Beth Wilson

I have a 1977 Corvette and it will not start. No lights come on, no needles move, nothing. When I turn the key, there is silence.

I have a Cobra alarm and use it every night. Even when my battery was dead, the alarm still sounded on the car. Now, it doesn't.

I had an Interstate battery put in, in 2017, and we took the battery out, and took it to two places to check. Both places said the battery was fine.

In 2015, I had a starter put in, as well as a clutch switch. I have had this issue in the past, with intermittent no crank.

Some people are telling me it's probably an ignition switch problem, and some are saying it's a a lose ground strap or a grounding issue.

It's in my driveway right now and my mechanic I go to, is 45 seconds up the road. To have it towed, it would run $65.00.

While I know I'll have to get it towed or have a mobile mechanic come in, can anyone give some feedback on what they think, regarding the symptoms it's having?

Thank you for any help.

Beth

Cooter Tech

Basics first.
Check you connections at he battery, check your battery, it might be defective or discharges.
Check your battery ground to the frame, make sure the connections are tight and clean, look for corrosion in the cable too.

Beth Wilson

I'm not sure how to check my battery ground from the frame. I can go on YouTube and try to find a video, showing how to do that. Thank you.

Davoforty

Check your battery connections and that they are on tight! also check for corrosion!

bradleyb66

Do you want information on how to diagnose it yourself, or just some possible problems to give to your mechanic? Do you have a multimeter or test light?

The ground connection to the frame is under the car. To clean it up, you'll need a wrench and a wire brush (along with a way to get the car raised up safely so you can crawl underneath.

There is also a fusible link (similar to a fuse) down by the starter , and if that went bad, you would see symptoms like what you are seeing.

Jstan2014

Hello and welcome to the forum. Just a thought about your battery, even though it’s been checked (tested) it may still be defective. I’ve had a battery load tested at one parts store and it tested “good”. I then went a mile down the road and had it tested at another location and it was needing to be replaced. I bought and installed the new battery and the car (05 C6) fired right up. Good luck and please report back with your findings.

Beth Wilson

Bradley, I guess I'm mainly looking for what people might think it could be. I don't have a multimeter or test light.

Thank you for the information.

Beth

Beth Wilson

Good point about the battery. But since we did take it to two places and both said it was fine, I'm really thinking it's not battery related. I will definitely report back, once the car is fixed and tell what the issue was. I'm hoping, just like anyone else in my situation, it's not going to be super expensive.

Beth

Scottd

As others have stated, for you to have NO power anywhere it means theres a MAJOR wire thats not connected. My bet is either your ground cable is totally corroded away or theres a major fuse blown. Electrical work on these old cars is pretty simple, just start searching for a known 12volt source and if its dead, keep tracing it back until you find power. Theres your break.

Beth Wilson

Scottd, glad to know this can be a pretty simple fix. Times like this, it would be nice to have a mechanic in the family!!! LOL

bradleyb66

If you give your general location, there might be a forum member nearby that would be willing to swing by and do a couple of basic checks (if you're comfortable with that).

Beth Wilson

I'm in Raleigh, North Carolina. Probably nobody near me, on here! LOL! Thank you for suggesting that, though.

TimAT

Look at the wires coming up from the starter on the right rear of the engine. Just inboard of the heater box on the firewall there is a connector with 6 wires. Make sure none of them look toasted. That is one point that can shut everything down as you describe.

bradleyb66

Well, wrong coast for me, but I do think there are a few members in the Raleigh/Durham area (my sister and BIL live in Durham, but they won't be much help).

Beth Wilson

TimAT, great instructions on how and where to look. I'll do that, because that is something I'm actually capable of doing! Thank you!

Beth Wilson

LOL I know the feeling. I'm not much help either. All I can do is drive it, check the oil and put in gas! That's about it, for me. :-)

l82vett

Ok , I had the same problem with my 80. No nothing. Found the battery ground cable was highly corroded at the frame attachment point. The ground cable from the battery goes down next to the battery through a rubber grommet and bolts to the frame right below., easy to see and inspect. Jack up the car ,place a jack stand under for safety and check the cable. The rubber insulation was split wide open on mine and the inside was completely corroded. Changed out the cable from the auto parts store and everything works good now.

HeadsU.P.

That's the thing. You can't do much until this thing is up on ramps or a hoist. People can direct you to check wire connections under the car, but I assure you that no one can crawl under a C3.

derekderek

Go to harbor freight. Get a small floor jack and a multimeter and a set of wrenches. Total price a little more than the tow. Get right side of the car up high enough to get to the starter. YouTube is your friend. See if you can get a 12 volt reading between big wire on top of starter and frame or base of starter. If not, it is a bad contact either at the battery or at the frame ground. Bad ground requires removing cable and sanding the frame and cable. Not just tightening it up. You get that far, then get back to us.

Beth Wilson

182vett, thank you. I wouldn't be surprised if that is what the problem is. It seems like everything on that car is corroded. Just a couple of weeks ago, I had to get some adhesive glue for the rubber strip on the inside door jam. That came 50% off and luckily, I was able to fix that easily.