Help car keeps dying on start up
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: Jan 2013
Posts: 45
Likes: 0
Help car keeps dying on start up
Hello, I have a 1987 corvette and it has recently a different motor put in but it's around a 1990's don't know the exact year and during the rainy season we just had it has been sitting covered for app. 3to 4 months without being started. Now when I charged it up and tried to start it, it will start right up but then die immediately. Tried it several times same result. I had a person I know who used to own his own shop come over and he put a code reader on it and it came back 1) 46 which is a vats code? and 2) 12. He's not a corvette mechanic so we are both at a loss why it is doing this. He tried to keep the car running until it warmed up and it seemed to be a little better but not like it has been in the past. Is there a reader out there who has experienced this problem or might know why this is happening? Any and all help would be appreciated. I am a 73 year young dis-abled veteran and I can't wait to get behind the wheel once again. Thank You and GOD Bless
Team Owner
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 28,475
Likes: 3,291
From: Hartford WI
Hello, I have a 1987 corvette and it has recently a different motor put in but it's around a 1990's don't know the exact year and during the rainy season we just had it has been sitting covered for app. 3to 4 months without being started. Now when I charged it up and tried to start it, it will start right up but then die immediately. Tried it several times same result. I had a person I know who used to own his own shop come over and he put a code reader on it and it came back 1) 46 which is a vats code? and 2) 12. He's not a corvette mechanic so we are both at a loss why it is doing this. He tried to keep the car running until it warmed up and it seemed to be a little better but not like it has been in the past. Is there a reader out there who has experienced this problem or might know why this is happening? Any and all help would be appreciated. I am a 73 year young dis-abled veteran and I can't wait to get behind the wheel once again. Thank You and GOD Bless
Get a fuel pressure gauge. Pay the deposit to Autozone and check fuel pressure. Turn it to run (no cranking) and see what the pressure is. Turn it off, see if it rapidly drops. Try to crank it and watch what happens. Does it start? If so, does the pressure drop off when it dies? Check the ignition module at Autozone.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 917
Likes: 25
From: College Station Tx
I had a similar problem on my '95. It was intermittent and would seem to happen if I left the car idle for a few weeks. After about 5 years of trying to figure out the problem, I took the car to a really good corvette mechanic. After searching for a week or so, he found a small nick in a wire from the ignition switch. This wire would occasionally short out and kill the engine. He repaired the nick in the wire and the problem has not resurfaced since. That was 2 years ago.
