Skwisgaar

Hello everyone i own a 1995 c4 corvette with only 90k miles on it and it has recently been having really bad problems with starting. Even if i just turn it off to get gas its probably not going to start up again. When trying to start it, it jut makes one click, then nothing. I know its not the battery because when it finally does turn over its just fine, ive also had the battery tested. Everytime it happens i blame the vats system but im not sure if thats correct or not, ive cleaned the key and still does not work any better. Im not sure if i need to invest into putting a vats bypass in yet or if it cold be just the starter itself that is bad. Here is a video on youtube of someone i found that has the exact same year corvette as mine (1995) and is doing the exact same thing mine is doing when trying to start.


Any help would be greatly appreciated

hcbph

The fact you're hearing a click makes me think it's not vats. Every time I've had something like that it's been electrical. I'd clean start with cleaning up every electrical connection and have the battery properly tested. Next would be look into the starter and it's solenoid.
That's where I'd start if it was mine.

Jstan2014

billschroeder5842

Yeah, (as above) you need to start with the battery. That is the first chain in your link.

TravisSchoech

you can watch the battery voltage remain steady even when you attempt to crank the car and hear the thump of the solenoid/bendix.

I'll bet you a cold beer that the starter is dead, due to worn out brushes/stator.

Is the car a standard trans? If so, I've had luck ejecting the bendix by trying to crank the car and then have someone push the car while in gear. Sometimes that will find a fresh spot on the stator for the brushes to bite.

My money is on a dead starter. Fortunately starter's are not too terribly expensive.

Turbojim69

Next time bang the starter with a hammer or something it will start ...the starter has bad spots on it when a battery gets tested They put a load on it the load depends on the cca of the battery the voltage drops to 10.5 it's good 9.5 it's weak some stores have different standards.this doesn't mean it's bad it means it is getting weaker. A shorted battery will not produce any voltage to speak of nor will it ever start the car. It's always a good place to start but it's iether gonna be the starter or a bad connection to the battery, starter,or ground.

aklim

It's so cool how everyone blames VATS for everything including bad weather. The obvious solution is to buy the kit, install it and you have sunny days all year long. If it even clicks, it isn't VATS. Replace it with a bypass all you want and it probably still clicks.

If it were mine, the next test I do would be to take the starter out and bring it to a rebuild shop. I had a starter that would test out 50% at Autozone. 2 times it works, 2 it didn't. So if you test it one time, you might be lucky and it starts so you declare it good. The rebuild shop will be able to tear it down and see exactly if it is 1 bad spot or more.

corvette95

Far and away from considering this first. There is a TSB out on a short run of 95's with a CCM that can develop and cause an intermittent no crank (not no start) but should crank on second of third try without problems. But again, it about 1 in 2500 odds. It should have shown up long before now. I am betting on corrosion on battery or cable to starter. IF YOU REPLACE YOU STARTER, I would like to bu the core.
Thanks.

Pa'svette

Heat kills the starter on Corvettes. If it starts after it cools off for 30 min. or so you need a starter.
Most over the counter rebuilt starters are junk. Have your's rebuilt if you can.

mazdaverx7

I would check the connections on the starter to make sure they are clean and tight. There are two, a 12V constant supply cable and a 12V switched power wire for the solenoid. Next, I would make sure the battery terminals are clean and tight and ensure they are not stripped. Stripped threads on a battery can cause a lot of odd issues as full power is not being delivered to the car. Let us know what you find!

Skwisgaar

Hello everyone and thank you so much for all the great suggestions! I haven't had a chance to really work on the car and it probably going to be next weekend when i can so i will be sure to let you all know what i find out and what ended up being the fix!

Thank you.

pacoW

That single "click" from the video sounds like the (starter) solenoid engaging to me, but the starter motor isn't turning. Typically with a weak battery you'll hear multiple clicks in rapid succession. I would clean up all connections from battery to starter, try it again. If same, pull starter and take it to be tested.

Skwisgaar

Hello everyone and thank you all for your awesome suggestions. I ended up taking the starter out and it tested bad so I had it rebuilt and boom starts up everytime just fine! Can't believe this whole time I was blaming vats lol. Once again thank you to everyone for your replies.

aklim

Don't worry about it. Everyone blames VATS for everything to the point that they make kits so you don't get stuck by preemptively deleting VATS. Maybe next we should delete the motor just in case it breaks down

mazdaverx7

Glad you were able to get the issue resolved. These cars aren't rocket science and are still very basic machines with a few nice twists.

Gunho

turbobuick33

Who sells the VATS kit?

aklim

Sure, I'd fix it unless the cost is prohibitive. I'd rather write it out of the program instead of relying on some hack job to fool the system.

1bdvet

I have had experience the same problem with my starter, it called heat sink, and when the starter cools down everything is normal.

I would recommend, wrapping the starter, so it doesn't have happen again.

aklim

I'd recommend getting a better starter altogether