Im the proud new owner of a 1979 corvette, L48 black on black.
I'm new to the corvette world and this forum has been an invaluable resource in my learning, and the hunt for the car that's right for me.

My transport home was an adventure. I was determined to drive the car home and planned to pick it up on Thursday in Binghamton NY, but there was a snowstorm. The owner was flexible and allowed me to pick it up the following morning (yesterday). It was raining and 32 deg. I dreaded driving the car in that weather but I was confident in the car mechanically so I ventured toward home...driving very slowly.
The car started right up when I picked it up (and every other time during inspections).
My first stop was a local gas station to fill up. Again the car started right up. About 45 minutes into the trip I pulled over to get a cup of coffee and check out the car.
All seemed ok but when I went back in to start it up....nothing. Battery dead. Having seen numerous dead batteries in corvettes over the past few weeks I anticipated this so I had a portable jump starter. Car started right up and I was on my way. On the road about fifteen minutes later my wipers stopped working. The spray kicked up from other cars, and especially trucks, made it impossible to go on. So I pull off into a gas station and checked out wipers, and unfortunately could not get them to work.
I tried to start the car, and battery dead. I try to jump with my portable jumper and nothing.
There was a garage about two blocks away and they came and jumped my car and it started up. They checked the battery and alternator and said all was good, however car would not start back up after shutting down. Also, when the car was running, the wipers would intermittently come back to life, then die.

I made sure I had flatbed insurance with the policy that I got the day before and used it.
The car was successfully flatbedded home (see picture), jumped again, and my baby is safe in my garage.

My plan today is to put in a new battery and kill switch, and bring the alternator in for testing. I consider the kill switch a temporary solution and would like to get the actual source of the problem and fix it.
Question....if that doesnt fix the problem (and I'm skeptical it will), what other things should I do from a troubleshooting perspective to fix this for good?

Also, does anyone have any interesting "first day" stories?

As always, I appreciate your excellent input.

Thanks

 

Hi A,
Car looks VERY nice!!!
Quite an adventure getting it home!

What happened to you was just what you asked about in one of your posts. Ironic?!?

When the car won't start do other things still work... horn for instance?
Is it just the start/run circuit that's not getting power.... or is there NO power anywhere?

Regards,
Alan

 

You're exactly right Alan! Yesterday's situation was exactly what I was very conscious of and trying to avoid.
But after a good night's sleep, and some bourbon, I'm re energized and looking forward to getting out there and beginning my journey with my car.

Re your question...I cant say for sure if every situation of "no power" was the same. The day was pretty frantic, but I believe it was a mix of situations where sometimes everything was dead (like when we got the car of the flatbed) and sometimes I had some power to lights, buzzers, etc.
I'll have a better answer by the end of the day and I'll keep you posted.

Thanks again for your input, especially connecting me with Gary in Chicago who was amazing. Btw...when I was in Chicago, Gary introduced me to a friend of his who took me to a storage facility where he had 18 C3 corvettes...every one of them all original, with original paint. What an experience. Better than a museum.

Thanks again!!

 

First pull and clean the battery cables and Terminals. And clean where the ground wire bolts to the frame. And find the other ground wire at the front that goes from the engine block to the frame. And before you buy a battery or an alternator by a voltmeter. When it's running see how many volts it puts out. Should be in the 13.8 to 14.5 range. You could also put the voltmeter taps right in the center caps of the two battery terminals you might see volts there when you don't see any on the cable ends which shows you that the cables are dirty.

 

Start with the basics.
Remove both of the terminals from the battery and clean them.
Follow the negative terminal to under the car and clean and reinstall that ground wire.
Go to the starter and clean and reinstall the positive wire on top of the solenoid.
Have the battery load tested, recharged and reinstall the battery cables.

 

Another trouble spot on a '79 is the starter extension wire, look at the connection (behind or near the distributor).

https://www.corvettecentral.com/c3-6...f%3fcount%3d36

 

Thank you all for your responses! This forum is amazing.
I'm going to check, clean, and or replace ground wires this weekend.
There are a few electrical gremlins that will also need to be addressed. For example, the alarm goes off when I lock the door, and the left turn signal indicator in the dash stays on all the time.

I appreciate the input and I'll post on my progress.

 

Before you buy a new battery, just have it tested (unless of course you just want it for peace of mind).

I am assuming that you own a multimeter? If not, put that on your shopping list. You will need to see if there is a draw on the battery when the car is not running and also confirm that the battery is receiving a charge while the car is running (I do not trust parts stores testing).

That would be my first place to start. After that it is going through the car and looking for loose/corroded connections. If your wipers are intermittant that is a pretty good indicator that something may be loose. Check for the body grounds, etc.

 

Hi Andy,
Did you see Jim A's cars?
If so, you saw some wonderful original cars.
They're a wealth of information for restorers.
They're part of the reason the new NCRS 68-72 Judging Manuals are as 'deep' as they are.
Regards,
Alan

Detail!

 

Yes I did see Jims cars. I also got to watch them research the manual for some underhood parts on a couple of cars. What an experience.

 

I'm trying to find a diagram that I saw once of the car frame showing the actual grounding points.
I've checked the forum, Shop Manual, and Assembly Manual and cant seem to find it.
Does anyone have this diagram?

 

Welcome to the forum. I was not brave and trailered my corvette home upon purchase. At least your adventure had a positive outcome and you made it home in one piece.
Check your positive and negative battery cables. My negative cable looked like new, but it was corroded almost completely through under the insulation causing starting difficulties. Use an ohm meter and check not only for correct voltage but also continuity and resistance.
Does your car still have points or was it converted over to HEI or electronic ignition. If it has been converted make sure the prior owner eliminated the resistance wire (pink wire) to the coil and ran a new wire from a proper ignition source. This is a very common issue that needs to be checked and could be your problem. Good luck.

 

I don't know if this could be a factor up in the frozen North but there is a condition called Heat Sink where the starter gets overheated from being in close proximity to the engine, and/or exhaust. Car won't start till it cools down.

If you are checking out the wiring and ground on the starter see if there is a heat shield or starter wrap around the starter. If not, install one and see if that fixes it.


All the auto parts stores carry different wraps and shields and most are not expensive, anywhere front six or seven bucks to thirty bucks.

Hope this helps

 

the car does not look as good as should on that flatbed, but what corvette does???