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So I’ve owned my c5 for about 3 months now it has 130,xxx miles on it, the first 2 months of owning the car it did great! Now I’m having something weird happen to me, the past month every morning when I go outside to start it up it won’t start my battery reads 12 volts and all my lights come on just won’t crank. But here’s the weird part for every day straight for the past month this has been happening but when I get home on lunch around 12-1 I can hop in the car and it fires up with no problem and runs and starts for the rest of the day but literally every morning it won’t start and I’ll just let it sit till lunch come home and it starts right up.... SOMEONE PLEASE HELP
Complete WAG here, but how old is your battery? Any more these car batteries exhibit weird characteristics when they're on their last legs, and about the only thing I can think that would create a sporadic problem like you're describing is the battery. If the weather there in St. Louis is anything like it's been in the Pittsburgh area, mornings have been cooler -- sometimes into the 50's -- and older batteries can lose some of their cranking power when they get cold. By lunchtime, the temperatures have probably warmed to the 70's or better, and the battery has recovered a bit of strength -- enough to crank the engine. Try having the battery tested.
Other related things to check are that the battery leads are securely connected. Although grounding issues are a common Corvette problem, I would tend to rule that out in this case unless it's the ground on the starter motor itself -- and usually those components have a harness connector on them. For completeness, check the wiring running from the starer connection and make sure the harness also securely connected to the starter motor.
Complete WAG here, but how old is your battery? Any more these car batteries exhibit weird characteristics when they're on their last legs, and about the only thing I can think that would create a sporadic problem like you're describing is the battery. If the weather there in St. Louis is anything like it's been in the Pittsburgh area, mornings have been cooler -- sometimes into the 50's -- and older batteries can lose some of their cranking power when they get cold. By lunchtime, the temperatures have probably warmed to the 70's or better, and the battery has recovered a bit of strength -- enough to crank the engine. Try having the battery tested.
Other related things to check are that the battery leads are securely connected. Although grounding issues are a common Corvette problem, I would tend to rule that out in this case unless it's the ground on the starter motor itself -- and usually those components have a harness connector on them. For completeness, check the wiring running from the starer connection and make sure the harness also securely connected to the starter motor.
Good luck!
Thank you for this! The battery is from March of 19 which I was thinking the same thing it has something to do with the cold weather I’m gonna test the battery tomorrow and see what the reading are my dash is saying 12 volts and all my wires leading the to battery look really good and no corrosion I’m gonna check my grounds tomorrow also and I’ll let you know if I find anything out thanks!
Thank you for this! The battery is from March of 19 which I was thinking the same thing it has something to do with the cold weather I’m gonna test the battery tomorrow and see what the reading are my dash is saying 12 volts and all my wires leading the to battery look really good and no corrosion I’m gonna check my grounds tomorrow also and I’ll let you know if I find anything out thanks!
No worries. Since your battery is so new it's less likely the battery itself is bad -- although I wouldn't completely rule out the possibility of it being defective; batteries can read good on volts but have insufficient current.
Another related thing to check are your battery's ratings. Starting with the C5, the Corvettes became fussy about battery ratings, in particular things like reserve capacity (RC). Review this thread (and the videos therein) to get more detailed information, and check your battery against the minimum ratings being recommended by Paul.
I had a similar problem a couple of months ago. Only on the first start up, have good voltage, but it won’t crank. After checking everything else (TDR relay, grounds). I found it was ignition switch contacts were carbonized bad. Cleaned the contacts and haven’t had a problem since.
The battery should read around 12.6 volts across the battery terminals if good and fully charged. 12 volts is LOW.
Let us know how the battery test went.
In my view, a bad battery usually won't provide an OK start on a re try. A loose or insufficiently tight battery side connection (FSM: 11 foot pounds) as well as corroded grounds can present this symptom
One way to isolate would be, if a click, no crank occurs, clonk the starter from above with a long insulated rod or dowel. Past pasts posts have indicated that this may allow the startersolenoid to make contact and allow a start. But not for very many more times before total failure.
I had a very similar intermittent starting problem on mine. Bought a new key, bought a new theft deterrent relay, ended up being the ignition switch. When I pulled it apart contacts were all corroded. There's a great write-up about refinishing them, but for 60 bucks I elected to just replace it.
The first thing to check is the TDR in the passenger footwell area above the BCM. When the car fails to crank is the TDR being energized or not, you can hear the relay clicking if it's being energized. If the TDR is not being energized, possible ignition switch contacts are bad, if being energized and car fails to crank, I would perform the whack a starter procedure and see if it starts.
Help!!! Weird starting problems
