This past Friday I took out the Vette to a local cruise. I brought it home and parked it in the garage. Saturday I thought I would try to find out why my radio wasn't working so I took the passenger side dash apart to get to the speakers. Found out that the speaker is no good anymore but the radio does work. I kept it apart after I removed the speaker. Sunday I go out and the battery is dead. I did close all the doors Saturday so the interior light was not on. I put a charger on the battery all day long and it still won't start or even turn over. I did have an interior light yesterday but went out this morning and nothing. Is there anything behind the passenger dash that may be triggered when it is removed?

 

Greg, There are a couple of older postings that may help you determine where the draw is coming from. I recently had a similar problem and discovered that the starter wire had shorted onto the frame causing a small fire of my wiring harness  Unless you have a bad battery or alternator, something is causing a a big draw. I know there is a posting that explains on how to determine where a short is. Also if you need a wiring diagram for your car let me know, I'll send one from home, but I'll need your regular e-mail address. Good luck

 

There could be a number of possibilities. I don't know if this feature was available in '75, but it did occur in my '78. The interior light delay timer went bad in my car and at times wouldn't turn the lights off at all, or randomly would turn the lights on by itself. Replacing it fixed that problem. Depending on the model year it could be located behind the glove box or above the fuse box. It's orange in color. They're available through most of the resto houses.

You do sound like it could simply be a bad battery. A few months ago in my '69 the battery crapped out with no warning...was working perfectly up to that point. It was six years old, so I can't complain.

[QUOTE=Gunslinger]
You do sound like it could simply be a bad battery. A few months ago in my '69 the battery crapped out with no warning...was working perfectly up to that point. It was six years old, so I can't complain.[/QUOTE]

had the same thing happenin my truck..  worked one day..  dead the next.  Two dead cells.

I did not mention that the battery is less than 6 months old. When I get home tonight, I am going to put the glove compartment (passenger dash side) back together, charge up the battery and see what happens. I hope I didn't kill any cells in the battery.

 

I think I may have found my problem. There is a box behind the passenger side dash with about 8 wires going to it in a wiring harness. I am thinking there might be a short either in the connector or in the box that the wiring harness plugs into. I don't know what this box is or what it does. I can't find where it is supposed to be mounted to either. Any help knowing what this box is or what it does?

 

Did you put a meter on the battery after you charged it? Maybe the battery is charged up but you have inadvertantly knocked a wire or fuse loose. Have you checked the battery cable connectiions? Do you hear clicking or any noise when you turn the key.

Don't have a meter yet. After I started to mess around with the dash and after putting the charger back on, I stepped away for about 30 minutes and the interior light came on. I tried to start the car but not enough juice yet. I think there is a short in that box or wiring harness going to that strange box.

 

Does the strange box have cooling fins on it?

That "strange box" is probably the radio receiver/amp. The radios in the Sharks were two peice, until '77. There was the head unit, in the dash, and the receiver/amp up behind the pass. side dash panel. This would explain both the non-functioning radio, and the short/batt. drain.
Maybe while messin with the speaker in that area, you jiggled some wires to the receiver/amp, and made the problem worse?