won't start
Thread Starter
Heel & Toe
Joined: Oct 2019
Posts: 21
Likes: 0
From: Discovery Bay CA.
won't start
Hello all,
Still basking in the glow of having a vette again - fixing a lot of little things. My hardtop should be ready by Friday, but I went out to pull it in the driveway to take some pics after applying a nice coat of ceramic based polish and my baby wouldn't start. I took it for a spin the day before to enjoy a little time with the top down, ran great, parked it in the garage and now it just turns over but won't fire up... an thoughts from any of you gurus?
Still basking in the glow of having a vette again - fixing a lot of little things. My hardtop should be ready by Friday, but I went out to pull it in the driveway to take some pics after applying a nice coat of ceramic based polish and my baby wouldn't start. I took it for a spin the day before to enjoy a little time with the top down, ran great, parked it in the garage and now it just turns over but won't fire up... an thoughts from any of you gurus?
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 6,314
Likes: 508
From: South-central Missouri
Oh, that's gotta be frustrating. (It is when it happens to me!)
FUEL - AIR - SPARK What is missing?
Tools: Do you have a fuel pressure gauge? Do you either have a "noid light" to check spark, OR (as I don't, but pull one of the spark plug boots adn insert a spare spark plug and then see if you have spark.
Let's pause here and see what we find out before diving in deeper just yet. Oh! Does your SECURITY light flash as you attempt to crank it (not good), OR does it go out when you "hit" the starter? (Good!).
FUEL - AIR - SPARK What is missing?
Tools: Do you have a fuel pressure gauge? Do you either have a "noid light" to check spark, OR (as I don't, but pull one of the spark plug boots adn insert a spare spark plug and then see if you have spark.
Let's pause here and see what we find out before diving in deeper just yet. Oh! Does your SECURITY light flash as you attempt to crank it (not good), OR does it go out when you "hit" the starter? (Good!).
Thread Starter
Heel & Toe
Joined: Oct 2019
Posts: 21
Likes: 0
From: Discovery Bay CA.
Fuel filter and pump were changed out about 2000 miles ago. Car sat for about 7 months without being started, but when I put a new battery and alternator on it , it fired right up and has been fine for the last 3 weeks. I have some pretty limited mechanic skills, just has me baffled why all of a sudden it won’t fire up. Security light is not on, but the battery and check engine lights come on while it is turning over.
Race Director
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 16,475
Likes: 270
From: Kingman AZ
Cruise-In VII Veteran
Cruise-In VIII
St. Jude Donor '06-'07-'08-'09-'10-'11-'12-'13-'14-'15-'16
Be sure to mention the year and transmission of your C4 when you ask advice about it.
You can Google "Starting sequence 19-- Corvette" to get some direction.
You can Google "Starting sequence 19-- Corvette" to get some direction.
Thread Starter
Heel & Toe
Joined: Oct 2019
Posts: 21
Likes: 0
From: Discovery Bay CA.
Thanks again guys for your responses - It's great having enthusiasts that respond so quickly. So - I read some of the links provided and charged the battery - It is only a month old and I put a new 140 amp alternator in it as well. This morning, like magic, she started right up. So now I'm guessing that there is an electrical issue that is slowly draining the battery enough the it isn't giving enough cranking juice to get her to fire up. I also for forgot to mention that it is a stock 1990 vert with automatic tranny....thanks for the suggestion to include that.
