Not a happy way to start the new year.

Battery seems good; lights, radio, etc. all come on. No crank, no solenoid sound, no nothing. 89k miles. Been running fine. Driven only occasionally. Backed it out of the garage today to wash it (65 degrees in Nashville today). No crank when I tried to put it back in the garage. I have tried the spare key. I sure don't want to have to have this thing towed! Any help is appreciated.

 

First try jumping the clutch safety switch (gear selector switch if auto). If no crank, jump 12v to purple wire on safety switch, this goes to the starter solenoid and the starter should crank. If it cranks, then the contacts in the ignition switch tumbler are worn and you need a new tumbler which has new contacts. You can bypass VATS temporarily by unplugging the end two wires from the ribbon that comes out of the steering column about halfway down the column (remove the driver kick panel), the orange , and brown wire and clipping a fixed resistor the same value as the pellet (Radio Shack 5% 1/4 watt will do) onto the wires going into the harness. You can test the ign tumbler contacts too by inserting the key into the ignition and measuring the resistance across the two wires out of the steering column. It should measure the same as the pellet and if over 13k ohms, you need a new ign tumbler. Don't permanently bypass VATS because 99% of thefts are done by bashing the column and jumping the ignition.

 

"no crank, jump 12v to purple wire on safety switch, this goes to the starter solenoid and the starter should crank. "

I hate to be such a newbie, but can you give me some more details on the advice above? How do I locate the safety switch? And I assume you mean jump from the positive terminal of the battery to this wire?

Thanks!

 

The safety switch on a manual trans is on the upper part of the clutch pedal under the dash. You will definitly have to remove the carpet piece if you want to see it. You may be able to just run your hand up and feel it. They usually don't go bad, but the means of attachment to the pedal is weak, and they will slip after a while. You will want to push it towards the firewall.
If you are dealing with an automatic, it is located on the shifter somewhere. I can't help you more than that.

And yes, he means jumping from the battery.

 

mine is an automatic.

Anybody help locating the safety switch on an automatic?

 

Your VAT is activated. Just wait a few minute and try again. Should start right up.

 

Could be a bad starter solenoid. Believe it or not, just whack the starter with a hammer once or twice and it might just fire right up. If it does, replace the starter solenoid without delay. This trick will only work once or twice if the solenoid is bad. BTW, although you can replace only the solenoid, I would rebuild the starter while it's out of the car with 89K on the clock. Rebuild it rather than replace so you won't have to mess with shimming a new starter. Plus you are rolling the dice with a rebuild from most parts houses.

 

Must be the solenoid -- I have waited over a day, and still won't crank.

I am having trouble even locating the starter; to bang on it with a hammer, I'll need to have the car up on a jack stand and hit it from below, right? And just to be sure, the starter is on the right (passenger) side, rear, of the engine, below the exhaust manifold?

 

Whe it first happened to me-I took my screw jack handle and rapped the starter from above (didn't jack it up) and it started-did it about 3-4 times before I pulled the (dirty-oily) old starter and replaced it-end of problem. Yes it is on the passenger side.

 

It's almost impossible to reach the starter without jacking up the car. Yes, it's on the passenger side. You might try tapping on it from above with something long like a crow bar or lug wrench. I was able to reach mine from below with a lug wrench turned so that the wrench end was up. I didn't have it jacked up so I lay on my side and reached under the car. It's not the best way , but when you are on the sideof the road,,,well!!!
I know this sounds crude but it works if it is the solenoid.

 

How do you know exactly what resistor to use? I measured the resistance across the pellet on the key, and it measured 1.5k ohms. Is that right? And can I just pull the orange and brown wires out of the harness that they are going into?

 

You find out what resistance to use by measuring the pellet, in your case you need to obtain a 1/4 watt or higher power rating, 1500 ohm 5% or lower tolerance resistor. And yes, unplug the orange and brown wire from the connector and connect the resistor across the wires that go into the harness, NOT the wires from the steering column. All this was covered in my post above. I do not know how to make it any easier!

 

I know I am being a newbie, but I am confused. See this from a Tech Tip:

If you take a multi-meter and measure the resistance between the metal contacts on either side of your key, you can buy a resistor of this value at any Radio Shack store. ¼ watt will do. You then need to remove the hush panel under the steering column. Disconnect C281 (two-cavity connector at base of steering column with two black wires in the female end and one yellow and one brown wire in the male end). Your newly purchased resistor goes into the male side of this connector, so you'll need to crimp a couple of female pins to the resistor legs. If you insist on purchasing the VATS bypass from one of the Corvette catalogs, again measure the resistance of your key pellet and compare it to the code chart to find your code.

That says "a yellow and brown wire". I can find a connector that has 2 white wires on the steering column side and a yellow and brown wire on the other side, but I can't get the connector apart. And that looks like what the VATS bypass module on Eckler's would plug into.

I can also find a larger harness, that connects 7 or 8 wires coming out of the steering column, and on one end of that harness are an orange and brown wire, with an orange, brown, and black wire on the other side. I can get this connection apart.

Can you tell me which one of this is the correct connection?

 

The two white wires come from the ign tumbler. The yellow and brown wires go to the VATS decoder. The 1500 ohm resistor needs to connect to the yellow and brown wires with the connector unplugged. The connector has a latch preventing unplugging and it faces the white wires. With your thumbnail or a small screwdriver, lift the latch just enough to clear the tab on the plastic body on the white wire side and pull the connector apart. I used a pair of wires with clip leads on each end to connect my resistor to the yel/brn connector pins.

 

jfb -- Many thanks for your patient explanation. I was finally able to get the connection undone, and with just a little difficulty was able to get the wires jumped with the right resistor, and she started right up. Thanks again!