my first vette problem

[my crisis cure]

As luck would have it,. the one day I want to come home from work, and go (very quickly) burn some fuel on the parkway. I have my first problem with my 2001 C5. Quick details are as follows. Up till now , I've had no, absolutely none, problems starting until today. I get in, insert the key, wait a second, (as I always do to watch the gauges cycle through). turn to start, and CLICK. ..:confused. WTH????.... Gauges drop out, interior lights dim, brighten back, relays click and whir, and I sit stunned for just a moment. Ok, , just a loose connection on the battery, Get out, pull the hood, check the cables, seem okay, no corrosion, the terminals seem tight. Torqued em just a little, just in case. Underhood light's nice and bright. I hit the lock/unlock buttons on the keyfob, and again lights drop out. Pulled out the battery load tester, disconnected the battery. load tested it. Static voltage at 13+_. holds at 11.5 at full load for 15 seconds. Reconnected battery after about 5 mins and try it again. Same results Past experience would dictate a loose connection somewheres, but nothing that I can see from under the hood. As I certainly know better than to just start yanking on wires,. I hope someone can possibly give me some direction in which to proceed. Many thanks for the help. Chris

 

[killain]

As luck would have it,. the one day I want to come home from work, and go (very quickly) burn some fuel on the parkway. I have my first problem with my 2001 C5. Quick details are as follows. Up till now , I've had no, absolutely none, problems starting until today. I get in, insert the key, wait a second, (as I always do to watch the gauges cycle through). turn to start, and CLICK. ..:confused. WTH????.... Gauges drop out, interior lights dim, brighten back, relays click and whir, and I sit stunned for just a moment. Ok, , just a loose connection on the battery, Get out, pull the hood, check the cables, seem okay, no corrosion, the terminals seem tight. Torqued em just a little, just in case. Underhood light's nice and bright. I hit the lock/unlock buttons on the keyfob, and again lights drop out. Pulled out the battery load tester, disconnected the battery. load tested it. Static voltage at 13+_. holds at 11.5 at full load for 15 seconds. Reconnected battery after about 5 mins and try it again. Same results Past experience would dictate a loose connection somewheres, but nothing that I can see from under the hood. As I certainly know better than to just start yanking on wires,. I hope someone can possibly give me some direction in which to proceed. Many thanks for the help. Chris

OK, I'd say pull the battery and have it tested and or replace it and more important, find out if your ground cable is solidly connected to the Chassis !

 

[Mr. Lucky]

If your battery tests okay, I'd say it's a starter problem or the battery cable going to the starter. GL!

 

[jdeatsch]

also, check the grounds under the hood where they bolt to the frame.

Please consider supporting this great resource.

Jim

 

[my crisis cure]

Thanks for the advice so far. Tonites plan is to disconnect the battery and put it on the deep cycle charge. I checked the positive leads to the fuse relay center. All good. I was only able to check the grounding point for the small gauge negative wire located under the relay center. Tight as well. If someone can direct me to the connection point for the main ground lead, I'll be checking that as soon as I get home from work. Again. much appreciation guy,s. Thanks. Chris

 

[c5y2k]

Is this the original battery from 01?

 

[zagger]

There are several ground points on a C5. I'm at work and don't have the info to post, it's the several wires in the plug that is grounded to the frame that can cause grounding problem which can manifest into the problems you are having. Do a search and you will find lots of pictures.

 

[njlouc]

I too had the same problem and it freaked me out!!
My 2000 has ~10kmiles. the Interstate batt is ~3yrs old.
About 3 months ago, I went to start it and the starter relay clicked but no action. Sounded like a dead battery. I checked the headlights and other electricals and they were good. Then i had a thought that it may be a security issue. So I got out, locked the doors got in and started all over again. It started!! Never a problem since. its like a computer reboot ... go figure.
So here's where we may have too much information. I have been watching the batt and I often check the batt volts on the DIC. It fluctuates at times between ~13+ to ~14+. I thought it should be always steady but i guess it does fluctuate.

 

[my crisis cure]

Thanks one and all for the responses. A happy C5 owner once more with an update. Having left the battery on slow charge overnite, I pulled it from the vehicle to load test it once more. It showed 13+_ volts again at rest, but when loaded, went straight to 2 volts!!!!!!!! Checked the clamps and connections again with the same results. The battery was NAPA Legend series, only 14 months old. A quick call to my local store produced a new one at no charge. Installed it and yay!!! Vette smiles all around! As yet , I have not figured out why I was getting good, but questionable readings yesterday, but what appears to be a dead short in it today. No matter, it cranks, and thanks to you good people, the frustration factor was kept to a minimum. My appreciation as always......... Chris

 

[njlouc]

Chris - Good news that you found the real problem!!
BUT - what is the problem here?? So many of you CACers seem to be having major battery defects. Even the better ones that are supposed to be free of all that are failing at a pretty good rate. I guess technology is not so good here ... OR is it that the Chinese are actually removing lead?????

 

[mrm1149]

also, check the grounds under the hood where they bolt to the frame.

Please consider supporting this great resource.

Jim

I agree.....the knowledge in here is worth waaaaaay more than the supporting member fee.