Today my vehicle shutdown on the busiest highway in Colorado Springs. There is no warning signs, no notice, and no power. The vehicle does not go into auxiliary mode, the doors lock, and the screens go dark. I was stranded in the middle lane of 3 lanes of traffic for over 90 minutes. The cops were patient and stayed until the end. Several things I recommend to prepare for this:

1. Have your starter replaced to prevent this.

2. Become familiar with the towing company. The vehicle does not go into neutral and cannot be placed on a flatbed truck. The front wheels will have to be placed on dollies and the rear wheels lifted up. The vehicle will have to be towed to a safe location in this mode. This is not good for long distance and the towing driver will tell you this.

3. Talk to your warranty company. They only allow one tow per 7 day period. It does not matter if the first tow is to get to a safe location or dealership (that is not familiar with the C7). I have the basic warranty and extended warranty. It did not help.

4. Meet your local dealership. If you did not purchase your vehicle from him it may benefit you in the long run. Talk to the service manager and the technicians that work on the C7. Tell them about this problem and tell them how to jumper around the fuse at the battery. This will restore power to the vehicle and allow the vehicle to go into auxiliary mode (vehicle will go into neutral and can be pushed or placed on a flatbed truck). These starters are not kept on hand at the dealerships.

5. I still love my C7. Things happen! I will update you when my vehicle is returned to me. I have about 850 miles on my vehicle. Most of these were driving from my dealer in Kansas to CO. This was the fourth time my vehicle was driven.

6. GOOD LUCK!!!!!

 

I love how single occurrences are portrayed as all of them are going bad and for all if us to make preparations...LMAO.....

 

You are a patient guy. Best of luck with the C7.

 

What is your understanding of how a bad starter caused what you experienced?

 

I bet that takes a lot of laughing.

 

If you broke down on Academy I can only hope the dealership's service department is better than their sales department... if it is who I think it is you are right to be proactive in that they don't seam to deal with vettes much.... If you get a chance PM me and let me know where you went and how the service was as based on my experience with the front of house after delivery I currently plan to take mine to the other closest option for any warranty or provided maintenance...

 

if this actually happened, you could have gotten put of the vehicle using the alternate door latches. I seriously doubt the police would have left a car in the middle of a highway for 90 minutes.

 

So you are saying a starter failure made your car shut off in the middle of the highway? Sounds odd. Do the automatic Corvettes have a shift lock bypass as most other cars have?


As far as roadside, your new GM comes with Roadside assistance 3years / 36k miles. How did GM not help? Sounds fishy to me.

If you were indeed impeding traffic, the police would have called their own tow company and gotten you out of there.

 

What's does your scenario have to do with a starter? A starter engages the flywheel, spins it, and disengages once the car is running.

 

There has to be more to this.

 

The car completely shutting down would not be because of starter failure.

My car did that when the fuel pump fuse blew out. Car completely shut down, non responsive but it would turn over.

 

Too much wrong with the info in the OP's post.

 

He must be saying the started shorted while he was driving.

What does he mean by "your warranty company" ????

 

that seems odd also.

 

For all those that replied, if you don't have a C7...(you know the rest). Most of you do not.
If you do have one, listen or don't listen. It is up to you. Just telling you what happened.

 

A faulty starter (not just the motor, you're looking at the circuitry here) could interrupt the signal from the start button to the fuse block.

I don't have the circuit diagram, but odds are the electronics are looking for either an "on" or "off" signal from the start button. Interrupting the "on" signal trough any means would inhibit any the electronics from performing as desired. They only see what they are given, and that signal begins in the starter (start button specifically)

 

If you car was running at the intersection then it is not a starter issue. Hence the name of the part, starter. Once the car is running the starter plays no part in the car running. Oh and by the way, I have a C7.

 

We even have people poopooing how long the car was on the highway? Really?

C'mon, people. Show a little respect. Not everyone is an automotive engineer. If something doesn't make sense to you, then just politely ask some questions to get more detail.

Michael

 

Confused on how it was the starter if you were driving and everything shut down. Did you check fuses? Never used warranty for towing, only my aaa membership (different from insurance). $75 a year for up to 100 mile tows. Obviously would not be needed on new c7s because of the 3/36k service included on the corvette.

Edit mdiiulio has explained how the starter figures into this

 

A polite question. Why do you only want to hear from C7 owners and not others who like the C7 but do not own one?