I bought my first Vette(Used C6 Base Auto) and I have always done my own repairs. I quickly found out, this is a different monster. So, I took a quick trip down the street on lunch, got back, turned it off and of course the radio was still on so I sat and listened until it turned off. I tried to start it and got nothing. Ended up using emergency exit maneuvers. End of the day I had to use the dead battery entry maneuvers. Hooked up cables(I have a new Optima Red Top) and still nothing. Zero lights. No gauges. Locks, windows....nothing. Took the battery out, got a fresh charge. New key FOB batteries. Dropped in the battery, opened the door and it worked, sat inside, foot on brake. I got 1 click then completely dead again. If I disconnect the negative terminal for even one second, it will power back up. But only in accessory mode. If I touch start, it is dead again. I disconnected negative again just to put it in neutral to get a tow. My extent of electrical knowledge is starter, alternator, battery, fuses and switches. I'm not multimeter savvy. Could this be the infamous negative/alternator starter wire connection breakage or has anyone had a different issue? I thought maybe the ignition button was bad. I'm gonna inspect the starter tomorrow so I guess I'll find out. I haven't seen these "exact" symptoms on any threads or maybe I missed it. Any advice or clowning is welcome. Thanks guys...and gals.

 

Your battery is toast. Get it load tested. These cars love to eat batteries. If it was near dead and you had to charge it up to full, it likely now has a bad cell, so it won't hold a charge for long.
You can check the battery connections to assure they are tight, and the connections at the starter. If you have headers, that could heat up the solenoid bakelite casing at the starter and make that weak.
I had a yellow top that failed on mine after 6 months. It went dead, charged it and it tested bad, shorted cell.
Good Luck and report back.

 

Start with a new battery and if that doesn't work I'd suggest a new starter solenoid from Amazon. If the main post is cracked it can cause intermittent issues, where it'll be fine one minute and then barely start or not at all the next.

 

I am experiencing the exact same problem that you are describing right now on my 07 3LT auto. The only difference is my battery is good and it load test good. I am leaning towards it being a starter / solenoid problem but I do not have a lift and it is just too tight to get to it without one. I am in limbo right now with another major non car project going on so it is going to be about a month before I can get back to mine. I am going to follow your thread in the hopes that you can identify and fix your problem and then that might point me in the right direction.

Best of luck fixing yours.

Jay

 

It's very easy to get to the starter with the car up on jackstands. The hardest part of the job is having to loosen the exhaust enough so you can actually get the starter out. A lift is definitely not needed.

 

Did you clean the contacts on the battery really good ?

 

Cracks me up, and irritates me at the same time, every time someone posts "check the battery" whenever an electrical issue is mentioned. I would think that Corvette owners are smart enough to check the battery first before posting. That's my rant lol

 

90% of the time, it is the battery. Voltage reading means nothing if it has a bad cell. Losd testing is the only true indicator, and must be removed and tested at a Napa, or other parts store.
Like most, we always expect the worse, rather than being suspicious of the easy things to check such as post tightness of the cables, etc.

 

And yet, you'd be surprised how often somebody posts a problem that turns out to be a bad battery.

 

And such a fine rant it was too.

 

No - the exact opposite is true - 90% of the time it's something draining your battery.

 

Battery is perfectly fine. And new. Yes I had it checked just in case. You know, I read in another forum that the tow truck ride rattled the starter and it would be perfectly fine off the tow truck. Wouldn't you know. As soon as the tow truck dropped it off, it fire up like it didn't have an issue. That alone tells me it's the starter. I was drinkin all weekend so I guess I'll get it up on the jack stands and start tinkering.

 

Don't assume it's one thing or the other - you'll just blow your money. Get a new battery and do a parasitic draw test to see what is killing the battery.

 

2006 convertible Z51, 103000 miles
My issues were not exactly the same as yours. I would start out with 14.2 volts and drive maybe 10 miles and voltage would drop to 13 or a little lower at times. I got the CHECK CHARGING SYSTEM a couple of times. The local auto store analyzer said everything was good so I won't bother you with all the other things I checked. It turns out the positive starter post was toast literally. Installed new starter and everything is back to normal.
The starter is mounted very close to the CAT so I suspect the heat from 15 years of service got to it.
The only other part replaced was the harmonic damper at 75000.