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21 c8 z51 ~30k mi, everything was fine the day before, woke up to go to a track day and boom, no engine sound.
I've searched this issue, the only prior art i can find is this. Although my car will turn on, it just wont' crank.
Debug so far (till i give up and ship to dealer)
- Battery? Not the case here, battery is strong and healthy.
- Immobilizer? I don't think so, nothing weird with security protocols
- Fuse/relay? Found the starter crank relay (behind seats, big relay #3) and tested it, it's working
- Neutral safety switch? Maybe? Kind of hard to diagnose this issue. No codes are being thrown, car transmission sensor sees transmission is in park
My suspision is the starter solenoid is dead? i hear a whirring sound when i try to crank/start. Then the car gives up.
Any ideas? this happened to anyone else? Car was fine, now it's not
If you hear the starter spinning and the engine isn't turning over it's most likely the bendix not being engaged into the flywheel. Hope it's a simple situation. I'm guessing it is.
Update: Here we are, it's been 5 years since i needed a flatbed, well guess these things happen. On the other hand, it took 3 tow truck drivers (2 denied me as they won't tow because the c8 is a tantrum princess that needs special white glove service),
me disassembling the rear hatch, using a tool while the tow truck driver and i pushed the car onto the bed. Then doing the same thing in reverse at the dealer. Fun times. If you ever need a tow, you're &%$#@! Or you just gotta let them flatspot your tires.
Oh a little treat, was the 2nd tow truck driver left when i finally found a tool to put it in neutral, started moving the car then the parking brake automatically came on.
Dealer has gotten the car started after a series of trials and errors. It looks like what finally worked was a 'global system reset' or something like that. So basically all electronic/control systems. The leading theory is the ECU/computer got corrupted/fed up with the barrage of SRS errors from the missing front seat/bucket seat and decided to take a break from doing its job. Is it BS? well, only GM can really say so, i don't think the dealer is equipped to make this call. Does it smell like BS? well of course, I've had my bucket seat in for over a year and have put 10k miles since then.
I would be charged a diagnostics fee of $300. I won't be charged for the labor/storage of the vehicle. While this sucks and i'm sure i can fight back, i'm just happy to have the car working, but now there's this impending dark cloud following the car, what if it doesn't start when I'm 300 miles away from home. And since it's electrical then i guess we should all be worried
If it happens again, I suppose you can disconnect for a while, push brake pedal to drain the power left in the system, and end up doing a deeper reboot like that yourself?
Update:
Picked the car up, drove fine. The official diagnosis (which does not make sense) is the aftermarket seats are to blame, and so the car WILL NOT START.
I tried to go the GM corp route, my rep was kind but they sided with the dealership. I guess this is a can of worms case and they'd rather just let it die out because i swapped my seats.
Anyway, the lesson here is when it comes to tracking your car, despite what gm/chevy/corvette/tadge preaches, reality is often disappointing. And if you swap to bucket seats, watch out, your car may not start
Update:
Picked the car up, drove fine. The official diagnosis (which does not make sense) is the aftermarket seats are to blame, and so the car WILL NOT START.
I tried to go the GM corp route, my rep was kind but they sided with the dealership. I guess this is a can of worms case and they'd rather just let it die out because i swapped my seats.
Anyway, the lesson here is when it comes to tracking your car, despite what gm/chevy/corvette/tadge preaches, reality is often disappointing. And if you swap to bucket seats, watch out, your car may not start
Very interesting. Last fall my 2021 Z51 would not start at one of the mid-day sessions. Press start button, and nothing. A dash message comes up saying push start button again. Was too loud at track to listen for solenoid. Got car on my tilt bed trailer using rear wheel dollies. Absolute nightmare. Dropped at dealer and car initially did not start for them either. Then, just starting troubleshooting, the car started. And kept starting. Picked the car up and went to another track day a few weeks later. Car started fine first couple of sessions, then wouldn't start, then randomly started about 30 mins later when I was working on it with the scanner and randomly tried the start button. Started parking car on trailer between sessions and sure enough late in the day the car wouldn't start. Dropped car at Dealer a second time and this time car would not start for them at all. They diagnosed as a bad "starter" (they had 12v at solenoid and also at starter, which means solenoid "failed", in my world). They simply shipped the solenoid and starter back to GM, did not try and find root cause. Fast forward to this track season, car has been starting fine all winter. First track day was fine. Second track day, car doesn't start for a mid-morning session. Then randomly starts as I'm back at it with battery tester and scanner. Park car on trailer the rest of the day and of course it starts fine all day. "Seems" like a track issue. Heat soak on the solenoid? Had a bluetooth bbq pyrometer from another project. Currently have temp probe hose clamped to solenoid. Looks like solenoid will get to within 25-30F of coolant temp after sitting with hatch closed for about 30 mins. Next track day is in a couple weeks. Hoping to find a cause or pattern. I just can't imagine the solenoid or starter having any issues operating up to at least 250F. It has been flawless on the street (max coolant temp 200F). Fingers crossed it stays that way as the track is the only place where I can easily get it on a trailer. Yes I also learned the disassemble the trunk and activate the neutral over ride shaft to be able to move the car. What a pain. And I've been using a racing seat since I got the car in 2021. Airbag warning light lit as OEM seat removed and seat unplugged, and side detection disabled as the circuit that connects to the gateway is via the driver seat plug. Is anyone aware of others having weird no start issues that seem to be solenoid/starter related?
In case anyone is interested I believe we have tracked random no start issue to the solenoid connector. Again car would not start randomly at track. Finally wouldn't start at all at end of day. Better yet it didn't start when we got home. Had 12v at solenoid connector (again). Plug it back in and the car starts. Got to looking at connector and there was quite a gap between metal leaves in the connector that provide female connection to male flat pin (.032" thick) on solenoid. Found another flat pin the same thickness and it just falls out of connector. So looks like inadequate spring tension between connector and solenoid pin. Tightened metal leaves in connector as much as possible (not much as you can't really move anything to any effect) and car has been starting fine. New connector on the way. And yes, race seat still in car.
If you're in a real pinch, you can get by with a 10mm open end wrench. I'm very hesitant to give this recommendation out because it WILL damage the receiving end of it. That's because it's not a direct fit so you're essentially sacrificing away the park release which is made of softer metal than most tools.
My solution moving foward is below, I laser cut a tool from steel to help me with this in case of future emergencies. i keep it in my car along with enough tools to open the rear hatch in case i have to tow in future.
Still not ideal, but it won't damage the male end of the park release. It's not a replacement for the $1000 tool (which exists to limit torque), but it's not $1000 . Given that tow truck drivers/chevy dealers will 99% not have anything to deal with this situation i had to take things into my own hands, as one tends to do in the business of performance applications.
I have an extra one i'm willing to sell, but since it's super diy, i can make 0 guarantees.
If you're in a real pinch, you can get by with a 10mm open end wrench. I'm very hesitant to give this recommendation out because it WILL damage the receiving end of it. That's because it's not a direct fit so you're essentially sacrificing away the park release which is made of softer metal than most tools.
My solution moving foward is below, I laser cut a tool from steel to help me with this in case of future emergencies. i keep it in my car along with enough tools to open the rear hatch in case i have to tow in future.
Still not ideal, but it won't damage the male end of the park release. It's not a replacement for the $1000 tool (which exists to limit torque), but it's not $1000 . Given that tow truck drivers/chevy dealers will 99% not have anything to deal with this situation i had to take things into my own hands, as one tends to do in the business of performance applications.
I have an extra one i'm willing to sell, but since it's super diy, i can make 0 guarantees.
Laser cut makeshift tool
Thanks but Where do you use this tool and what do you need to remove/tear apart etc to use this nice tool? Thanks
My C8 won't start
