Just got a call from the wife, who took the '04 coupe out today (yeah, I know -- my first mistake ).

As she was taking a 90-degree right turn at a pretty "brisk" pace, the engine died. She coasted to the side of the road, and sez the car immediately restarted, no problems. Drove the rest of the way to her destination, and then drove home with no issues.

In response to initial Qs from me, she said that she does not recall seeing any lights in the IP (as in electrically dead; none of the usual ignition on, but engine not running idiot lights).

Obviously, I will have to pull codes tonight when I get home, and then will check the battery connections, followed by the usual ground conenctions check. In the meantime, I thought I'd check in here to see if anyone has an immediate "oh yeah, it's likely this ____" thought.

Other data points:

22.5k miles.

The battery is the original '04 battery, but I have no reason to suspect any issues there. The car doesn't get run as much since I picked up the '08, but it is still driven regularly, and I've had no signs of battery-age-related issues to date.

The only other thing that *might* be a possible issue (just came to mind after writing the above) relates to the ignition cylinder -- she's one of these people that carries 1/2 of her personal possessions on her key ring -- including her cell phone! I wonder whether, when the car was turned hard to the right, that mass of "stuff" somehow "jostled around" the ignition switch internals and interrupted the current flow through the switch. One more thing to look at when I get home.

Anyways -- thanks for any thoughts!

Mark

 

This would be my guess.

This is a good possiblity too. I HATE having a ton of stuff on my keys. I cant stand something tapping on my leg while i'm driving.
If i accel too hard, my keys will actually come out of the ignition, but i only get "security" light.

 

WOW,, none of us have ever had that problem before!

Two things come to mind that you should check;

Battery cable tightness. Make sure that there nice and tight. You have an 04 so your cables are different than earlier C5's.

Then this:

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show...post1564602976

Let us know what you think.

Bill

 

Ah, Bill! It was electrical, so I knew you'd be in here soon!

Thanks very much for the link -- not sure how I missed that thread, as I follow C5 & C6 Tech pretty closely (wait a minute -- that was the week I was in Germany (well, that's my story anyway, and I'm sticking with it )).

Battery will be my first check after codes, but I have my doubts -- I'm pretty A.R. about those connections, because I've seen so many C5 electrical gremlin stories that traced back to the battery. I will keep an open mind and check them, though -- ya can't assume anything when you're tracking issues down.

I will definitely post on what I find.

Last Q for now -- I have a set of C5 manuals in the garage which I'm sure will have line drawings of the ignition cylinder removal, but I thought I'd ask whether you have any pics. I'm just guessing you might, because when I did similar tech write ups (I was a Bill Curlee wannabe on a BMW motorcycle site for a few years) I usually took 5x more pics than I used in the write ups.

Thanks, Mark

 

MARK

BMW Motorcycle!!!!!!!!!

I have one of those too! ( Ya know what BMW actually stands for don't you?? ( BRING MY WALLET!)

I have an 02 K1200RS. I'm also a member of the BMW forum!

I dont have any pics of anything with the ignition switch other than the post that i provided. Mine has not broke YET!

BC

 

And several others ...

I was one of the two resident tech guys on the K12LT site. Let me know if you ever need to pull your Telelever -- I have the tools (why I have them is a long story! ).

I recently sold my most recent LT (waiting to see what the new LT looks like -- my guess is it will show at this year's INTERMOT in September). In the meantime, I putt arund on an R100M or, if I'm REALLY nice, SWMBO will let me take out her R1150GS or R75/5 toaster. (hence the need to not put up too much of a fight when she wants the cars!)

Thanks -- I thought that would be the case, but better to ask than assume.

Mark

 

Came home, and pulled codes -- only 2 codes, historic IP codes: U1064H and U1160H. I still need to look these up, but in the meantime:

Bill's ignition switch primer led me to what I think happened: I believe it was my wife's massive key ring/boat anchor, which was heavy enough to *just* move the key out of the "On" position -- resulting in total electrical shutdown. I tried the switch with my key a few times, and the detent from the "On" position is pretty soft. One of these days I will use Bill's excellent pics to go into the switch and stiffen up the flat springs a bit.