C6Tally

I'm not sure which way to lean with my thinking yet...
After driving normally to work, I went to start my '05 and the clutch pedal was hanging halfway down, also it wouldn't engage the starter.
The battery is 6 months old and strong.
I'm stuck between a starter/solenoid issue vs. the clutch not allowing the starter to work.
Can anybody help?
Also, can anyone offer an alternative to the dealership for help in the Tallahassee area?
Many thanks ahead of time for any help you guys can offer!!

sevinn

Since the clutch pedal wasn't right, I'd focus on that. The car has to see that the clutch pedal is fully depressed before it will allow you to start the car.

What year is your car? Some years have a switch and some have a position sensor on the clutch.

C6Tally

It's an '05

sevinn

I see now in your OP, sorry about that.

You have a clutch position switch in that car.

If you said the clutch pedal was hanging down however, that would worry me. Have you checked the clutch fluid level? The slave cylinder could have let go on you.

C6Tally

I am concerned about the slave cylinder at this point.
Do you know how I can bypass the position switch to crank it and get it home at least?

ruxvette

There is a switch located down by the clutch pedal. It is mounted to a bracket to the left of the clutch pedal. It is simply held in place in two slots. To remove it release the tab with a feeler gauge and then slide the switch up towards the dash. When it reaches the end of travel just pull it out towards you. It is located with two pins and two slots that lock at the bottom. The switch has an electircal connector plugged in to the side of it which will need to be removed before taking the switch out.
If the pedal is partway down I would suspect a broken return spring. Look around on the floor and you will probably see a broken part of it. They are cheap and easy to replace.

JKbride

OP...check this out. http://oemdtc.com/25669/clutch-activ...rolet-corvette

If this is the prob, it may be covered by GM

C6Tally

Thanks you guys.
I checked today and my car is now outside the window to fall under the replacement criteria ....

I'm headed up to look at the switch and possible spring situation... Hoping that's it, as I have spoken the the dealership who STARTS with replacing the master cylinder before moving on to anything else and that's around a grand...

C6Tally

Ok I flushed the clutch fluid using the Ranger method and the pedal feels firm now. Still won't engage the starter when I push the button. I hear the electrical relay sound inside the car but that's it.
Can I access the solenoid and its wires from the top or do I need to get it in the air?

Reggied

I have a 2005 vette too. My car gave me early warnings. I would push button car would not start. Push button again now car starts. This went on for about 10 to 15 times driving the car. This morning push button no start.
I ran the following test to try to home in on the problem.

a) Push button (Car NO start)
b) Moved car out of reverse push button (Dash Display "Put car in reverse" car NO start)
c) Place Key Fob outside car, push button (Dash Display "No Fob found" car No start )

I will investigate the clutch switch tonight.

Am I correct in saying the problem can be either of the following;
a) Clutch switch
b) Starter solenoid
c) Starter motor

What else can be the problem and what else should I look at?....

extrapilot

The starter solenoid's are frail in our cars, where they break and cause a bad connection, with a no start condition.
If the battery is found good, after a good load test, check the connections at the battery cable ends and the aforementioned solenoid by grabbing the large cable and wiggle it to check for looseness.

C6Tally

Thanks for all of the input. I found an honest mechanic and had it flat bed towed to his shop. He said he had to flash the system and reprogram the cluster as it didn't want to function after the flash.
I picked her up this morning and everything seems to work as it should.
And of course, I now realize there were some quirky advance warnings that the electronic modules were mis-communicating for the last couple of weeks before this happened.

He told me a quick reset method in the field if this were to happen again is to disconnect the battery cables and touch them momentarily, and reconnect them. Have you guys heard of this before?

Again, thank you guys for all of your input.

ruxvette

Glad the car is fixed. I am certainly no expert but, on the one hand, I think you are just completing the circuit so no prob.
On the other hand, could there be any residual juice in the system that might cause damage?
I hope someone smarter than I chimes in...

EVRose

I've never heard of "flash the system" and "reprogram the cluster" before. What exactly did he do?

Old Ben

My 05 M6 would do that occasionally. It was the Column Lock that was keeping the engine from starting. Opened the doors and put the top down to cool the dash down. Then disconnected the battery and let it sit for 15 to 20 minutes and it would start when the battery was connected. Installed the bypass and have not had the problem since.

Reggied

My car did not start until I disconnected the battery for 15mins and re-connected it.
Why did this reset method work. I am now afraid to drive the car with the fear this problem might arise again.
This is the first time i had this problem.

How do I check to see if i might have the column lock issue. What are the symptoms?

EVRose

The dic will say "service column lock".
How old is your battery?

Reggied

No messages were displayed on my dash. Everything worked as normal except the car would not turn over.

I did several experiments before I reset the car computer.

a) Place jumpered wire across clutch switch. (Car still no start )

b) To check starter function;
I put the car in neutral and set the park brake.
I removed the clutch/starter relay located in the fuse box under the car hood. Jumper the B+ (12v) pin to the "starter motor" pin. This caused the starter to crank over. (meaning Starter OK).

c) Dis-connect battery, shorted cables together, waited 15mins, re-connect battery. Now car started.

My battery is 1 year old, It's the high price "Yellow Top" Optima battery.
One thing I noticed..The battery voltage was less than 12v ( It was 11.75V )

Reggied

This is how I got my car started to get home......

This is my backup plan if my car fail to start in the future. Rebooting the computer by disconnecting the battery is not making sense to me. Why is this happening since I has the car for 3 years and never had this problem.


https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...post1590952369