I recently had this problem with my Vette on my second day of ownership!

Turned out the ignition switch was bad. $280+ (not including the tow, which my insurance covered) and I'm finally on the road...

 

I called the dealership today & they said it was a Dead battery, that they jumped it & it started right up but that doesnt make sense to us, because we put a new battery in it. Heck itwas a Optima that we stuck in it from our 71 Camaro that my husband bought 2 weeks ago. Plus we had it on the charger & nothing.

So we dont know what is up. they are going to run more tests tomorrow

 

I would be wondering about the battery cables themselves and the battery to starter cable. Maybe the crimps on those large wires has a problem.

 

THE FORUM CAN'T HELP YOU IF YOU DON'T LISTEN!

Unless the dealer is a close relative or you have a warranty - don't go there - "friendship" doesn't count.

I had some axle seals installed on my Tahoe by a dealer. When I got the truck back the posi traction was gone. The dealer said that the "clutch packs in the rear probably were worn out" and I would "have to replace the carrier assembly, for about $1,800."

I took the truck to a small shop in town that does drive train and differential work and they said the clutch packs never go out in these vehicles because they are not engaging that often in normal street use. Turned out to be a $30 part - small centrifugal cam that engages the posi traction if the wheels start spinning. They said the dealer tech probably damaged it when they were doing the seals. Total parts & labor for the job was about $100.

I bet the dealer was "happy to see you" coming - again!

My guess is that there is nothing wrong with the battery but some other less expensive fix - especially if you know it was a 2 week old battery - but they dealer makes more money selling you a new battery and you won't know the difference. Get your old battery back and put it in the camaro again - see what happens.

 

They are NOT going to sell us a bettery because of the fact that I will drive down to Autozone & get one from my nephew. They were not autherized to do any repairs. If its something we can do then we will do it.

The dealership we deal with is in a VERY small town. & they also know that if they want any chance of getting any thing or getting new people to come in to the shops they will treat us well.


BUT again I state that with my husbands current work set up We cant be sitting around, trying diff stuff, hoping that its something we can fix. & risking ****ing up a 30k car. & still force to make payments on for the next 4yrs.



We tried alot of the things we were told on here, including checked the bettery cables, & changing the battery, But we didnt get anything.


PLus it was my Husbands Dission NOT MINE

 

Hey, cut her some slack. It was my decision to take the car in.
The towing was covered by our insurance and the only thing they are authorized to do is check it out right now. Remember, Washington has a law stating that if the repairs are going to cost more than 10% over the initial estimate, they have to get authorization. The estimate listed was $92.

OK, look at it all this way. I had my reserve weekend, got home at 5PM, messed with the Vette until almost 7, then tried to get some sleep before leaving for work at 10PM. I got about 2 hours of sleep. Then I worked until 9AM got home and lay down, slept until about 2, got up tried checking out everything, and finally decided that something might be going on that I didn't have the time for. I made the call to take the Vette in simply because I no longer had the time or energy to deal with it and work at this point.

As for the dealership. I suspect their jumper is MUCH more powerful than my charger. They charged the battery overnight and were going to try starting it again this morning without the jumper. We'll see what they come up with.
They aren't going to sell me a battery. Like my wife said, I plan on putting an Optima in if the battery isn't any good.

These are the guys that got the selling dealership to partially cover repairs for the Vette when it first had problems a week after we bought it. The also charged me wholesale for the parts. They have taken care of us and I suspect it will continue.

Hopefully this clears up why I decided to take my Vette in rather than continue to beat my head against the wall when I was just way too tired to troubleshoot it effectively.

 

Oh, one other note, the battery in the Vette is the same one that was there when we bought it.
The 'two week old battery' was the one we pulled out of my 71 Camaro to see if it would make a difference. That battery is an Optima and is now back in my 71.

 

Hey, sorry if some of the people seem a bit pushy, it can make a person more stressed. Think of it more as they really want to help And some have been taken by dealerships for a lot of money...

I can understand why you don't want to spend time tinkering with the Vette, not everyone wants to do the work themselves. Takes too much time and is not enjoyable to most. Its more fun to drive and spend time with the family.

The battery sounds like the most likely issue. The Vette can act very strangely when the battery is low, and todays 'smart' charges can have issues when trying to charge the battery while hooked up to the Vette. The reason I think, and I could be wrong here, is that the Vette has a small draw on the electrical system when shutdown. The smart charges may detect it and shutdown or reort a problem with the battery. This usually only happens when the battery is too low to start. When near normal capacity this does not happen. At least this is what seems to happen to me.

A note of caution on the red top. The red top does not do well with the continuous draw that the Vette has on a battery, most batteries do have an issue, but the red top is a little more sensitive. If you leave the Vette sitting without use for days or weeks the red top will have a short life unless you get a battery tender or disconnect the battery. It is a PIA. Other batteries are not as bad, but it can still occur if you let them sit long enough.

Good luck, I'm confident its the battery

 

Well Just got back from the dealership & well its not the battery, & its not the Alt. It was the Ign switch on the car, its not even going to cost us $300 for the final bill.


No matter what people would have said we wouldnt have even thought to look in to that, Someone did sugguest that.

But a new battery is going to be bought for the car on saturday when we get it home.

 

Would a yellow top work better?

My 90 Vette got a red top & it starts ever time. lol. Our 72 buick has a yellow top & we let it sit over the winter months & it starts fine in the spring.

 

you have to remember those service greeters work on commission!

 

The yellow top may work better, can't say have not used one. I have not found a great solution yet, you have to be careful with battery choice as they can spill or create a lot of fumes which can cause issues for the PCM and wiring loom right below it. The red and yellow top are suppose to help with that. Maybe check for a delco or sealed battery.

 

Wow,,sounds like that guy in post 20 had the problem pretty much nailed down!

BC

 

thats all find & dandy but you have to remember not everyone has the time or the know how on how to fix tihngs even if they are TOLD how to do things. lol.

thats why its taken me 3yrs (almost 4yrs if not longer) to get the engine in my Iroc.


We are NOt by far Auto Mechs. except for small stuff in the back yard.

 

Who was that guy anyway?

 

I don't think anyone here was purposely picking on you for your choice of taking it to the dealership. I believe everyone was a little disappointed you posted for help then ran it in anyways.

The root problem is that it is much to easy to get a mechanics license. Over the years I've talked to a number of mechanics outside of the garage they worked in and I have not talked to one I would actually want to take my car to. So, the world is full of bad mechanics. Then, the dealership will back these mechanics because most customers don't know enough to fight back and just accept the diagnostic meaning that the customer pays for the mechanics poor quality work. They have to stand behind their employees, right? And the cars do get fixed eventually, right? Highly skilled mechanics working on your car should cost good money, right? This is the basic attitude at a lot of dealerships.

This is why most people here were questioning your decision to take it to the dealership. I'm not trying to offend but it sounds like you spend enough money to get treated well. Unfortunately, this still does not mean that the mechanic the dealership puts to work on your car is actually capable of properly fixing it.

You apparently have had issues with the car for the last 2 years since you bought it. If the car continues to give problems then get back here and discuss it some more. If your dealership has been fixing it yet it never gets fixed then I'm sure someone here can suggest a shop where the mechanics know these cars and will spend the time to get it fixed right. The guys at the recommended shops will likely be running the shop more for the love of the cars as for the ability to make money doing it. I'm not saying it will be cheap but the quality of the actual service work will be worth the money you pay.

To put in my 2 cents on what I would have believed to be the problem. Typically, a poor electrical connection somewhere will cause the voltage and current to not get to where it should be. I just hope that your problem was just the switch and not something else that was temporarily fixed when they poked around in the wiring harnesses.

Also, you posted that you had the dealership fix the column lock so it would not give a problem. It has been well documented here that the dealer fix is poorly implemented. An aftermarket CLB should have been installed instead.

Peter

 

The best suggestion is to take the advice of the experts on the board and pass it along to the dealer so they have some things to check over. Apparently, they finally found the ignition switch as the problem, but wondering how long they waited to check it.

 

That was today they checked it out, They had the car all day yesterday (didnt work on it until late) then worked on it again today.

 

Sounds like they didn't burn up too much time. So when a new ignition switch is installed, is the same key used? I'm assuming they replace the guts/switching part of the switch assy?

 

They placed the order for the switch today so it will be in by friday? they dont have any instock & have to order it via RENO.

as for the rest I have no club they quoted us Less than $300 once the discounts were in placed.