billschroeder5842

My new (to me) 1989 seems to be getting squirrely with a no crank situation.


Frist time today was in the Home Depo parking lot (with my wife no less). I put the key in and no power- nothing. Only a little buzz from the passenger side dash. I popped the hood and push down hard on the negative cable (there was a bit of play) and the car got power and fired right off. I went home and cleaned and re seated both cables.

I went out later to move cars and it fired right up and I pulled to the end of the driveway and turned it off. About 10 minutes later, I hopped in, full instrument power and no crank. The volt meter said 12.2 on the dash.

I got my tools and disconnected and re cleaned everything. Again, full power but no crank. I tried the key back and forth and even got a spare set-- nothing.

After about 10 minutes, I hopped in and *POW* fired right up as usual. I pulled in the garage, and did about 4 on/off sequences with Ops Normal. I ran the basic diagnostic and got nothing. The FSM did not seem to point me in the right direction.

Huh...?

Now, I'm dreading VATS as I have no idea what else to check.

Any ideas?

bjankuski

It sounds like a VATS issue but see if you have power at the S-terminal at the starter when you get the no start condition. If you have power at the s-terminal the car should crank, if not the starter/solenoid is starting to fail and may be only working intermittently.

VikingTrad3r

Bill, don't worry about VATS, not a massive issue and im sure you can handle it. Your first instance in the HD parking lot you describe that you pushed down on the negative cable and then it fired. If that was the case, and it was less than 10 minutes, chances are it was not VATS?

Bjank have I got that right? I thought that VATS needed 7 minutes to 'reset' the shutdown feature.

IF you were around 7 minutes in all your power/no crank conditions then yeah its probably vats.

the other thing to do is to get it into this no start condition in your garage while on blocks, then take a hammer and bump the starter. see if it fires.

billschroeder5842

Thanks- This is the help with direction I need.

In the HD parking lot, the time elapsed from when I pushed down the cable, making full connection, to start was maybe :30 seconds. In the driveway it could easily have been over 7 minutes as I cleaned connections, tried different keys...etc.

I'll crawl around under the car and check the starter connection at the S terminal. I'm sure it is the original starter, so the solenoid may be going. No "Clicking" however...

Is that VATS disable pigtail from Ecklers worth it? Should I get one for PM just in case?

Thanks!

bjankuski

What I am saying is the VATS may be fine and he has a bad starter, to verify see if you have power at the s-terminal when the car will not crank. If you have power it is not VATS, if no power then it could be VATS or another issue but now you can start the checks to rule out issues.

VikingTrad3r

cool. bill if you do end up wanting a vats bypass this is the one i ordered which may be the same as the ecklers one. measure resistance on your key, select the correct "code" under technical tips.

http://www.mamotorworks.com/Corvette/product/vats-bypass-module-601116-1

billschroeder5842

Is there a way to test if the Solenoid is failing (as the car has intermittent issues) while the starter is on the car, still cranks and before it stops all together?

If the starter has to come off the car for a test, I'd probably just swap it for a new starter as the work is already committed.

billschroeder5842

I just ordered two one for my 91 and one for this 89.

So, here is a question.... If I install the VATs bypass and swap out a new starter (barring an ignition or wire issue) I'll probably be good?

billschroeder5842

Yeah, I'm begining to believe so too...

I messed around with it today. First nothing, then it popped over. Huh? I watched a few You Tube videos (I believe that YouTube is what the Borg from Star Trek was talking about with "collective wisdom") and learned a bit about what the flashing SECURITY light did and did not mean.

The light on the dash needs to be out before it will also the starter to engage. Solid means that your VATS has disabled the system.

So, I have the disable pigtail on the way and will swap and solve my problem.

billschroeder5842

I got my VATS pigtail today. The swap was pretty straight forward EXCEPT.... someone was there before me.

I found that the VATS system had been jumped earlier in the cars life. There was a wire twisted with resistors wrapped in electrical tape. I disconnected the "thing" and swapped with the more professional pigtail.

I felt like I was the second husband.

I unwrapped the electrical tape around homemade connection and their was a connection wire that was broken. I'm not sure if I did it (I was pretty careful) while un wrapping,or it it broke on as own and was intermittently connecting causing my on/off.

Anyway, I put things pack together and tried the car- it worked as it should. I twisted the key a couple of time and the security light went out each time.

I'm confident enough to take her out tomorrow and see what happens.