I have a 2009, automatic convertible with 12,000 miles on her.
Battery is less than 3 years old and kept on a trickle charger when car is not being used for several days
Car has only see rain twice in her lifetime.

Yesterday I stopped by a store, spent 20 minutes there and then I got back into my car to go.
When I hit the start button, it turned green but did not turn over.
I took my finger off the button, pressed the start button again (lit up green) and nothing.
I double checked that the car was in PARK and put my foot on the brake and then same thing --- would not turn over.

Now perplexed, I sat there for a minute pulled up the emergency brake (which was off before), stepped harder on the brake and then pushed on the lit up green start button.
I pushed the start button in for about 5 seconds --- nothing happened until I starting releasing the button and then it turned over and started up.

This happened to me one time before several months ago. Panic sets in when this happens to me. I don't want this car towed again.

There must be some kind of electronic glitch that is not allowing my car to turn over when I push the start button.
Any Ideas where to look first.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Sadly, I find this beautiful car is totally unreliable.
In the past year I had the STUCK IN PARK problem, the broken shifter cable bushing problem leaving my stranded and now this.
Please help

 

This could be a starter or the starter electrical circuit or one of the inputs that may cause the car not to start such as brake pedal or PNP (park neutral)…do you hear a "click" when attempting to start ??...have you tried starting the car in neutral ??…if you had a good bidirectional scan tool you can see the inputs that may prevent the car from starting…don’t know of your mechanical abilities but jumping the “load” side of the crank relay can rule out a bad starter…with a 12 volt test light you can do some other checks…if you think this may be over your head an auto electric shop would be your BEST bet…I’m not going to go into a long dissertation on what and how to check…below is some of the inputs I’d be looking at...interesting video below on this below.

 

No clicking noise when trying to start the car --- just nothing. So it's not the starter motor but I will check all connections to the starter motor but I doubt anything is going on here

I have an automatic so car needs to be in PARK to turn over. There must be some kind of switch in the console to make sure the car is in park before it will let the motor turn over. Does anybody know where this switch is? I guess I'd replace it because I don't know how you test an electronic part that fails sometimes.

There must be some kind of switch attached to the brake pedal that won't let the motor turnover unless the brake is depressed. I have to get under the dash to see what's under there. I'd be inclined to replace this switch as well.

If anyone can tell me where these electrical switches are and how to get at them that would be a BIG HELP

The starter switch in the dash may be faulty. Again how would you test this switch if it only fails once in awhile? I will replace it. To get to this switch turns out to be relatively easy.

I will check battery connections and alternator connections but I doubt anything is loose here.

Thanks in advance for any help you can give me.

 

The brake pressure “switch” is actually a 3 wire “sensor” (5 volt reference, signal and ground) which when you press the brake pedal the BCM sees that input along with the PNP which is part of the Internal Mode Switch in the transmission which sends a signal to the ECM and if ALL this magic happens the ECM sends 12 volts to pin 85 of Crank Relay 43 in the under hood fuse box… could check the signal wire at the brake pedal sensor and you would see a voltage of less than 5 volts when pedal is depressed…if you have a 12 volt test light you can check for this 12 volts at the Crank Relay and if the test light illuminates your inputs are good…to make the coil side of the relay function it need a ground…the ground may be bad…did you try swapping out the crank relay with another relay ??…a test light can check that too…instead of just shotgunning parts it’s best to have a systematic approach to diagnose this !!…I’d have to look at the wiring between the ECM and the TCM and see what circuit is either sent either a power or ground to the ECM so it knows you are in park…if you change the sensor you will need to do a “calibration” for that new sensor…a factory level scan tool is needed for this….did you try starting the car in NEUTRAL and do you hear "clicking" noises coming from the dash when you press the start button ??...you should…this may be easier for a pro to handle who has the right tools…don’t think I have any more advise for you…good luck !!

 

C5 Diag ---- thanks for your input. Unfortunately, when you have an intermittent electrical problem, all the testing in the world won't help unless you are having that problem right now as you are running the test. If you're not having the problem, everything will test out peachy keen and 2 months later you will be stranded at 12 midnight somewhere. Frankly, the way electronic signals are swapped back and forth between modules in this car seems way more complex than it needs to be and is way over my head --- and sadly, no Chevy dealer tech knows anything about this stuff either. I can't really use this car just waiting to get stranded. I think I have the skills to replace the dash start/stop switch and to replace the brake pressure switch. I will try to find some dealer to replace the transmission shift position switch and my guess is one of those 3 are the problem. Unfortunately, Corvette just puts out crappy cars. I have a C5 and a C6 --- both low milage, babied cars and there is always some problem you need to be chasing. I have driven hundreds of thousands of miles in Toyota's , BMW's, Lexus' and Mercedes' and have never had the kind of issues I've experienced with my 2 Corvettes. I can't imagine the kind of failures those suckers will be experiencing who purchased a C8.

 

Yes, intermittents can be difficult to diagnose but as I mentioned find an auto electric shop in your area and take the car there…they have the scan tool needed and the electrical knowledge necessary…no need to shotgun all those parts without testing…if you change all those parts and the issue is not resolved and it’s a wiring issue you’re back to square one…good luck !!

 

Good video --- how did you find this ???
I have an automatic and it's my understanding you can't get the car out of park unless the car is running ----
But since I had that "STUCK IN PARK" problem, I cut off the plastic hook that holds the car in park so I guess I could try starting the car in neutral.

I have no idea how you would find somebody with that knowledge and skills to do the kind of diagnosis this guy did. Dealer's don't know S**T.
I'll contact some of the Corvette clubs around where I live to see if they can recommend somebody --- but unless the car is not starting right now, they would have no way to trace what is failing.

You recommended swapping relays. Which relays and where are they --- under hood or in passengers side?

Thanks for your help.

 

As long as you are in ACCY mode you should be able to move the shift lever from P to N and then start the car…no need cut anything and being you had this stuck in park issue that may be a clue here !!!…being that this is intermittent you can try wiggling Crank Relay 43 to see if you can make the car not start…it may be a loose connection in the fuse box…if good you can try swapping Crank Relay 43 with 47 (low beam) and both are underhood…I mentioned with a test light you can check one of the 4 relay terminals when the car is acting but I think it’s best to take it to a shop where they have more “brains” than wrench turning abilities…again as I mentioned find an auto electric or diagnostic shop in your area and let them play with it…I have a former coworker of mine in Pennsylvania that runs an auto electric shop and I’ve sent a few C5 guys to him and which were very happy with his work…sorry but your not going to find a magic bullet with your starting issue so it will take a little testing…and I agree totally about dealerships…they make their money replacing parts not diagnosing cars…speaking of “brains” and knowledge here is another good video below…Keith Perkins does programming and diagnostics and teaches programming and is VERY VERY sharp for a young technician…unfortunately one in a thousand techs or more have his ability…his rant is epic and is what we are dealing with in this industry !!…if your a snowbird and the car is down here in the winter I’d be more than happy to look at it for you…and there are some great diagnostic videos on YouTube…SMA is one of the ones I follow.

 

I pulled out relay 43, but it seemed to be in securely and no bent pins. To play it safe, I then swapped out relay 43 with relay 40 and I also swapped out relay 44 with relay 41. All are identical parts. I kinda doubt this is my problem --- but who knows. I took the car out to a car show today --- no problem starting the car going or coming home but I did notice that every time I touched the brake pedal I heard a click noise which seemed to be coming from the fuse box under to passengers footwell. I don't know if this is normal because I've heard this click since the day the car was new. Now I'm beginning to think this has something to do with my intermittent no crank problem. I need to have a neighbor come over and sit and tap the brake over and over to see if I can locate where this click is coming from every time I hit the brake pedal. Any thoughts on this issue?

 

I don’t think you’ve read the starting system circuit description I posted but your “clicking”sound is the BCM’s RUN/CRANK relay being energized so that is a good thing…unless the car is not starting I can’t offer you any further help …unless you have a scan tool that can look at the starting system inputs this will be difficult for you to diagnose short of replacing all electrical components in the starting system…I’m guessing you never did check the terminal at the crank relay (underhood fuse box) with a test light as I had mentioned..good luck getting this fixed !!

 

I don't have any electronics experience/knowledge. I don't know how to read these electrical diagrams; I don't have a TECH2 device so I'm a little lost.
I will get up on the electronics learning curve but it will take some time. But I don't think it's normal to hear that clicking sound every time I depress the brake pedal even when the car is running and when I'm driving. Yes, a clicking sound every time and I've never had any other car make this sound --- not even my 2003 C5 so I'm going to try and locate what's clicking --- seems to be coming from the fuse box in the passengers foot well. Does your C6 make the same noise every time you tap the brakes?

 

Yes, I hear the Stop Lamp relay clicking (relay in the lower left corner) with the car running so that is what I assumed was the run crank relay…I explained how to check terminal 85 and the crank relay 43 with a test light but in either case don’t worry about learning about electrical at this point…I’ve done some electronics/electrical in the airline industry for 43 years and heavily over 15 years in the automotive and I’ve only scratched the surface in knowledge…I still try to attend in person or online classes still today…if the car is not your daily driver find an auto electric shop and let them play with it until it doesn’t start so you don’t get stranded…it’s not something like a blown fuse so you’ll only find guesses here…you need to gather evidence to diagnose this…there is only so much we can do for you and as was mentioned try starting in neutral if this happens again with the start button in ACCY mode.

 

I live in FL 8 months of the year (Nov-- June) but right now I'm In CT for the summer. I have a highly modified car (expensive) where the body has been removed and replaced with a 1967 lookalike body BUT the entire car is STOCK GM 2009 Corvette including all the electronics. I'm reluctant to leave my car anywhere for too long for fear of cosmetic damage or just plain dirt. Finding a qualified electronic technician knowledgeable about Corvette (or GM) electronics is going to be a challenge. The dealer claims they are all certified to diagnosis electronic issues but I know better from personal experience. I will wait until I get the car back to FL to search for this type of specialist in my area.
In the meantime, I am going to replace the starter switch which is an easy swap which I can do myself and I will have the dealer replace the brake switch because I can't do this myself since I don't have a TECH2 and I hope the dealer has one and knows how to use it. With a little luck the car will behave until I get it back to FL. I also need to put some kind of hook device on the car so It can be dragged onto a flatbed without damaging my very expensive body. I'm 79 years old and didn't expect this kind of hassle with a car that has less than 12,000 miles on her, has always been garaged and has never seen rain or snow.

 

I have a 2013 manual and have had this issue every so often since I bought the car 8 years ago, it used to scare me to death. I can’t offer any real technical advice like C5 Diag, but one thing I have noticed when this happens is if I press the Off side of the start button it will start when I try again. I have no idea if this does some kind of reset or is just an odd coincidence. I have described starting this car as being like the space shuttle with this module talking to that module and if everything doesn’t go exactly right then nothing happens and there is a T -2 second hold. Your car sounds really cool, good luck with this issue.

 

The first clue to me, was the broken shifter cable. Assuming a GM tech did the replacement and didn't get a good alignment during the re-install, the shifter assembly may not "always" be depressing the little limit switch under the console when you are in PARK position. You can change out every electrical component on the whole car, but if that limit switch is not activated, the starter will not function. Until you verify and/or correct this possibility, striking the shift lever with a sharp blow (palm of your hand) toward the 11 o'clock direction or shifting out of PARK and then (non gently) back in, may be the temporary emergency solution. You are certainly not the only one who has experienced that intermittent problem.

 

I've had the console out several times to fix the "stuck in park" issue and the broken grommet in shifter cable issue so I can easily do it again. Yes, I did have the dealer rip me off to replace the entire cable. Where/which is the limit switch you are talking about. Where is it and what does it look like. If I remember correctly, there were two rinky dink looking micro switches that I ignored because I couldn't figure out what their purpose was and I didn't want to mess with them. If someone has a picture that would be great.

 

I had your problem on my 2008 at times.I read on this forum that it could be the start switch so i replaced it and for years no more problem...Cheap and easy fix. Good Luck

 

I sold my C6 a while ago and never had the problem, but several friends did. Those "rinky dink" $5 switches were the culprit in at least 2 cases. It's probably been 5+ years ago, and my 82 yo photographic memory has faded, according to my wife.

 

Just ordered a new start/stop switch. Says Genuine GM part but probably made in China