First thing in the morning it starts beautifully. I drive it around for an hour or more and stop for gas. I turn the car off, fill up, and get back in...but the damn thing won't start!!! I pump the clutch slowly, listening for some kind of clicking noise, and pray my beautiful car starts soon because I'm embarrassed to have people see a vette that won't start!!! This happens daily, not just at the pump...I go out to eat and can't get it started for 20 minutes after my meal. I pump and pump the clutch and curse loudly at the car! It started happening a couple months ago very few and far between and has progressively gotten worse to the point that I won't drive the car if I have to stop somewhere....only long uninterrupted drives. Is it my clutch? Ignition? Is my car possessed? Thank you in advance for any ideas.

 

No clicking or DIC messgaes? It could be as simple as your starter is going on you. Hopefully someone that has had this happen to them will chime in soon... My .02 is the starter.

 

I assume that you have a C5 with a 6 speed. Now when it is hot and won't start: When you insert the key and turn it to run position, what do you see? Then when you turn the key to start positon, what happens; does it crank and not fire?, does nothing? any noise?
What does pumping the clutch have to do with it not starting? Does it do the same thing with your second key? Have tried to bump start it (such as rolling down an incline and letting the clutch out in third with the ingnition in the run position)? And on and on...

Neil.

 

I push in the clutch, insert the key and turn. And nothing happens. No clicks, no cranking, no error messages, nothing. In those desperate moments I have found that keeping the key turned to the start position and slowly pumping the clutch gets it started...sometimes it takes up to 20 minutes of fiddling with it like that to get it going.

 

yes, it's a 2002 6spd by the way.

 

Check the switch located somewhere on the clutch, it's probably loose or something... At least I think it's a mechanical switch, let me do some checking around. Can you check your clutch pedal area right now?

 

Here's some info on the subject for you to digest;

There are several things that can go wrong which
result in the dreaded no start condition.

If the car can be jump started, that eliminates VATS
issues because you can't jump start it if the VATS is
acting up. If VATS is activated, you cannot start the
car and it can appear like a no start condition. The
Security light will be lit, however.

If you hear a click when turning the key, but the
starter will not turn, or turns slowly, the problem
could be the battery, the starter, or one of the
battery cables. Eliminate the battery then test
according to the manual. This is straight forward.
The mysterious no start does not produce a click when
turning the key. That is now discussed below.



The starting circuit itself goes through the ignition
switch which operates a relay which sends the juice on
its way to the starter. On its way, the starting
circuit is opened unless the clutch is depressed which
activates the clutch switch. Once the clutch switch
is closed, the juice should be making it to the
solenoid contact on the starter. Now that solenoid is
particular about how much voltage it sees and will not
activate at all with under about 11 Volts. Further,
when that starter and solenoid are heat soaked after
being driven enough to get hot, the needs of the
solenoid can be greater than when the engine is cold.
Hence, the engine will not start, then mysteriously
after 20-80 minutes cooling down, everything seems
normal again and the car starts.

So what could be the problem??

Battery - The battery needs to be in top form fully
charged or under some conditions that pesky solenoid
might think it isn't getting enough juice.

Grounds - If the grounding connections are not making
good contact, this could add resistance to various
circuits and contribute to the problem. One needs to
use the manual for the locations of important
grounding terminals and make sure the connections are
not corroded and are tight.

Ignition switch and/or starting relay - The switch
itself can fail or operate intermittently. Similarly
for the relay. If you have juice at the clutch
switch, it is unlikely the problem is either of
these.

Key - It is possible the small pellet in the key is
not making good contact in the ignition switch. This
could happen intermittently. Hard to say if it would
be a switch problem or a key problem. This would be a
VATS issue.

Clutch Switch - The contacts on the clutch switch can
get corroded, or get pitted due to arcing which add
resistance to the circuit thus creating a voltage loss
across the switch. This will reduce the voltage that
the solenoid sees. The clutch switch contributes to
voltage drop in the starting circuit and by jumpering
across it, that source of this problem can be
eliminated for the present condition and into the
future. The clutch switch is above the clutch pedal
under the dash -- high up! It is hard to change out.
If you change one, you will never want to do it again.


Starter/Solenoid - The starter can be bad even if you
just changed it a month ago. Some have reported
corroded contacts on the solenoid which again steal
away voltage that the solenoid itself needs to
operate. Apparently the contacts can be cleaned up
and the starter kept in service, or perhaps kept on
the shelf for later use after installing a new
starter.

The first thing I'd do is make sure the battery is
fully charged and then jumper the clutch switch to see
if that takes care of the problem. Use a short jumper
preferably 12 gauge wire with the appropriate spade
connectors and plug into the connector in place of the
clutch switch. Your jumper will be U shaped using
about 2.5 inches of wire. If the problem still
persists, then verify there is voltage on the big
purple wire which can be carefully "pricked" within
the wire bundle directly behind the ECM above the
battery. This big purple wire is the wire that
energizes the solenoid.

You should have close to 12 volts to ground on the big
purple wire while turning the key. If you do, and the
starter does nothing, then you have to dig in to get
at the starter again. You can also instantly "hot
wire" the purple wire directly from the battery using
a heavy gauge wire, 14 or 16 gauge. Make sure the car
is out of gear before doing this because if the
solenoid and starter activate, the car will likely
lurch. If you have voltage on the big purple wire and
then hot wire from the battery and the solenoid then
activates, it is possible there is too much resistance
in the starting circuit upstream.

In summary, any combination of factors that result in
less voltage getting to the starter than what it needs
to activate the solenoid can result in no start.
These things can be clutch switch, battery, heat
making voltage needs greater, solenoid contacts, and
various issues with the starter moter itself such as
bearings, brushes, windings, etc. Diagnosing these
problems is particularly difficult because of the
intermittent nature of the no start condition. Tests
and measurements need to be done when the problem
exists. Usually, you have to make the fix(es) and
hope the no start will not recur.