C5 Not Starting

[99C5Coupe]

Hi everyone,

I went to leave work this afternoon and my C5 would not turnover. It is a 99 6 speed coupe. It felt kind of like the key travel was restricted a bit like the key wouldn't turn around all the way to start the car. In the on position the radio came on so it couldn't have been the battery. The car wasn't even attempting to turnover. I turned the key and got nothing?

In the past week I have gotten the turnoff key and wait 10 seconds message 3 times. Once I got the service column message. Thankfully all three times the column eventually came unlocked after cycling the key on and off a few times.

Car also finally started this afternoon after I went back into the office to see if someone could take me home.

All of this happening within a week has me quite concerned that the car is going to stand me somewhere. With my luck it will strand me at the autocross I was planning on taking it to in a couple of weeks.

My question is could the column lock issue be connected with the car not wanting to turnover? If not what would cause this?

I looked here on the website and did notice that my VIN falls in the recall for the column lock. I am however the second owner of the car and bought it from a dealership so I have no idea if the recall work was done or not. Is there a way I can find out?

Thanks in advance for your help

Chris

 

[bob kissinger]

Hi Chris. I was in the same boat as you having purchased a 99 coupe second-hand (from a Corvette specialty dealer). I registered the car at www.mygmlink.com to get my name attached to the VIN number. Once registered the GM history report showed no open recalls, so I sent them an E-mail to see if they had any information on the recall. I got an e-mail back with the detail that the original owner has gotten (and completed) the column-lock recall. As I researched the GM "fix", I found out that they in fact removed the locking plate completely. (I verified this as my steering wheel will turn when the car is off (key out and completely powered down). This seems to validate the information given to me by GM. I suppose they could even give you any service records on the car if you asked!

PS - it sure sounds like you are heading for a column lock-up.

 

[c4c5specialist]

HI there,
You might want to check the lock cylinder itself. If the contacts are worn, or the key is worn, this would cause both conditions to occur.
I would start there first.
Allthebest, c4c5