Vette struck by lightning

[MDKyleZ]

See anything you been missing??I didn't know you could cram this much stuff under the seats of a C4!!

I just sent this picture to my brother and he claims the LED keychain flashlight and the golf balls. And my friend AnaMaree swore she left socks in there but I did not find them till the trip to your place. As for the rest of that stuff I just need to clean under there more often.

 

[MDKyleZ]

Found the exhaust leaks too!!

That's exactly where I thought you might find it. I knew I was not nuts. Well, at least I knew I was not hearing things.

 

[G Winter]

As long as Junk has it you could just as well have him detail it.... Carpet , paint ,the whole works... put it on State Farm's bill.
The lightening blistered the paint and blew holes in the carpet you know.
Glenn

 

[MDKyleZ]

As long as Junk has it you could just as well have him detail it.... Carpet , paint ,the whole works... put it on State Farm's bill.
The lightening blistered the paint and blew holes in the carpet you know.
Glenn

Why didn't I think of that???otfl Sounds like a good plan to me.

 

[KANE]

Jesse / Kyle-

Perhaps you should write all of this up as a stand alone piece/article with pictures. I'm sure it would be nice to see exactly what happened to a Vette that was struck by lightning.


The cracks in the welds are likely an example of what happens when a lot of electricity is passed through an exhaust system. It looks like the metal expanded and contracted so quickly that the welds couldn't keep up and therefore created breaks like the ones posted.

Jesse- you may want to take a good look at all the welds on the car- particularly the frame! hnoes

 

[gmjunkie]

Jesse / Kyle-

Perhaps you should write all of this up as a stand alone piece/article with pictures. I'm sure it would be nice to see exactly what happened to a Vette was struck by lightning.


The cracks in the welds are likely an example of what happens when a lot of electricity is passed through an exhaust system. It looks like the metal expanded and contracted so quickly that the welds couldn't keep up and therefore created breaks like the ones posted.

Jesse- you may want to take a good look at all the welds on the car- particularly the frame! hnoes

I'm taking allot of photos,How do you like this ground??:L
The paint around it looks like it boiled!!I don't think it took a direct hit it's more like it encountered St. Elmo's Fire,some things have little carbon trails like you see on Spark Plug Wires and Distributer caps!!eek:eek

 

[bucket]

I've been out here trying to see if I can find the lost button off the DIC!

See anything you been missing??I didn't know you could cram this much stuff under the seats of a C4!!

Found the exhaust leaks too!!

.........
otfl

 

[MDKyleZ]

I'm taking allot of photos,How do you like this ground??:L
The paint around it looks like it boiled!!I don't think it took a direct hit it's more like it encountered St. Elmo's Fire,some things have little carbon trails like you see on Spark Plug Wires and Distributer caps!!eek:eek

Thanks for all the photos; got to love documentation.

Where are you seeing the little carbon trails? On what material?

You've already provided ten times the answers that either one of the first two shops found.

Jesse, you

 

[minifridge1138]

Junk is amazing.
I've talked with him a few times and I've even gotten some parts from him.

I'm almost jealous that you got him to repair your car.
I'm sure you'll get it back and it will be better than the day it left Bowling Green.

Good luck!!

 

[gmjunkie]

Thanks for all the photos; got to love documentation.

Where are you seeing the little carbon trails? On what material?

You've already provided ten times the answers that either one of the first two shops found.

Jesse, you

They probly haven't had to deal with a lightning struck vehicle and didn't know what to look for!!
Heck,I can't see where they even checked 1 ground!Thats the very first thing I'm going to do with electrical problems!!("grounds,Grounds,GROUNDS"!Fact,I preach it!!)
There are some on the frame and exhaust in various places,some are faint and hard to see some you can see purdy easy!! Look around this stainless exhaust clamp right behind the cat,You can tell there was arcing and heat!!The inside of the right frame rail from the front cross member to the upper cowl brace it burnt the paint off the frame between them just below the AC housing!!:W:W:WThat ground I pictured earlier is right beside that brace on top!

 

[MDKyleZ]

They probly haven't had to deal with a lightning struck vehicle and didn't know what to look for!!
Heck,I can't see where they even checked 1 ground!Thats the very first thing I'm going to do with electrical problems!!("grounds,Grounds,GROUNDS"!Fact,I preach it!!)
There are some on the frame and exhaust in various places,some are faint and hard to see some you can see purdy easy!! Look around this stainless exhaust clamp right behind the cat,You can tell there was arcing and heat!!The inside of the right frame rail from the front cross member to the upper cowl brace it burnt the paint off the frame between them just below the AC housing!!:W:W:WThat ground I pictured earlier is right beside that brace on top!

Interesting very very interesting!

Nice detective work Jesse. I'm sure State Farm will be intrigued as well.

 

[G Winter]

Can you say Stop Payment to previous shop ?

Glenn

 

[KANE]

Can you say Stop Payment to previous shop ?

Glenn

Glenn does bring up an interesting point.

;squint:

Perhaps, Kyle, you should stay in contact with your insurance adjuster. They paid a shop or series of shops for supposedly repairing your car. They have some skin in this game in terms of money and contracts. If you can present Jesse's findings in an an organized, logical fashion... you may get some traction with them.

The insurance company doesn't want complaints. More than that, they really don't want shops putting their name on sloppy work- especially if it is one of their "authorized" shops.

 

[MDKyleZ]

Glenn does bring up an interesting point.

;squint:

Perhaps, Kyle, you should stay in contact with your insurance adjuster. They paid a shop or series of shops for supposedly repairing your car. They have some skin in this game in terms of money and contracts. If you can present Jesse's findings in an an organized, logical fashion... you may get some traction with them.

The insurance company doesn't want complaints. More than that, they really don't want shops putting their name on sloppy work- especially if it is one of their "authorized" shops.

I plan on contacting them first thing in the morning, State Farm felt that this may have been the case already and ask that both myself and Jesse notify them if indeed it was.

 

[gmjunkie]

I plan on contacting them first thing in the morning, State Farm felt that this may have been the case already and ask that both myself and Jesse notify them if indeed it was.

I'd wait till I have everything checked out for sure and for certain!!
I can't say for sure what all is wrong! All I have done is Clean and Inspect All grounds in the engine compartment,engine and under the car!Haven't spent any $$$ other than my time,3-4 Heat shrinks and $0.10 worth of solder!! I've ran it through 10 consecutive warm up cycles from stone cold going into closed loop shortly after start up without any codes! It's time to put the wheel houses and side fenders back on and take it for 15-25 mile ride and see if any codes pop up and go from there!!
I want to be able to tell them Exactly what is wrong with the car and what it's going to cost intelligently!Not, Maybe what it might be!:L:L:L

Things I know for sure,besides it had several crappy grounds!!:L:L:L
1.It needs at least the drivers side switch for the courtesy lights and alarm!!(I'd like to replace both and the hatch switch!)
2.I found and repaired a possible short or intermittent short in the Right Front wheel sensor harness!(Car Side) (I never did get a ABS code out of it or have it happen to me,but this could be the cause of the problem that you had!)
3.1 OP sensor was unplugged when it got here,It's the single wire one.I've plugged it back in,but I suspect I'll end up unplugging it to get the fuel pump going to get it started at a later time!!:L:L:L
4.Alternator has possible open diode/s and whines purdy loud at times!
5.Not 1 ground point had been checked,this should have been done 1st thing after pulling codes!!(Especially if you knew it had got Zapped!)
6.Why did they change 1 cat?Was it cracked like the resonator ends?Was it Split?Was it plugged??
7.I can see where the components that were changed in the AC system possibly could have been damaged!

Don't make any waves,till it's known for sure!! I may need to quiz these guys before it's all over,I haven't a clue what all it was doing or codes it was throwing before they worked on it,and they didn't tell you much!! Get the Insurance Co breathing down there neck and they won't tell me Squat if I need it!!

After I drive it and see how it does,I'll have more of a idea!!

 

[MDKyleZ]

I'd wait till I have everything checked out for sure and for certain!!
I can't say for sure what all is wrong! All I have done is Clean and Inspect All grounds in the engine compartment,engine and under the car!Haven't spent any $$$ other than my time,3-4 Heat shrinks and $0.10 worth of solder!! I've ran it through 10 consecutive warm up cycles from stone cold going into closed loop shortly after start up without any codes! It's time to put the wheel houses and side fenders back on and take it for 15-25 mile ride and see if any codes pop up and go from there!!
I want to be able to tell them Exactly what is wrong with the car and what it's going to cost intelligently!Not, Maybe what it might be!:L:L:L

Things I know for sure,besides it had several crappy grounds!!:L:L:L
1.It needs at least the drivers side switch for the courtesy lights and alarm!!(I'd like to replace both and the hatch switch!)
2.I found and repaired a possible short or intermittent short in the Right Front wheel sensor harness!(Car Side) (I never did get a ABS code out of it or have it happen to me,but this could be the cause of the problem that you had!)
3.1 OP sensor was unplugged when it got here,It's the single wire one.I've plugged it back in,but I suspect I'll end up unplugging it to get the fuel pump going to get it started at a later time!!:L:L:L
4.Alternator has possible open diode/s and whines purdy loud at times!
5.Not 1 ground point had been checked,this should have been done 1st thing after pulling codes!!(Especially if you knew it had got Zapped!)
6.Why did they change 1 cat?Was it cracked like the resonator ends?Was it Split?Was it plugged??
7.I can see where the components that were changed in the AC system possibly could have been damaged!

Don't make any waves,till it's known for sure!! I may need to quiz these guys before it's all over,I haven't a clue what all it was doing or codes it was throwing before they worked on it,and they didn't tell you much!! Get the Insurance Co breathing down there neck and they won't tell me Squat if I need it!!

After I drive it and see how it does,I'll have more of a idea!!

I'll wait to hear from you then...

 

[MDKyleZ]

I'd wait till I have everything checked out for sure and for certain!!
I can't say for sure what all is wrong! All I have done is Clean and Inspect All grounds in the engine compartment,engine and under the car!Haven't spent any $$$ other than my time,3-4 Heat shrinks and $0.10 worth of solder!! I've ran it through 10 consecutive warm up cycles from stone cold going into closed loop shortly after start up without any codes! It's time to put the wheel houses and side fenders back on and take it for 15-25 mile ride and see if any codes pop up and go from there!!
I want to be able to tell them Exactly what is wrong with the car and what it's going to cost intelligently!Not, Maybe what it might be!:L:L:L

Things I know for sure,besides it had several crappy grounds!!:L:L:L
1.It needs at least the drivers side switch for the courtesy lights and alarm!!(I'd like to replace both and the hatch switch!)
2.I found and repaired a possible short or intermittent short in the Right Front wheel sensor harness!(Car Side) (I never did get a ABS code out of it or have it happen to me,but this could be the cause of the problem that you had!)
3.1 OP sensor was unplugged when it got here,It's the single wire one.I've plugged it back in,but I suspect I'll end up unplugging it to get the fuel pump going to get it started at a later time!!:L:L:L
4.Alternator has possible open diode/s and whines purdy loud at times!
5.Not 1 ground point had been checked,this should have been done 1st thing after pulling codes!!(Especially if you knew it had got Zapped!)
6.Why did they change 1 cat?Was it cracked like the resonator ends?Was it Split?Was it plugged??
7.I can see where the components that were changed in the AC system possibly could have been damaged!

Don't make any waves,till it's known for sure!! I may need to quiz these guys before it's all over,I haven't a clue what all it was doing or codes it was throwing before they worked on it,and they didn't tell you much!! Get the Insurance Co breathing down there neck and they won't tell me Squat if I need it!!

After I drive it and see how it does,I'll have more of a idea!!

There was an exhaust leak coming from the area of the changed cat after the strike....loud; loud; loud; leak.....as if it was split, it sounded similar to running open headers only very tinny sounding. But the shop never admitted to changing the cat, even when I asked them; nor did they as far as I can tell charge for it. As best I can figure the cat must have been changed at the first shop Harry Green Chevrolet in Clarksburg, WV before 9/3/09 because not even the Adjuster/Estimator from State Farm mentioned it, and I don't think that he looked at the car on a lift till it got to C&O Motors.

 

[gmjunkie]

There was an exhaust leak coming from the area of the changed cat after the strike....loud; loud; loud; leak.....as if it was split, it sounded similar to running open headers only very tinny sounding. But the shop never admitted to changing the cat, even when I asked them; nor did they as far as I can tell charge for it. As best I can figure the cat must have been changed at the first shop Harry Green Chevrolet in Clarksburg, WV before 9/3/09 because not even the Adjuster/Estimator from State Farm mentioned it, and I don't think that he looked at the car on a lift till it got to C&O Motors.

Well I drove the car some today,but didn't have enough time to drive it very far!! (6-8 miles!) Ran Great,so far No Codes,Check Engine or ABS Lights!!:L

 

[MDKyleZ]

Well I drove the car some today,but didn't have enough time to drive it very far!! (6-8 miles!) Ran Great,so far No Codes,Check Engine or ABS Lights!!:L

I'll stay tuned till next time...

 

[gmjunkie]

Damn,She popped some codes this morning driving down to the parts store!!