Bad clutch switch is going to be the next thing I look at. Does anybody know what other systems the clutch switch is integrated into if any? I am interested in knowing if a bad clutch switch can cause the cluster to go dead and all those service lights to come on, or if its a stand alone system that only controls the car starting?

I will check the ignition switch also, but I don't even know how I would know its bad?? Seems like it is working for the most part, turns on all the accessories.

Battery cables are clean. Car has 38K miles on it, looks like a car with 15K miles on it.

I am not getting a click from the starter... it appears as though we are not even getting as far as starter activation.

 

Maybe a bad battery ground.

 

I do know that tapping the clutch does de-activate cruise control so it's not just integrated to the start sequence. Also you don't have remote start or anthing do you?

I would replace that puppy. They look easy, and should be cheap.

Keep us posted. I am going through something similar right now. My car will start then die start then die then finally catch idle. It's happening on cold starts.

 

No aftermarket remote start or security devices.

 

I just went outside and bypassed the clutch switch.... its not the clutch switch. I am running out of ideas here.

DG

 

Man...than it has to be the steering column lock.

 

In the video you stated "when I take my foot off the clutch, immediately the cluster comes on". Of course the cluster should not have been off. So, does the clutch pedal rub on any wiring harness or connector in the area of the clutch pedal? Maybe have a helper watch the IPC while you move or jiggle some wires around under the IP near the clutch. I would also suspect a problem due to the water leak. Maybe the water wicked its way through the wiring harness to a connector or module. Also since all the modules communicate with each other when you power up, including the cluster (IPC) maybe there is a communication problem? You will need a Tech 2 to confirm.

 

Yea, I am at the cross roads here. Its been years since something like this has happened, most problems with most of my cars I usually figure out either by myself or with the assistance of the forum however without the assistance of a Tech II I don't see this getting resolved. I just spoke with Mat at ECS. Ideally I would like to get this resolved myself so I don't have to tow the car down all that way and pay someone else to fix it, but ultimately I don't have a scan tool for this vehicle, and I highly doubt anything on the market that is affordable is going to be able to assist me in finding the problem, which leaves me going to someone for help.

I plan to check ALL the harnesses accessible in the vehicle before bringing it to them however if you watch the video the cluster does eventually come on with my foot on the clutch. It just comes on quicker if I take my foot off the clutch. I am going to have to pull that dash pan out and take a look at whats under the cluster. See if water has leaked into anything electronic.

 

At this point anything is possible but I don't know how you figure. That is the only thing NOT coming up on the DIC. And it seems to be locking and unlocking properly.

 

the causes of my '05 no starts have been (SCL, dying battery, clutch switch).

before forcing the dealer to replace the SCL, the dealer could not trace to the SCL and they first replaced the BCM (Body Control Module) saying it was shorted or something, but I doubt it since I could always push start my car and drive it to dealer
after the SCL fixed the problem for good, I complained about replacing BCM for nothing, but dealer insisted something was bad with the BCM before, so not sure if it really was combination of BCM+SCL or just SCL...

clutch switch is easy and cheap to replace with generic part from 'zone, but since you already tried jumping the connector with paper clip or wire, i guess that's not it.

from all my readings before,
(1) i believe some others have found shorted/melted/loose connections on the starter motor itself, so that may be where you can check next, since you can supposedly check that yourself from under the car (i never checked starter).

(2) i remember reading about loosening/re-seating some electrical panel under the passenger footwell. i believe it was a single bolt in the middle that you loosen to be able to pull off the component and then reseat it. i tried that to no avail before finding the bad clutch switch, but it is just another thing you can try since yours doesn't seem to be SCL or clutch switch that mine was related to.

(3) the only other thing i remember reading about was bad wire itself somewhere (in the route from alternator to starter to battery or something).

i am just wondering what water leak there was near the clutch area. i've never had any leaks in that area, so you may need check where the leak could have been from and trace a path for where water would leak down through to your floor.
some kind of corrosion/short under the instrumentation area may explain your cluster going off while the car is driving.

hope you can find the problem soon. i was driven mad by the SCL which took some 5 visits to the dealer, lol.
if you ever need to start your car in an emergency, you can push start the car with the manual trans

 

Op did you check all the fuses? Check the emissions fuse specifically.

 

I am going to check all the fuses and relays next. My next day off unfortunately is Monday but I am off most of next week so I will be able to dedicate more time to trying to solve the problem.

DG

 

Sounds good. I read through a post today that spoke specifically of the emission fuse being bad causing the car not to turn over at all. Check all the fuses and relays. I think I might have solved my issue today with my car. This is how I found my fuel pump relay:



Replaced it, and the car fired up an caught idle right away. Mine was turning over, but just dieing though. Little different symptoms. I'm putting my money on that emissons fuse.

 

Thought I'd put my 2 cents in. I work on vettes for a living and have had 2 C6's come through w/ symptoms like yours. Check the battery cable at the starter. It's probaly gotten hot there and the battery cable ties in w/ the chassis power there. This will cause the no starts and cluster falling out from voltage drop.

 

I think this is a good recommendation...and I have another.

Do you have a Window Valet? I had similar instances to what you are describing...no start, and if I removed my Window Valet it cured it. It also would happen that sometimes the dash would go dead while driving, ac would quit, weird stuff, and if I reached down and unplugged the Window Valet it would be fine.

Window Valet was great trying to help me diagnose this, sent me a new unit, all sorts of things. But eventually I gave up and stopped using it and the car's been fine.

The root cause, I think, is a short in the obdii plug. They do go bad, usually with guys like me that tune a lot. A member here had to replace his obdii plug, you can buy them from obdii.com I believe.

Try taking the obdii plug down and making sure it isn't damaged or shorted.

Also....I had a super odd problem with my F150 too, radio would stay on after truck was turned off. Turned out to be the windshield leaking on the fuse box. The front of the box looked great but the back of the box looked corroded. You said you have a leak. Take your fusebox down and look at the back for corrosion. I was able to clean mine with a wire brush and some solvent, and it's been fine ever since, but a water leak on electrics that aren't meant to get wet causes all sorts of problems.

Good luck. Keep us posted.

 

I seem to remember reading a long-term no-start thread here, not sure if it was an 05 or not, that was finally traced to some bad wire/crimp connections in the underhood fuse/relay box. I know that's not a lot of help without providing a link to the thread, but you can probably search just as easily as I can.....

 

I did some searching and didn't find the thread I was looking for. However, I did find a post regarding the passenger footwell that someone referred to earlier in your thread:

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/1579447470-post58.html

 

If your car is leaking in the passenger footwell focus your efforts there. Remove the fusebox and look behind it. Mine looked great on the front side and quite corroded on the back side.

 

I am having a comunications buss isue on mine, that sounds simular to yours except in addition to yours I am also getting nunerous messaes on the DIC for systems thatare not installed on the car. The dealer and I have isolated it to the connector on the BCM as if the problem comes up if the connector is wiggled the issue usually goes away, they changed the connector (Car side) a month or so ago, but still have issue, susposing it's the BCM now!!! Good luck with fix!!!!

 

The cluster operation issues are a symptom of a bad PCM.

If it was tuned, do a full write of the tune again. If it wasnt tuned, have the dealer flash the PCM with the stock tune with a TECH2.

Our cars are CAN operation and everything electrical is through the computer.