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My vehicle is a 1999 with 95K miles on it. About an hour ago I went outside to start it up to run some errands and it wouldn't start!! Like nothing, no click, liked seemed totally dead. So I started to troubleshoot the issue starting with the battery and it measured 12.6v on my tool so I figured it was good. I read somewhere that if the battery on the key fob is dead or low that that could prevent the car from starting??? Maybe I read it wrong but I don't see how the key fob battery would keep the car from starting unless it was apush button start right? Any next I went through all the codes on the DIC. Nothing current and nothing new. I reset the DIC and lo and behold it started right up and the battery is reading 13+V so for sure the battery is good. So my friends what could have caused this issue? I know electrical gremlins are the worst to chase down but thank God it happened in my garage and not some parking lot which would have cost me a tow home. Any ideas? Cheers!!!
Sorry I thought I had it in my profile but I guess not. Anyway the battery is coming up on 2 years old this April, Red Top 34/78. Vehicle is an A4. Battery is stilll holding the charge as I write this so I have no idea what it may have been. Any ideas or help would be appreciated. Cheers!!!.
I would check all the grounds on the vehicle. This is a common issue with these cars. A quick google search will show you all the grounding points of the vehicle.
So I did some online searching and found 2 different schematics identifying where the ground locations are. One diagram showed 9 spots and the other diagram showed 13 spots. Simple thing for me to do would be to go for the 13 but I would like to know for sure if the vehicle has 9 or 13. Does anyone have a definitive answer to this? Also, some may know that I recently was involved in an auto accident where the front bumper cover and the skids were damaged. So I am think that maybe one of the grounds may have come loose and therefore not completing the circuit. I won't know for sure until I start to clean them up. I will start with the one located beneath the battery as I read many writeups that that is the one that usually gets corroded the most. frome ther I will just go throught all the spots located in the engine bay and anyplace that can be exposed to the elements. Anyway, that is my game plan. Cheers!!!
I have a picture of the ground places on the vette but it will not load. Anyone have a picture that they could add ?
Ground locations
Since Corvettes seem to have issues with grounds, I have compiled a list of the Ground locations and the circuits attached with each ground for reference purposes. I thought others might benefit from this list.
Ground locations
From 2003 Corvette Shop Manual
engine ground strap top left frame behind left front wheel well
G101 left front frame (with SP101)
G102 right front frame (with SP100)
G103 left front of engine
G104 frame next to battery (with G108 & SP102)
G105 left lower engine block, engine ground strap & wire
G106 Battery negative pole
G107 Left rear head
G108 frame next to battery (with G104)
G201 bottom of A-pillar, left (with SP201 & SP203)
G202 bottom of A-pillar, rt, bolted at the bottom (with SP202)
G205 inside door pillar driver seat (with G301)
G301 inside door pillar passenger seat
G302 inside door pillar driver seat (with G205)
G401 left rear outer frame
G402 right rear inner frame
SP201 bottom of A-pillar, left (bolted with G201)
SP202 bottom if A-pillar, rt (bolted to G202)
SP203 bottom of A-pillar, left (taped to wire bundle, with G201 coming out of it)
Good Day and thanks to all. The diagrams I was referencing above came from these. Cheers!!! This indicates 13 ground points. this one indicates 9 ground points but actually showing 11 points.
The very first thing to check when the car won't crank over is the TDR "Theft Deterant Relay" it is located above the BCM in the passenger footwell area behind the panel. The TDR is actually the relay that sends 12v power to energize the starter, you should hear it click when you turn the key to the start position. The TDR has four wires, a red, violet, yellow, and a yellow wire with a black strip. Hope this helps.
Strange Occurence in Starting
