B-17G_Pilot

Hello fellow Corvette enthusiasts!

Long time reader, first post. I've read a lot of very good advice here on issues with my car which has helped tremendously. I'm the second owner of this 6spd LT1 with 71K and have owned it for the past 2.5 years and I've been acquainted with the car since it was new. Also my first Corvette.

Found out last week that my newer battery (July/2014) had apparently succumbed to the most recent polar vortex to grip Ohio. Possibly left door ajar and interior lights killed it, I'm just not sure. Car lives in an unheated unattached garage year round, and my Harley is attached to the only battery tender I have.

It had been four weeks since I last started my car and it had no juice at all. Zero.

I jumped it, it fired right up so I backed it out of the garage (temp 10 F) so as not to asphyxiate myself and it ran for 5 minutes or so before began running rough and died. Battery didn't have the juice to restart... jumped it again and it was was missing on one cylinder. I got it back in garage and it quit again.

I disconnected battery and charged it for a couple days but it was toast. So I never put it back in the car.

I go out of town for two weeks get home last Friday, Saturday morning I exchanged the battery for a new one, now car cranks fine but won't start. No hiccups, coughing or any signs of a running engine.

A brief shot of starting fluid in the MAF and it fired and ran rough for about two seconds and quit but would not start. Last night with a spare plug I confirm I have spark on wires 2, 3 & 4 (the only ones I checked) but even with starting fluid it wouldn't start. I'm fairly sure it belched back out the MAF this time. I was in the car while my buddy manned the spray can. He might have sprayed too much SF in the MAF.

Also the functioning check engine light isn't lit, does this mean there are no codes to investigate?

First I was thinking the extreme cold killed my fuel pump (I could hear hear it running last night when listening at the filler neck, I know this doesn't mean it's up to snuff though). I was ready to just replace it and filter for about 75 bucks and a couple hours of my time. Then I started thinking about the opti-spark, ICM and dare I say ECM.

Tonight I will go through the wiring looking for loose or broken wires near the Opti, ICM. I do not have a fuel pressure tester or code reader, and Advance Auto Parts didn't have either I could borrow yesterday.

Anyone hazard a guess from my description above as to what I should look at next?

Thanks a ton!
Dave

Cliff Harris

See if you can pull any error codes:

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/1574918379-post18.html
http://corvettephotographs.com/c4vettes/codes.htm

What they mean:

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/1576116036-post35.html

I would be looking at fuel pressure and check for fuel injector functioning:

B-17G_Pilot

Last night I did check the wiring and grounds I could find from older posts in the forums here, and all seemed in order. Everything was tight, nothing obviously broken or filthy, same issue continues however.


Thanks for the links Cliff, I will look into them and continue my investigation, and advise members of what I find out.

Dave

B-17G_Pilot

Ok so fuel pressure is OK, steady at 45lbs, I'll check and see what if any codes I can manage to pull from the provided links.

B-17G_Pilot

Ok, I've checked for codes and there are none. I did it three times to be certain. All I get is the repeating "12" over and over. Keep in mind the car hasn't run since installing a new battery after sitting with a totally dead battery for almost two weeks last month.

I've done this same procedure to decipher the electronic ride control system last year and it worked perfectly in diagnosing that issue.

Odd thing, with A & B jumpered switching the key on not only sends the ECM into diagnostic mode, but also runs the radiator cooling fans. Is that normal?

This car is.... aggravating.