I tried to start it, it turned about 1/2 a revolution, and everything died.

The last time I drove it was yesterday, about 150 miles. The only issue was puling into a store about a mile from home, gravel driveway and I got an ABS warning. My wife stayed in the car while I went in, so I didn't turn it off. I wasn't concerned about the ABS warning anyway, figured it would go away when I shut it off.

I guess I'm hoping just a relay blew, but IDK how to check them. Nothing is working: No lights, DIC, radio, windows... nothing. From the threads I've read before posting, it might be relay 42 or 50, and 50 is in the passenger footwell? I'd have to push it out of my garage to get to that, if needed.

64k miles, battery is 3 years old and strong. I have an Actron multi-meter, just not very familiar with using it.

TIA!

 

Start with the basics for any car. Confirm you have a full charged/tested battery. Check your battery cables on both ends for corrosion and security.

 

Yep, the battery and cables are gtg.

I didn't say this in the OP, but I hooked my jump pack up to it and still nothing.

 

So you inspected positive battery connection at the starter, and the negative battery connection attached to the engine block above the starter?

 

If you're not familiar with electrical testing take your car to an automotive electrical shop.

 

How exactly was the battery tested, was it load tested at a auto parts store?

 

Between rain/storms every day, and life getting in the way, today was the 1st chance I've had to get back at this. I pushed it out of my garage so I could get to the fuse box under the floorboard, and started looking into fuses & relays. I pulled the #50 maxi-fuse under the hood, it was good so I put it back. After that, I noticed the interior lights were on, so I put the key in and it fired right up. That's great news, but still leaves me without an answer.

I did drive thru some rain Sunday, so maybe something under there didn't like getting wet, but IDK what. Some dielectric grease in the right place or places seems like a good next step, couldn't hurt, but IDK where. Aside from that avoid rain, but there wasn't much choice in this case. It was either that, or spend another night at my sons house.

 

Rest assured, it will happen again. Troubleshooting in the fail state is the only way to resolution. What DTC codes did you find?

 

Yep, it just did.

My daughter has a cheap code reader in her car. I'll try it tomorrow when she gets home and see if I can find anything. I've got nothing in the DIC, it's dead like everything else.

It's acting a little different now. Sometimes when I insert the key, it seems normal. It dings, DIC lights up, interior lights come one, until I turn the key. I get a few clicks from the starter solenoid, I think, then everything cuts out completely. No lights, windows, locks, radio... Then I'll put the key back in and nothing. I've tried this about a 1/2 dozen times.

I have a gremlin somewhere. I chased several of them in my old 928S, and got fairly good at it. This is a different animal.

 

Not really. It's different car, but the path is still the same. All you need are the service manual schematics, a test light, DMM, and maybe some sort of load for testing.

 

What's a DMM?

My 928 was an '84. What I meant was, there's more computerized stuff in my C5.

 

Digital Multi Meter

 

Ah, I'm not very familiar with it, but I have one.

 

Sounds like you might be well served taking your car to a trusted shop.

 

Easier said than done. I'm in a rural area. There are 2 local-ish shops, not sure I'd call either of them trustworthy, and they're definitely expensive. 1 of them charged me $800 for a serpentine belt a few years ago. I hate to think what they'd charge to chase down a gremlin. There's a small stealership in the small city nearby, and a bigger one in the nearest decent sized city. Decent sized meaning 50k people.

I was convinced I had a bad relay, until it started earlier today.

 

Before you spend money at a Stealership, make sure your battery connections are clean and tight. I would check the negative battery cable where it attaches to the engine. The positive battery cables connect to the starter solenoid and the other positive battery cable attaches to the underhood fuse box where another cable sends power to the passenger footwell area where the second fuse block is located. Ensure those two cable at the underhood fuse block are clean and tight, hope this helps.

 

couple things to check also might be is your Ignition switch and your starter cables at the starter. These cars have grounds every where. Also you might
check to see if there are any Corvette clubs in your area. If you have to take it to a shop,,, make sure they have worked on corvettes and what other vette owners
said,,, good, bad, ect.
Good Luck

 

Thanks!

This will be tomorrows project. Rain & storms again today, and I can't get to much of the passenger side in my garage.

 

Good thoughts.

There's a guy 1/4 mile away, who some friends use for all of their mechanic needs. But for some reason, he will not work on Corvettes. He wouldn't work on my 928, either, but I kind of understood that.

There aren't any clubs nearby, that I know of. There's only about 20k people in my county.

 

OK,, so lets look at some other ways to get you some help.

Any hot rod clubs, local race tracks, drag strips?

Are you the only corvette owner in your area,, because if not, and I saw someone in a corvette I would try to stop him/her and pick

their brain.

Here on the forum there are lots of very, very great folks, from DIY,,,,,to retired GM folks.

Do you have the shop repair manuals? not cheep ever used.


When you put the key in and turn to start the car,,, 1 dose it do anything, maybe clicking sound?

2 does it turn over the Eng, but no start? 3 you said sometimes comes to life, some times not.

Check & clean all your grounds, (body & Eng. block!!!!!! Get a cheep test light/probe kind ...has a clip on one end and a sharp long pointy probe on the other end and

stick it where you might think of,,,,,,,,,,,,and a light from the tester will come on meaning theres power there, so do this when it has power and no power. Make sure the battery has full charge, at12.8 volts, & 13.8 to 14.2 when running. Again look at some of the people who have articles saved from many years of knowledge and experience,,,,from chasing gremlins of there own.. I chased a gremlin for 3 year and 5 truck loads of money.

These hot rods are full of electric stuff that makes them so fun to drive, race, or like some folks,,,,smoke the f***n tires off of them...Not me of course,, read about it. LOL mike v