Car won’t start, keys don’t work either
Thread Starter
4th Gear
Joined: Sep 2025
Posts: 4
Likes: 0
Car won’t start, keys don’t work either
Apologies if I’m in the wrong section, my late father just passed and I’ve since inherited his car. I’m not as mechanically intuitive as he was but I have questions regarding the car.
First and foremost the car won’t start, even when turning the key in the ignition nothing pops up on the dash, is this a battery issue or something else? Also the key itself won’t work, I can’t unlock or lock the car unless I manually insert it in the keyhole to unlock/lock it. I’m not sure if the two issues are related but any help or direction would be helpful.
First and foremost the car won’t start, even when turning the key in the ignition nothing pops up on the dash, is this a battery issue or something else? Also the key itself won’t work, I can’t unlock or lock the car unless I manually insert it in the keyhole to unlock/lock it. I’m not sure if the two issues are related but any help or direction would be helpful.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 3,122
Likes: 795
From: Espanola New Mexico
The very first thing to do is pull the battery and have it load tested at a nearby auto parts store. How long has the car sat without being started? A C5 corvette is notorious for draing batteries because of its sleep mode current drain while the car is parked. Not surprising that the key fob does not work due to the battery being dead.
Thread Starter
4th Gear
Joined: Sep 2025
Posts: 4
Likes: 0
The very first thing to do is pull the battery and have it load tested at a nearby auto parts store. How long has the car sat without being started? A C5 corvette is notorious for draing batteries because of its sleep mode current drain while the car is parked. Not surprising that the key fob does not work due to the battery being dead.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 3,122
Likes: 795
From: Espanola New Mexico
Are those wing nuts on the battery terminals? You may just have a bad electrical connection at the battery terminals. I would seriously think about doing away with the wing nuts and replace with bolts as you have to really tighten the cables to the battery terminals, so much so that you can't tighten the wing nuts by hand and achieve the right amount of clamping.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Sep 2021
Posts: 2,555
Likes: 1,213
From: Temple Texas
If you turned the key to the on position and your dash did absolutely nothing your battery is completely dead or not making connection.
Hook up a jump pack or small charger, that should be enough to light up the dash even if the car won't turn over. Then you'll know if it's a battery issue.
Your fob not functioning is also indicative of a dead battery. If you get the battery working and the fob still won't work hold down lock & unlock on the fob for about seven seconds and it will re-synchronize itself to the car.
Sorry to hear of your dad's passing.
Hook up a jump pack or small charger, that should be enough to light up the dash even if the car won't turn over. Then you'll know if it's a battery issue.
Your fob not functioning is also indicative of a dead battery. If you get the battery working and the fob still won't work hold down lock & unlock on the fob for about seven seconds and it will re-synchronize itself to the car.
Sorry to hear of your dad's passing.
