Strand rider, sent you a PM with my number so we can discuss getting to the bottom of this. Make sure you have the first schematic that Bill provided so we can discuss some simple checks that should get the answers we need.

When I get home I will also look to include the circuit for the VATS (key resistance) interface with the BCM.

Right now the culprit would seem to be one of these components or circuits:

Key cylinder interface
Clutch Switch
TDR relay
BCM

 

Thanks for all the good help. I know it is a little different taking stuff in baby steps, and trying to hang with stuff that must seem very basic to a skilled person.

I will start at the beginning, with the battery test. Yes, I agree it is about time.

I had to go with a back up multi meter that was kicking around, the free one I got at Harbor freight tools. I consider it a stroke of luck the battery inside still works, I don't remember when I got it. Of course, my fancy test leads with the clips on the end are with the main tester , in an as yet undiscovered location.

THe rest of the post is just talk.

I was contrasting this car , perhaps my last, with my first car, an oxidized red 1962 MG "A". It came with a crank, held in the engine bay with clips. It had 6X6 wooden cross members made of ash , because oak is heavy, in the frame next to the batteries , one six volt on each side of the drive shaft, in parallel. MG had also obviously dealt with battery leaks before. It had no locks and you could start it by reaching behind the dash and shorting the switch contacts with a hair pin. That was probably how it was stolen.

That's where it all started, a teen aged boy with a fresh driver's license, an english sports car with an Italian styled roadster body. A cruse to the canyons with the sun shining and a teen aged girl in the passenger's seat is a memory harder to get rid of than a bad tattoo.

I could not wait to afford a hot rod, my interest at the time, so went with my second choice, a sports car.

All I knew about them was that they were generally superior designs, and I never looked back. Hod rods have since remained a great area of interest, but not a real object of desire, they take too much gas and require a little extra owner's dedication.

Now I have a factory hot rod/sports car in the vette. It's been fun so far, the old MG got appx. 21 mpg around town, the vette 15. I used to look for hopped up VW bugs to race, the only other car available at the time that I could out drag. Now I shun speed contests, since car repair is not one of my top interests.

Now if I can just cure the car from thinking it is a driveway decoration.

 

Here is the Resistor Key schematic interface





Also check/test Fuse 14 in the I/P fuse box. This feeds power to the TDR relay coils via the Clutch switch. Should have suggested that earlier.

PS: Fuse 14 is only powered when the ignition is in START. Right now I just need you to pull the fuse and check or test or put an ohmmeter across the fuse while it is installed. Alternatively you could have some one turn the ignition to START and monitor for 12 v voltage on the both sides of the fuse.

 

I pulled the 14 fuse, if the correct one to check is in the footwell by the computer, and it is good.

I pressed reset and some of the codes dropped out. I will post the remaining list.
10 PCM
P0522 H C

A0 LDCM
R2282 H
R2284 H
R2264 H

A1 RDCM
B2283 H
B2285 H
B2263 H
U1064 H

A6 SCM
B2606 HC
B2860 H

B0 RFA
C2100 H
C2105 H
C2110 H
C2115 H

I was encouraged to see only a couple of currant codes, but still haven't gotten past the battery check. It was checked out via an impressive looking tester at Sears, with a paper print out , about six months ago, but things could have happened in the meantime. I believe it was installed new about two years ago, it is the correct AC part, but has gone through some small abuse with the starting issues. Probably needs some fluid, but the top is sealed.

I am getting a little better understanding , just spending time kicking around the area. I now realize the dash light response was from the key, and I will have to check the clutch switch with a tester.

Now I have to search a couple of things,like how to pull the safety switch without damage. Some of the fasteners on this car ,well almost all of them , have some kind of final securing clip that is clever, but unless you figured it out ahead of disconnect time, is now broken. I don't need broken.

 

Did you go to EACH module and press & hold RESET????

To clear ALL the DTCs,,,, You have to advance each module and PRESS & HOLD RESET until you see NO DTCs or new DTCs

BC

 

Thanks for the instructions, I went through and cleared each area. Now I have no codes.

I assumed I would need to jump start the motor again to generate new information. I decided to begin with twisting the key.

The battery quickly went flat, just twisting the key, not jumping across the TDR, not at all what I expected. I hope I haven't killed my battery , The voltmeter read too low before I started trying the key, and I am hoping the low charge was a mistake from my battery charger. It is old and seldom used. It is fully automatic, but done with contacts instead of solid state circuits. I have it on the battery now, and am hoping it cycles properly. My last attempt was after the charger said it was through, but the volt meter on the dash read low.

I have been trying to utilize the kind offer of help extended by Dadaroo, But it seems he has a life, and I work late. Given that he is three hours ahead, and I have low motivation to get this thing fixed, we haven't gotten together. Right now, I feel even when the car is running it is just not going to be dependable enough for my needs. Now I know why so many people drive the cars sparingly.

I am still going to the yearly Corvette/GM show this Sat. , it just won't be in my car. My buddy has a nice unrestored old fastback, but I don't think it is running right now, or since I have known him, come to think of it. he says it runs.

At least he can save face, since he has other cars that also need attention. I just have the one, and not a lot of personal motivation to chase car repairs on a never ending road.

I won't be the only person bringing a bike to the car show, it will be a spring day by the beach, but I will be the only one with a free bike supplied by GM , via a Saturn promotion. Perhaps the fates knew I would get tangled up with a Corvette down the line and would need dependable transportation.

 

It's like having Jay Leno describe a problem with one of his cars. Sure beats the alternative style of questions I often see such as:

"Car wont start, checked battry oK checked fues all are positive Oil is tan and left headlight works. What's wrong to fix it?"

 

Many Thanks to both. It's sometimes hard for me to talk about corvette repair without cussing.

I wanted to reply at the first compliment, but was unsure about form and modesty.

I just want to make it easy to read if someone is kind enough to find an interest. PLus, I will need huge mountains of help, so need to keep it real extra friendly . A drowning man is not going to tick off the guy holding the life line.

I suppose a lot of it comes from my Merchant Marine experience. On the wheel watch , the ship generally is on auto pilot, so about the only thing to do is talk. After years of that stuff, you begin to realize why conversation is spoken of as being an art.

Plus traveling the world, you see stuff. Hard to find a real deep water mariner who is hard hearted.

I came to the internet to better learn to type and spell , but quickly learned the real skill set was to resist the power to bully from the keyboard, to be responsible for words without personal consequences .

I am proud that I have seen some of the great wonders available in this world, and to have been able to apply those experiences to shape my understanding of life's requirements.

I am definitely not popular in the off topic section. it's like you have to be dipped in hate to be accepted there. i usually skip any input, and leave slightly upset.

I do need to bear down and get the convertible running. Legs of steel and an old man on a bicycle gets old at times. Plus I will soon need to restock the toilet paper, and that kind of bulk transportation needs a corvette .

 

I've been following your story with great interest, but it's been a while since the last time you posted something. Were you able to solve your problems?

Sent from my DROID RAZR using IB AutoGroup

 

Solve my problems? What are you , one of those wise guys?

No, it appears my main problem is simply doing the repair. The community here is very welcoming, I even have the personal number of a helpful retired electrical engineer with superior Corvette knowledge, offered with great kindness . I count myself in fine shape because of this.

I know it is a little out of step around here to not get after it right away, car guys generally don't screw around with scheduled tasks. I obviously am not quite there yet , I just adapted my sidelined car into a semi forced discipline to use a bicycle for primary transportation.

I wanted to firm up my old body, and once you have the legs in shape , that is half the battle. My back is screwed, so jogging , walking, hiking, all that stuff is not happening for fitness. My last year's body surfing season suffered from my dragging a gut around, so I am trying to position myself for a better outcome this coming season. Tough for an old guy to be fast and sleek, unless he is fast asleep and dreaming.

Plus it isn't hurting anyone not to have one more grinning idiot driving all over town . I need to keep my pollution footprint low, I have a grown son to set an example for, and I want him to remember his old man as personally active against pollution, just in case things get bad for him, pollution wise, by the time he reaches my age.

Plus, from my work on supertankers, I have polluted more ocean than you would believe. Picture Marley's ghost from Dickens Christmas story, wrapped in chains of greed, that's pretty much my history with pollution. The trade off was paying my bills and a heck of a practical education.

So, my particular perspective , and the lack of rain, has kept me on the bike and cooled the sometime lust to drive a convertible in the sunshine, something I would fully recommend as a life goal, by the way.

Bikes only does make it slightly problematic to get a car battery to a shop tester. My car came with the AC size 78 battery , the correct one with the handle and 120 reserve capacity, and it tested still good, after some repeated small abuse. I don't know what the optima guys are doing for reserve capacity, but my wet cell handles abuse and doesn't need to set on a charger between runs.

I have had a heck of a time being on the bike this long. Not as easy getting around, but the orientation change has lead me into a bunch of interesting experiences, most of them positive. I now have the skinny old man legs, with that crazy old man skin on them, but the muscle tone is nice.

Although a convertible in the sunshine is a fine situation, I probably am hopelessly brainwashed to favor bikes. Strong childhood experiences, etc. PLus, one of the rare oral traditions I picked up going through this life was from the Hermosa surfers who said their way was to always favor muscle power in any recreational activity. Motor power is so spectacular and fun that it is easy to forget the importance of maintaining the real important transportation system, the only one your brain will ever have, the body. Performance mods are a real bitch though , hard to change the body or mind for improved performance, the only bolt on available is a change of swim trunks or adding swim fins if it gets big. The surfers were talking about the quality of fun with muscle power being superior, it wasn't a health kick . I use that health slant for motivation.

Now I just have to run a few voltage checks for battery drain, and call my long distance new friend from the forum for the next steps. He says it appears a simple problem, and one he might fix quickly in person. So , as long as I don't destroy stuff along the way, I count myself lucky, in that the skilled help will allow me to drive the thing out of the drive way verses the flat bed of shame and another cruel hit on the Strand rider's treasure down at the repair shop where they might do a correct and effective repair, if I get lucky.

 

Thanks for that post, I really enjoyed reading that. I was grinning...

 

Just jumping in on this discussion, because I have a similar problem.

My battery has gone flat out dead. When I insert key, nothing happens at all.
It appears that something is causing a dead short in the system.
I replaced the Intake Air temperature sensor but nothing else and this morning when I went out to start the car, flat dead.

Could the VATS be causing what appears to be a short?

 

Now that I think about what I posted, I guess I should check the battery itself first and see if it is actually charged, or just disabled by the VATS, right?

 

Sorry,
I have a 99 Automatic.
Does the VATS disable everything?
Unable to open gas cap or rear hatch
Everything is inoperative.

 

PLEASE dont say DEAD SHORT when refering to a primary battery circuit. Deat short will be followed by blown fuses, smoked circuits and flames.

You can have a dead short in a signal circuit and all it will do is have NO SIGNAL. When your battery goes dead, its being consumed by a low current draw like a LIGHT staying on or a seat motor circuit trying to run all the time. NOTE! The seat motor circuit is protected by a thermal overload breaker. If the seat continues to try to drive, the breaker will trip and reset until the battery is dead.

How long do you think it will take to kill the battery if you leave the mirror map lights on when you lock up the car??? Over night!!


What you most likely have is a circuit that is staying ON when the ignition switch turns OFF,, OR a NON Ignition Circuit (example: The seat adjustment motors or interior lights) staying on.

Check the interior lights when its dark and see if any are staying ON.

Make sure that any POWDERED SEAT controls are NOT trying to run or position when yhe car is OFF

Do a Battery Current Draw test and see if you are below 25 Milliamps

If your above that value, your battery will go dead in a very short period of time. You need to figure out what is staying on when it shouldnt be

Bill

 

VATs will prevent the engine from cranking. If you have a VATs issue, the security light will be on and you will have a BCM DTC for the vats circuits

Check the battery connections to make sure that there clean and tight Torqued to 11 ft/lbs. Make sure that the battery is fully charged and can support a load. Turn on the head lights and see if they raise and light.

BC

 

Please don't hijack a Thread. This one is long to begin with. You should have created a separate Thread and then just place a post here with a reference to it if you wanted to make sure we saw it.

I don't like trying to sort through what responses apply to who.

 

thanks guys for this info ! currently car down

 

ran thru the check list ignition not turning over starter! but will start with red and purple wire of theft deternt relay crossed ! really don't need this . how to I bypass or fix?tks

 

First, does the Security light go off when you insert your ignition key? You may have answered that before but this Thread is long and I want to make sure I am up to speed.

If it does, then the following two items are most likely your problem.

TDR or the Clutch safety switch.

Could be the BCM but we need to check those two items first.