Hello all,
I have a 93 Z28, love it death, but when I went to start it this morning, it was dead. It did this back in December as well, so I got a new battery, and now it is doing it again. Any ideas???

 

About time someone else feels my pain. Just put my 5th in mine in 2.5 yrs. First one was in car when I got it, and none have cost me anything. All fail within warranty time so I just exchange them.

 

Take it to the local parts store and have them test to do see if something is causing an excessive drain on the battery.

 

A weak alternator will not recharge the battery properly. Get a charger like they sell at WalMart and check the battery charge percentage regularly - this will give some indication of what is going on.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Schumacher...arger/13005745

 

A new or known good battery going dead overnight means you HAVE a parasitic draw.
This means something in your electrical system is drawing too much power from the battery with the key off, but shouldn't be.
This video is an excellent tutorial, watch it:

 

Great video. This was how we are trained. I will add a couple of things.

Before you connect your meter bump the battery cable to the battery. If it has a large draw it will spark. That could be enough of to blow the internal fuse of the meter. If you have access to a inductive meter you could use that just to be sure you regular meter is safe. If you are really strapped for cash you can use a test light in place of the meter and note how bright the light is. As you pull fuses it should dim when you pull the fuse to the bad circuit.

Common issues.
Lighters (both removal and base parts), Glove box light, Trunk and under hood lights, Alternators, Any add on trailer wiring.

Tips, Check the lighter first about 50% of the cars I have worked on turn out to just need new lighters. For lights like trunk lights you can pull the light fuse then open the trunk and feel if the light is hot. On some cars (not the Camaro) you can feel the metal around where the bulb is. it will be warm from the light being on all the time. Same with the glove box.

 

The other thing I would mention because it was not covered in your original post:

If it was dead over night than proceed with the check mentioned above because it does sound like a parasitic drain.

Also another thing to mention is that if a battery has a weak/bad cell than they seem to show themselves during extreme temperature changes (extreme cold and extreme heat).

If the vehicle is not your daily driver and does sit for a while than I would invest in a battery tender. They have a few different options such as solar (I have never tried one so I can not say how well they work) or there are ones that can be plugged into a wall outlet (best option in my opinion). It will trickle charge and maintain the charge state of your battery.

 

Thanks everyone for the advice. And ya, I forgot to mention that I did let the car sit for 4 days. It started fine before that. And Gorn, I have noticed that my lighter seems to be on the fritz. Sometimes I forget my lighter so I have to use the one in the car if I am away from someone who may have one. Anyhow, lately whenever I push in the lighter, it immediately pops out like its ready to use, but of course isn't.

 

4 days is nothing. The battery should be able to start the car after sitting for weeks and months even.

 

Ive always used optima with every car ive ever owned we even had them custom make us 24 volt batteries for our hmmwv's in iraq never have had an issue except when my altanater shot the wad but for the money its worth it