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starting issues

Old Aug 27, 2020 | 04:02 PM
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Default starting issues

My C5 has an intermittent starting issue. Usually sounds like the starter drive hits the flywheel and stops, other times it sounds like it lost electrical power.
It's done this twice this summer and has been doing it for about 3 years. It has never failed to start on the 2nd try. Any recommendations?
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Old Aug 27, 2020 | 04:04 PM
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could be starter motor, or lose ground. grounds typically do get dirty, so easy, no-cost thing to look at is cleaning the ground points. there's a point on it in the C5 faq with links.
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Old Aug 27, 2020 | 04:11 PM
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Originally Posted by JMG2
could be starter motor, or lose ground. grounds typically do get dirty, so easy, no-cost thing to look at is cleaning the ground points. there's a point on it in the C5 faq with links.

Thanks. Nice 67, I really miss mine.
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Old Aug 27, 2020 | 04:38 PM
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Do you have aftermarket headers? If so, they love to cook the wire going to the starter.
Also, is your battery up to it? These C5s are picky when it comes to voltage and CCA
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Old Aug 27, 2020 | 05:42 PM
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Originally Posted by knewblewkorvette
Do you have aftermarket headers? If so, they love to cook the wire going to the starter.
Also, is your battery up to it? These C5s are picky when it comes to voltage and CCA
No headers, battery load tested and is kept on the battery tender. I'm going to start with cleaning and tightening grounds.
Car has just 12k miles and is kept in an environmentally controlled garage.
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Old Aug 27, 2020 | 05:44 PM
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Originally Posted by 1972bluelt1
No headers, battery load tested and is kept on the battery tender. I'm going to start with cleaning and tightening grounds.
Car has just 12k miles and is kept in an environmentally controlled garage.
easiest thing for the grounds to go, and super easy to check and clean.
What year? early c5's had leaky battery issues ... if you have the (I believe) 01' and earlier, they used non-gel batteries that crack around the posts and leak, and cause all sorts of massive issues. Since you're messing around with electrical anyway, if you have an older c5, may as well get rid of that battery.. it's miserable to deal with, and replacing the battery in the c5 is literally a 10 minute job.
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Old Aug 27, 2020 | 06:03 PM
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Originally Posted by JMG2
easiest thing for the grounds to go, and super easy to check and clean.
What year? early c5's had leaky battery issues ... if you have the (I believe) 01' and earlier, they used non-gel batteries that crack around the posts and leak, and cause all sorts of massive issues. Since you're messing around with electrical anyway, if you have an older c5, may as well get rid of that battery.. it's miserable to deal with, and replacing the battery in the c5 is literally a 10 minute job.
It's an 01, as I understand it 01 is when they started using gel cell batteries. I replaced it about 4 years ago with a optima red battery.
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Old Aug 28, 2020 | 12:55 AM
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Moved to C5 Tech.
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Old Aug 28, 2020 | 01:25 PM
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From your description it sounds like the starter or starter solenoid may be your problem, also seems like you might have an alignment problem between the starter and flywheel.
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