C5 Tech Corvette Tech/Performance: LS1 Corvette Technical Info, Internal Engine, External Engine, Tech Topics, Basic Tech, Maintenance, How to Remove & Replace
Sponsored by:
Sponsored by:

Won't start after spark plug change

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old Jan 28, 2017 | 08:24 PM
  #1  
redneck2725's Avatar
redneck2725
Thread Starter
Cruising
 
Joined: Dec 2016
Posts: 13
Likes: 0
Default Won't start after spark plug change

Hey everyone, got a slight issue, and hoping i know what the problem is, but want some opinions.

Over the last two day, changed my plugs and wires on my 99 C5. Went pretty straight forward expect #7 was a huge pain but was able to get it. Went to start it after I finished, and it clicks hard and the car shakes like its about to start but doesn't. I checked the battery voltage in the car, and it is 10.3

I do not have an easy option to jump it currently, so I'm going to get my father in laws Jump Box tomorrow, but does every one just think the battery is low since i had the hood open for around 24 hours and it drained the battery?

I went ahead, pulled the wires off and checked the plugs, everything looks ok. I'm not a super mechanic, but can do basic things like this. Never had any type of problem like this before, just trying to make sure I didnt do something incorrectly. I did not unplug anything else, didnt knock off any hoses or wires.

I'm assuming it is the battery, but instead of staring at the ceiling worrying hoping someone confirms that voltage is too low to start it.
Thanks!!
Reply
Old Jan 28, 2017 | 09:18 PM
  #2  
Smoken1's Avatar
Smoken1
.
Supporting Lifetime Gold
10 Year Member
St. Jude 10 Year Donor
Liked
Community Favorite
 
Joined: Apr 2013
Posts: 5,025
Likes: 1,151
From: Oregon
St. Jude Donor '14-'15-'16-'17-'18-'19-'20-'21-'22-'23
Default

You should be fine, charge the battery and next time unplug that light. How old is your battery?
Reply
Old Jan 28, 2017 | 09:24 PM
  #3  
chain_5001's Avatar
chain_5001
Racer
 
Joined: Aug 2015
Posts: 323
Likes: 68
From: Sacramento California
Default

Yeah, sounds like you need a new battery. 10.3 volts is low and the battery should be replaced.
​​
Reply
Old Jan 28, 2017 | 09:40 PM
  #4  
redneck2725's Avatar
redneck2725
Thread Starter
Cruising
 
Joined: Dec 2016
Posts: 13
Likes: 0
Default

I'm not 100% sure on the exact age of the battery, it is an Optima Red Top. I have only owned the car for about 6 weeks. The previous owner made it seem like it was recently changed, but cannot guarantee that at all. Going to try jumping in the morning and see what happens.

Hopefully i I didn't screw up anything, have changed plugs 25-30 times in my life, so it's nothing new. Just seemed to coincide with changing them.
Reply
Old Jan 28, 2017 | 09:48 PM
  #5  
Smoken1's Avatar
Smoken1
.
Supporting Lifetime Gold
10 Year Member
St. Jude 10 Year Donor
Liked
Community Favorite
 
Joined: Apr 2013
Posts: 5,025
Likes: 1,151
From: Oregon
St. Jude Donor '14-'15-'16-'17-'18-'19-'20-'21-'22-'23
Default

I would try a charger b/4 jumping it
Reply
Old Jan 28, 2017 | 10:28 PM
  #6  
Vetteman Jack's Avatar
Vetteman Jack
Administrator
Supporting Lifetime
Veteran: Navy
St. Jude 20 Year Donor
25 Year Member
Veteran: Reserves
 
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 367,946
Likes: 24,702
From: In a parallel universe. Currently own 2014 Stingray Coupe.
C7 of the Year - Modified Finalist 2021
MO Events Coordinator
St. Jude Co-Organizer
St. Jude Donor '03 thru '25
NCM Sinkhole Donor
CI 5, 8 & 11 Veteran
Default

The car should have a battery rundown protection circuit to where if you leave things like a dome light or the hood light on it will shut down after about 15 minutes. So leaving the hood open shouldn't have drained the battery. My guess is that you do have a bad battery. Take that one out and have it load tested - that will tell you if it is bad or not.
Reply
Old Jan 28, 2017 | 10:43 PM
  #7  
Smoken1's Avatar
Smoken1
.
Supporting Lifetime Gold
10 Year Member
St. Jude 10 Year Donor
Liked
Community Favorite
 
Joined: Apr 2013
Posts: 5,025
Likes: 1,151
From: Oregon
St. Jude Donor '14-'15-'16-'17-'18-'19-'20-'21-'22-'23
Default

Originally Posted by Vetteman Jack
The car should have a battery rundown protection circuit to where if you leave things like a dome light or the hood light on it will shut down after about 15 minutes. So leaving the hood open shouldn't have drained the battery. My guess is that you do have a bad battery. Take that one out and have it load tested - that will tell you if it is bad or not.
Interesting my 02 won't let the car go into full sleep mode if anything is left open.. That is why I unplugged the hood light
Reply
Old Jan 29, 2017 | 01:47 AM
  #8  
Rabbitman's Avatar
Rabbitman
Racer
 
Joined: Aug 2016
Posts: 317
Likes: 42
Default

Originally Posted by redneck2725
Hey everyone, got a slight issue, and hoping i know what the problem is, but want some opinions.

Over the last two day, changed my plugs and wires on my 99 C5. Went pretty straight forward expect #7 was a huge pain but was able to get it. Went to start it after I finished, and it clicks hard and the car shakes like its about to start but doesn't. I checked the battery voltage in the car, and it is 10.3

I do not have an easy option to jump it currently, so I'm going to get my father in laws Jump Box tomorrow, but does every one just think the battery is low since i had the hood open for around 24 hours and it drained the battery?

I went ahead, pulled the wires off and checked the plugs, everything looks ok. I'm not a super mechanic, but can do basic things like this. Never had any type of problem like this before, just trying to make sure I didnt do something incorrectly. I did not unplug anything else, didnt knock off any hoses or wires.

I'm assuming it is the battery, but instead of staring at the ceiling worrying hoping someone confirms that voltage is too low to start it.
Thanks!!
How long have you had this car, if you just got it recently you will find out on here that you almost deffinately need to keep these cars on a float charger unless you drive them 1 or 2 times a week. Some say they never needed one but I think most of us use one even with a new battery and no other problems. Most people from what I've read on here that have lots of experience just use the best 3 year free replacement batteries from Wal-mart, Autozone ect. So many of them agree those Red-Tops and others are worse than some of the cheaper batteries as far as holding a charge in these cars. Mine went dead after being in the lower garage for 2 1/2 weeks with a new Interstate in it. I bought the best one Autozone had but the Interstate checks out fine though and I keep it on a float charger too in the basement garage as a spare for something. Even if you have no excess parasitic drain still keep it on a float charger.
Mine's floating happily out there right now
Reply
Corvette Stories

The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts

story-0

Top 10 Most Explosive Corvettes Ever Made: Power-to-Weight Ratio Ranked!

 Joe Kucinski
story-1

150 hp to 1,250 hp: Every Corvette Generation Compared by the Specs That Matter

 Joe Kucinski
story-2

8 Coolest Corvette Pace Cars (and Replicas) of All Time

 Verdad Gallardo
story-3

Top 10 Corvette Engines RANKED by Peak Torque (70+ Years of Muscle!)

 Joe Kucinski
story-4

Corvette ZR1X Will Be Pacing the Indy 500, And Could Probably Race, Too!

 Verdad Gallardo
story-5

Top 10 Corvettes Coming to Mecum Indy 2026!

 Brett Foote
story-6

Top 10 C9 Corvette MUST-HAVES to Fix These C8 Generation Flaws!

 Michael S. Palmer
story-7

10 Revolutionary 'Corvette Firsts' Most People Don't Know

 Joe Kucinski
story-8

5 Reasons to Upgrade to an LS6-Powered Corvette; 5 Reasons to Stay LT2

 Michael S. Palmer
story-9

2027 Corvette vs The World: Every C8 vs Its Closest Competitor

 Joe Kucinski
Old Jan 29, 2017 | 09:54 AM
  #9  
redneck2725's Avatar
redneck2725
Thread Starter
Cruising
 
Joined: Dec 2016
Posts: 13
Likes: 0
Default

Was just the battery! When I went out in the morning, I got a "low voltage" warning. Put it on a charger for about 45 minutes. Checked the battery, and it was at 11.3, fired right up. Let it run for about 10 minutes and it is good to go. We took the battery out, and ran it to the parts store to have it tested. It was fine, so just killed it somehow. Thanks for the info guys
Reply
Old Jan 30, 2017 | 01:02 PM
  #10  
SG Lou's Avatar
SG Lou
Safety Car
10 Year Member
Liked
Loved
Community Favorite
 
Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 3,938
Likes: 498
From: Fords, NJ
Default

Originally Posted by Smoken1
Interesting my 02 won't let the car go into full sleep mode if anything is left open.. That is why I unplugged the hood light
I unplugged my hood light and left it unplugged so things like this won't happen. If something comes up at night were i need to open the hood I got a small LED flashlight in the glovebox.
Reply
Old Jan 30, 2017 | 04:39 PM
  #11  
cbell3186's Avatar
cbell3186
Instructor
15 Year Member
 
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 142
Likes: 11
Default

Get a tender if you replace your Redtop with another one. I have killed 3 red tops already. one cell goes bad and its junk. I have had a tender for over a year. Still going strong with my latest Redtop replacement.
Reply
Old Jan 30, 2017 | 05:15 PM
  #12  
redneck2725's Avatar
redneck2725
Thread Starter
Cruising
 
Joined: Dec 2016
Posts: 13
Likes: 0
Default

Buying one this week, since it's in winter mode and no plans to get out until closer to April, I'm going to put the Tender on it
Reply
Old Jan 30, 2017 | 08:30 PM
  #13  
mrlmd's Avatar
mrlmd
Drifting
10 Year Member
All Eyes On Me
Photogenic
Top Answer: 1
 
Joined: Jun 2013
Posts: 1,957
Likes: 342
From: Shell Point (Crawfordville) Florida
Default

2 notes - my hood light automatically goes out in 10-15 min, if I leave the hood open working on the car.
You must charge up the battery first before doing a load test. At least as much as you can. You can't do a load test on a dead battery.
Reply

Get notified of new replies

To Won't start after spark plug change





All times are GMT -4. The time now is 06:21 AM.

story-0
Top 10 Most Explosive Corvettes Ever Made: Power-to-Weight Ratio Ranked!

Slideshow: The 10 most explosive Corvettes ever built based on power-to-weight ratio.

By Joe Kucinski | 2026-05-20 07:23:03


VIEW MORE
story-1
150 hp to 1,250 hp: Every Corvette Generation Compared by the Specs That Matter

Slideshow: From C1 to C8 we compare every Corvette generation by the numbers.

By Joe Kucinski | 2026-05-12 16:54:12


VIEW MORE
story-2
8 Coolest Corvette Pace Cars (and Replicas) of All Time

Slideshow: Some Corvette pace cars became collectible legends, while others perfectly captured the look and attitude of their era.

By Verdad Gallardo | 2026-05-11 09:50:51


VIEW MORE
story-3
Top 10 Corvette Engines RANKED by Peak Torque (70+ Years of Muscle!)

Slideshow: Ranking the top 10 Corvette engines by torque output.

By Joe Kucinski | 2026-05-05 11:58:09


VIEW MORE
story-4
Corvette ZR1X Will Be Pacing the Indy 500, And Could Probably Race, Too!

Slideshow: A Corvette pace car nearly matching IndyCar speeds sounds exaggerated, until you look at the numbers.

By Verdad Gallardo | 2026-05-04 20:03:36


VIEW MORE
story-5
Top 10 Corvettes Coming to Mecum Indy 2026!

Among a rather large group of them.

By Brett Foote | 2026-05-04 13:56:44


VIEW MORE
story-6
Top 10 C9 Corvette MUST-HAVES to Fix These C8 Generation Flaws!

Slideshow: the top 10 things Corvette owners want in the C9 Corvette

By Michael S. Palmer | 2026-04-30 12:41:15


VIEW MORE
story-7
10 Revolutionary 'Corvette Firsts' Most People Don't Know

Slideshow: 10 Important Corvette 'firsts' that every fan should know.

By Joe Kucinski | 2026-04-29 17:02:16


VIEW MORE
story-8
5 Reasons to Upgrade to an LS6-Powered Corvette; 5 Reasons to Stay LT2

Slideshow: Should you buy a 2020-2026 Corvette or wait for 2027?

By Michael S. Palmer | 2026-04-22 10:08:58


VIEW MORE
story-9
2027 Corvette vs The World: Every C8 vs Its Closest Competitor

Slideshow: 2027 Corvette lineup vs the world.

By Joe Kucinski | 2026-04-24 16:12:42


VIEW MORE