Hi all,

I'm having problems starting the C4 (96 LT4). Turn the ignition and get nothing. No sounds, no clicking, no trying to turn over. Lights stay on. New battery so that should not be it. No "security" light.

If I put the car in neutral and push it back a few feet and then try it will eventually start ( sometimes I have to move it back or forward a couple of times).

Sound like the starter or something else?

 

A new battery doesn't guarantee the cables are tight... check for tightness.

Moving the vette may have no bearing on the situation, it may be just a coincidence.

Jack the vette so that you can short the solenoid by placing a screwdriver touching the solenoid terminal and the batt terminal:
http://www.wikihow.com/Test-a-Starter-Solenoid

If the starter spins by shorting the solenoid, replace the solenoid.

If cables check tight, and shorting the solenoid doesn't work, replace the starter. (After removal of the starter, it can be checked on the ground by applying 12V.)

 

did you try your spare key? or clean the one you have. if the solenoid were totally open, it should not improve itself. if it clicks, or lights dim, suspect solenoid. also, neutral position of clutch or trans shifter blocks the current to the starter/solenoid.

maybe my memory is dim!

 

You should be able to hear the VATS relay click when you turn the ignition switch to the START position. I believe it's at the base of the steering column on the firewall in your car (they changed the interior layout in 1990 and I don't know where things are in the later cars).

Somebody else will have to comment with more precise info on its location...

 

VATS solenoid on my 96 is behind the panel below the steering column. I can not hear it clicking behind all that stuff.

 

Thanks guys

I forgot about shorting the solenoid. Used to do that to my mom's old maverick, back when you could open the hood of a car and see through to the road below and everything was within easy reach.

There is no clicking or any sound at all when I try to turn it over and the lights in the console don't dim. It just does not do anything.

I've tried my second set of keys (thinking it might be the resister) but it's the same thing with either key.

I'll try shorting the solenoid this weekend. The c4 is no longer my daily driver so it can wait for the weekend.

 

if you have the FSM it is 8-30 section. shorting the solenoid tells you that it works, but there are several components from there to the ignition key.
if it does not energize with full battery current, it is defective.

while you are under there, check the terminal on the purple wire for voltage, with someone holding the ignition in START. if you have voltage through the terminal to the bolt, which eliminates a high resistance terminal, that means that VATS, ignition, starter relay, neutral switch are all OK. if there is no voltage, you work backwards to the ignition -or to VATS.

the fact that it starts with moving the safety switch with clutch or shifter suggests that the switch may be the problem.
I am speaking for L98 starter system. I assume the Lt1 and 4 are the same.

you probably know that if the key is not read for some reason, there is a time delay before it will try to read another key, 4 to 20 minutes I believe. I made that mistake more than once! and, all tests are done with ign in start, not ON. made that mistake, too.

Edit: the FSM does not suggest jumping the solenoid. I mention it rather than talk you out of it. The book begins with checking the purple wire at the solenoid, ign in START, and working back.

 

You will need to check for 12V at the starter batt terminal.
Jumping the solenoid is useless, if there is no voltage at
the batt terminal.