Hello,

a family member inherited a 1993 automatic recently, and it has been sitting on and off, mostly off for about 2 1/2 years.

it has not had an oil change yet, and the gas is not quite a year old.

we gave it a charge recently and started it, no problems. however after about 5 minutes of idling , and then revving the engine, it shut off. i added a bit of oil although the level was fine, and we tried it the next day, same result

besides changing the oil and gas i cannot think of any other simple possibilities. although i would think it would still start even if the gas is kind of old

the ignition sounds pretty normal, it just will not turn over.

anyways before we get it towed to a shop i figured i'd open a thread

 

Do you mean the starter won't crank the engine? Measure the battery terminal voltage while someone hits crank position on the ign sw. If the battery voltage falls below 9.0 volts, you have a discharged battery, bad cable connection to the battery, or by leaving it sit for a long period, you have a defective battery. If you hear the starter solenoid click and the battery voltage isn't below 9 volts, then keep hitting crank over and over and if it starts, you have burned contacts in the starter and those can be replaced. If battery voltage is ok and no start solenoid click, you may have a defective start safety switch on the gear lever, try wiggling the gear lever in crank position and then try jumping the start safety switch. Last, you may have VATS problem which you can determine by measuring the resistance across the 2 wires (unplugged) from above the steering column (remove the panel above the drivers feet) and insert the key. Resistance should be the same as the ign sw pellet.

 

jfb - thanks very much, sorry my description was lacking so much, however i was hoping for questions like the ones you asked

we will be tinkering with the vehicle this week, it will take me a while to investigate most of the options you have given me, as to say im an amateur in mechanics is an overstatement

however the owner has a shop manual for the 1993 vette, so ill be looking at that.

and to try to answer your initial question, yes it appears the starter wont crank the engine. the starter sounds normal as it always has, but won't turn over and start up.

the voltage has hovered around 8 while trying the ignition, and the battery started to fade while trying to start it for about a minute when we disconnected the battery charger.

ill borrow a tester and have a look at that this week, or maybe take the battery out. it is definitely acting different then in the past when the battery had died from lack of use, we would put the charger on it and it would start. (this battery is like a year old by the way but very underused)

it sounds like the starter or ignition isn't working properly, this confuses me because the car was started last week and shut off after a few minutes. making me worry something is wrong with the engine itself. i guess thats why i asked about bad oil/gas

well as you can tell im taking shots in the dark, but i always appreciate the dialog on this forum

 

Post your work and trials. I'll offer some more suggestions if you need them.

 

My 93 likes to eat Ignition Control Modules. If yours is bad, it could be the ticket.

I'd have a spare in the toolbox even if it's not the ICM. In fact... i DO keep a spare

 

JFB - The battery has a strong charge, 12v by the digital console.
On trying to start it today, we had the same problem. The engine was cranking well, but i'm not sure about solenoid clicking. But the engine would just not fire up.

But because it was cranking strongly, to no avail, could it be the starter?

I keep going back to the last time we had it running, and how it shut down after a few minutes, while we revved it under the hood using the throttle switch next to the engine, could that happen due to ignition or starter?
Speaking of that throttle switch, attached to the throttle cable, how tout is the cable supposed to be? It doesnt appear very tout at all , and i cant recall if it was before. could this relate to our problem?

crkemppainen - we found out today the 1993 shop manual we have refers us to the 1992 manual (dont have it) for more info. about the ignition control module, therefore we haven't found the damn thing yet under the hood. I have not found any diagrams online yet either, going to scour corvetteforum right now, but if im missing it easily can you perhaps help me with that?

thanks again im thrilled for any response especially considering my obscure descriptions of what is occurring

 

You have me a little confused, is the engine turning over?
If yes, then:
ok, first thing. NEVER try to start a car after it has been sitting for a year without changing the oil, putting in something to take the water out of the gas. And always put in fresh gas atleast 50/50 or as close as you can get, bad gas can cause MAJOR problems in cars. Clog injectors, pumps and filters.
Take off the schrader valve cover, place a paper cup or something similar underneath the valve, turn the ignition on and use a small phillips screwdriver and press the needle valve and get a good 2 oz of gas. Check that the gas is not milky or real dark, if it looks good, then next get a guage and check fuel pressure, should be around 40 psi with the ignition on, but car not started.
ICM is easy to find, it is bolted to the right bank head in the front.
Check gas 1st, then fire. Take a plug out and see if you have spark.