Got an 89 Automatic. Over the last summer my car began to develop a long start. It does have a code 36 for the MAF burn off relay. I just haven’t gotten around to replacing the relay yet. It would take about 5 seconds to roll the car over during warm weather. Now, it has gotten cooler out all I will hear is a loud audible click coming from the engine, and it will stumble for half a second occasionally. It will fire up after many attempts. When it’s about 70* or warmer out, it won’t click but it’ll take around 5 seconds to roll over as stated earlier.



A few questions -



1: Will replacing the MAF burn off relay relieve the long start situation?



2: Have I worn out my starter motor from my long starts?

 

I would definitely assume your starter is going south. It could be just it's time after years of wear and tear. I'd just replace the relay. Is it that difficult to get to? IDK because I have SD not MAF.

 

Relays are slightly above and behind the battery, not difficult to replace at all just haven’t had the time to do it when I work nights + 12hr shifts.

I’m going to drop the starter out and check the solenoid first to see if I can get away with just replacing that.

 

I'd send it for a rebuild which would include replacing the solenoid. That or get a quality rebuild. There are probably worn brushes. Don't try to get away with the minimum because you.may have to redo.

 

What is the condition of the Starting Battery and it's connections? I have seen so many cars that have dirty terminals making bad contact cause issues like this one with the starter. It is very important that your battery be in good shape and that it has no corrosion on or near its connections or the ones at the Starter motor.

Remove the battery from the car and charge it up and then have it tested. I would also go through the car and look for bad connections. I spent hours getting the voltage drops under control but it was effort well spent. I was almost 2 volts below current battery readings and nothing worked properly. In the end everything works so much better with good connections to a healthy battery. Does the battery have enough electrolyte in it? Exposed plates means capacity gone so don't let it happen! I have several cars and I keep a couple gallons of Distilled Water in my shop just for that reason.

I have seen plenty of No-Start situations where a Battery Connection was the problem, not the battery. Batteries need maintenance as well as the rest of the systems. I have also seen people replace starters when all they had to do was wire brush the connectors to get their starter functional.

Good Luck!
Chris

 

Have you been able to remove the cap to fill with distilled water? Would you need to be able to add sulfuric acid to keep the density right? I've had mixed luck resealing it. Sometimes the seal holds, other times it leaks. I don't even see the specific gravity measure tool in parts stores, at least, not in the shop racks.

 

I would say the battery needs to be checked out or replaced when you do the relay.

Relays probably won't fix the starting situation, but it will run better with them replaced. Always do both when you have to change one.

Whether the starter is worn?, well possibly. Just buy a new one or have yours redone. But I'd do the battery first and see if that fixes the issue.

 

I will definitely clean up and check all the connections while changing out the relays to see what that will do for me.

I pulled a random spark plug out before I left for work and it looked a little worse for the wear, probably end up changing those out too after checking battery / relays.

 

Never put sulfuric acid or any Battery electrolyte in a used battery!

In the electrolyte the water is what evaporates so you replace it with Distilled water only. And of course you use EYE protection and I don't mean glasses. I have filled some very large 2 volt cells with over 5 gallons of electrolyte per cell. You don't want even the chance of getting electrolyte in your face! I used a hood on my bigger projects and wore an Apron to protect myself. When I got back to the United States all my work pants had holes starting at the base of the apron.

Having spent a lot of time working in the Battery world I have tried a lot of things. I keep electrolyte here in my garage but only for new batteries only. It has been found that the old batteries don't last any longer with new electrolyte many year ago.

Specific gravity testers are sold locally at my NAPA parts store. Flooded Lead Acid batteries are still the most popular and will be for as while longer.

Batteries require regular Annual Maintenance and very few get it. Your car's charging system usually will not be able to keep your FLA battery at 100% state of Charge. It is good to charge it completely every once in a while. I just disconnect them from the vehicle, clean the terminals, Check the electrolyte level and charge it completely until the battery starts gassing. This only applies to those of us with old style FLA batteries, if you are using a Valve regulated (VRLA) or a Absorbed Gas Mat (AGM) don't charge it the same way. Those batteries require a specialized charging regime to get them fully charged. Driving a car for a few minutes is better for the battery as it helps stir up the electrolyte. Charging with a small charger can lead to stratification of the electrolyte and that leads to capacity lost permanently.

I bought a ~1 amp trickle charger and hooked it to my C3 Battery for the winter and by March the battery had dried out, it boiled the electrolyte away and the plates were exposed and ruined. It did not have any sort of cut-off it simply sent current to the battery 24 hours a day ruining a new $150 battery.

Chris E, when you change the plugs you will find a couple are hard to get to. I bought a extra long spark plug socket to get out the #4,#6 and #8 spark plugs. It is easier if you remove the inner fender plastic before you do it. If I were going to replace the plugs I would give the wire a serious look as I replaces wires every 10 years.

One of the most important part of replacing your spark plugs is to be absolutely sure to use Anti-Seize on the plugs before you install them. Steel plugs in Aluminum heads is a bad problem in the making. Anti seize will make your life easier and learn to use it on the big stuff while working on your Corvette.
Let us know what happens, we are anxious to hear the cause of the Corvettes issues.

 

Between dodging rain showers, I’ve changed out the relays and they have cleared my code 36. Engine starts up quicker and definitely runs better than it has before, especially when idling and lower RPM’s.

I also cleaned the battery terminals a bit. After sitting for several hours I’m getting 12.2-12.3 volts out of it according to my dash. When I roll it over it doesn’t start it almost immediately drops down to 11.5-11.9 volts and clicks. I will be getting it tested sometime soon and probably end up buying a new battery. Hopefully that will solve my issue!

 

Well I had a hunch that my starter wasn’t getting enough power to it. Decided to see if I had a parasitic draw out of anything. Sure enough I’m losing about 350 miliamps from my courtesy light system. Pulled the fuse and it starts up without any hesitation whatsoever, every single time.

When one door closes, another door opens... I appreciate the help you guys have put forth, it’s been very appreciated! Thank you.

 

It is nice to hear that your Corvette is almost Happy again!

I think the parasitic draw is between 25-45 milliamps when everything is off inside the Corvette and it has been left alone for several minutes. I bought a kit of LED bulbs for the interior and they are amazing, more light at a fraction of the power used by the bulb. They also don't make as much heat in the process which is good inside the Corvette. Harbor Freight makes a tool that inserts into a fuse location and will tell you how much power is going through the circuit, it is cheap and very good to have chasing parasitic losses

A high quality (expensive) multi meter like the Fluke 88 I use has a built in "min-max" function. I frequently put clips on the leads and watch the battery start with the min-max function "On" and you will see just how far down the battery really goes at the peak of cranking and it will show your alternator charging it if all is working properly. The battery cutoff is usually 10 to 10.5 volts as the battery is cranking the engine. If the alternator is working the max number should show it. This is the best way I know of for testing a battery once I know the connections are not the problem. It can also be done in the car. I am not big on the Carbon Loads they use at a lot of auto stores, they are not that accurate. If you take the battery to get it tested be sure it is "fully" charged or the test is not that accurate.

I recently found a material called DeOxIt and it is amazing at removing corrosion on contacts. The stuff is expensive for a little bottle but it goes a long way. It removes all the corrosion and leaves a perfect contact surface. I have a bottle in my portable tool kit and am finding all kinds of uses. It cleans the contacts on the sensitive sensors without damaging anything.

Good Luck Chris, I hope Your Corvette works like a charm!

Best regards,
Chris a.k.a. ctmccloskey

 

For a few days it fired up pretty normally without the courtesy fuse. Then it began showing its ugly head once again. I read up that I can check if my alternator is pulling any sort of power by looking for VoltsAC across my battery terminals while running. It stated that if I had any VAC across the terminals that the diode is bad. I was getting a reading of 30VAC across the terminals. Before I go out and buy a new one, would this be a definite bad diode in my alternator?