarm system.

Nick_Rapitis

iTrader: (15)

bad alt ...replace the alt and you'll be fine

fccs

iTrader: (26)

+9999 If you never checked your alternator you should DEF. check that. If the alt is fine then I suggest pulling a battery from another car and trying another battery YOURSELF, not listening to what a place said they changed or not because sometimes they dont change the battery and just check to see if it holds a charge. If it holds a charge they put it back on the car and it usually starts up fine then they say your battery is new and out the door you go not knowing you have the same battery, but I would def. say thats a alt. related problem being as you could jump start the car, that would be pretty hard if the battery was holding no charge and has been just plain DEAD DEAD for months, I cant see you keep jumping a dead battery for a month but I could see you doing that if the alt. isnt working. Nothing serious if its the alt just gotta get a new one.

Nick_Rapitis

iTrader: (15)

yeah man...should take about a half hour to replace and a hundred bucks...if the car starts it should stay on unless the alt is dead...if the battery was dead the car wouldnt start in the first place...especially over and over again

01 Trans-Am WS6

iTrader: (5)

NAPA checked the alt and said it was fine. They checked the charge on the battery outside and supposibly replaced it. I am going to go back tomm again....ahhh. Thanks for the help guys

Nick_Rapitis

iTrader: (15)

i suppose it could be a loose terminal or ground or something as well...i would still check the alt first but i did know someone who has a bad connection that would shake loose and the car would die...

Nick_Rapitis

iTrader: (15)

on a side note how do you like your exhaust setup? seems like it would be a bit loud...

01 Trans-Am WS6

iTrader: (5)

I love it! The car is very, very loud outside the car when I step on it, but when you drive normal or cruise on the highway, it is fine. No droning or anything, you can still easily hold a conversation without yelling. When I drop gears and nail it on the highway it screams, I have had many compliments on how mean it sounds. If anything I wish it was LOUDER inside so I can hear it better lol. Maybe the cam will fix that for me


Here is a quick video of me doing doughnuts the other day, I mainly made the video for a sound clip, but the car was too loud for the camera to pick up the true sound of the car:

Doughnuts in a 2001 Trans-Am WS6 M6 with bolt-ons



And a video of accelerating on the highway:

Acceleration video in my 01 Trans-Am WS6 M6 with b

01_torch_red_vette

iTrader: (2)

get yourself a multimeter that has an ammeter before doing an altenator. you will need to use it in series with the battery cable. see if you are drawing any current with the car off. if you are then start pulling fuses till it goes away. also try disconnecting the altenator wire, could be shorted internally. dont just go throwing parts at it without troubleshooting first.

fccs

iTrader: (26)

I still say its something to do with the alt, it would just make so much sense. Either that or I suppose something could be loose but the alt. makes so much more sense. And if you want your car louder just get a cutout at the end of the Y pipe I have basically the same setup as you only with the cutout its basically like a dump at the Y

Nick_Rapitis

iTrader: (15)

are you familiar with the lm1 cat back exhaust set up? its basically straight through with no muffler...would a cut out still improve sound for that?

redls1bird

iTrader: (1)

The easiest way to tell whether its an alt, or battery is to disconnect the ground on the battery over night. If your problem is consistent, and it goes dead every night, then it should be easy to tell. If you connect it in the morning and it fires right up, you have a draw. If it doesnt, it wasnt charged up enough while you were driving.

it sounds more like a draw than a bad alt. Since you only say it happens over night. What happens if you stop at a gas station to get gas? if it fires right up then, then the alt is doing the job, the battery is just being robbed of power over time.

Getting a multimeter and checking it yourself is your best bet.