For those of you who were out at LACR this Saturday, it was truly disappointing to pass the tech inspection, only to find that I couldn't start my '01 C5.

After many of us made numerous efforts at trying to troubleshoot the problem, I surrendered to the drag-racing gods, and called for the flat-bed. :sad:

At first the thinking was that the problem might have been with my after-market alarm. After 90 minutes of troubleshooting, the alarm was ruled out.

We did find two wires going to the starter that were pretty much fried and had melted together.

On Monday morning I had it towed to the dealership. They confirmed the problem as having been that the wires were too close to my long tube headers but also decided to go through the whole ignition system.

During further diagnostic tests, they also found that the neutral safety switch was also bad.

Warning: I know that my fellow ModAholics will think this to be common sense, but be careful when adding after-market goodies. There may be some un-intended consequences. I paid a price for not thinking this through.

Lessons learned:

1. One of the remedies here would have been to pay closer attention to the potential effects of an added heat source so close to the starter wires. :yesnod:

The replacement wires will be re-routed a bit further away from the heat source AND some form of insulation will be placed around the wires at the point where they come closest to the headers.

2. I was too content with finding a single cause to my problem. Lucky for me, the electrical wizard tech at my local dealer decided to look at the TOTAL system to see if there was MORE THAN ONE potential cause for the starting problem.

Hope my technical dilemma helps someone else avoid my mistakes.

Gary

 

Ive melted stater wires on just about every vehicle ive owned :banghead: :U :withstupid:

 

Good point. I just found some wires starting to melt this week. It's a good idea to get under the car and check things out once in a while. Things move around and many of these problems don't show themselves for a long time.


[Modified by QuickSilver2002, 12:58 AM 7/2/2003]

 

Gary;
It was a pleasure to meet you Saturday even under those circumstances. I had fun at my first event.

Jay CC45 ( the new guy) :steering:

 

O.K. so who installed your Long tube Headers? Never mind!

It sounds like maybe they installed them to close or did they (the wires) work loose???

Andy Green installed mine and I was right there when he said, I need to ty rap these away from the headers so they will not get burned. I think the starter wires are very close.

Anyway it's a shame you had to miss the event, I will be back when the weather get cooler. I have a friend that invitied me to a BBQ on the fourth in Palmdale, I replied, I will see you when the weather gets cooler.

I drag race from Oct - May only! say the engine from the heat!


[Modified by wallstAL, 11:45 PM 7/1/2003]

 

I melted the oil sensor wires on my LS1 TA and didn't realize I was using oil. By the end of the second pass I spun a bearing and ruined the motor. I had kept an eye on the oil and knew something was wrong with how it was reading, but somehow it got low that day from high RPM's and it was over. :banghead:

 

I'm guessing I should look under the car as well-Were they coated headers...? Who makes thems?

 

With my past experience on Modding the C5, it seems to be a rule of thumb to throughly check all the work that was done on your car after the installation is complete. No, we cant take apart the engine after a Cam install to see if it is correct... but things like wiring and connections as well as correct connections is something we should all be looking at closely to be sure it is right. :yesnod:

vetterdstr :cheers:

 

Hey thanks for the heads up :cheers:

I'm having headers installed the first week of August and will definitely check everything out :thumbs:

 

Jay, likewise! Welcome to the WCCC! You are going to fit right in brother! :yesnod: :cheers:


Dave - they are RK Sport long tubes. They are not CURRENTLY jet-coated but I can assure you that when they next come off the car that they are going to be by the time they are re-installed! :yesnod:

They are RK Sport long tubes. They are not CURRENTLY jet-coated but I can assure you that when they next come off the car that they are going to be by the time they are re-installed! :yesnod:

[QUOTE]O.K. so who installed your Long tube Headers? Never mind!

It sounds like maybe they installed them to close or did they (the wires) work loose???QUOTE]

Al - now Al, be nice about our installers! :blueangel: We're ALL trying to learn here...including our installers. Remember, we are ModAholics and we don't live in the "stock" world anymore!

Wires do move around a bit and this is a potential problem no matter what the brand of headers. In addition to using zip ties, I would now recommend we drag racers issue our own CF TSB for this issue to include placing some reflective insulation around the wires at the point where they come closest to the headers. :thumbs: :steering: :yesnod:

Gary


[Modified by gary brown, 9:20 PM 7/2/2003]

 

Keith - your story is yet one more reason why I LOVE this forum! How cool is it to have a place where we can learn some valuable information by just posting a thread! Now I will be getting under my baby - uh, that's my car - this weekend, to check out any other possible heat sources that could do me wrong. :yesnod:

 

EPILOGUE:

I just got off the phone with my dealer who has had the car for a couple of days. They have decided that they are going to warranty ALL of the work done on my car for this problem. Cost to me is zip, nada, zero! :eek: :hurray: :party:


Another lesson learned - I have a GREAT GM dealer just 3 blocks from my house!

:cheers: to Albertson Chevrolet in Culver City, California! :flag

Gary



[Modified by gary brown, 9:30 PM 7/2/2003]