grumpyvette
Well-known member
vettes in general can make you crazy at times
my Brother-IN-law had his 1974 BBC 4 speed vette over for some minor tune-up work, I needed to move the car to get access to a welder so I jump in and fire it up and back it out of the garage, move the welder and jump back in the 1974 BBC vette to pull it back into the garage, it doesn,t even click , the headlights won,t turn on, the dash is totally dead, NOTHING! when you turn the ignition key...NADA! ZIP! .now less than 4 minutes earlier it fired right up?????
I figure the battery terminal must be loose, I remove and clean both terminals, replace them NADA! ZIP! out comes the volt meter, batterys ok, marginal at 12 volts but ok, (the vette was sitting for a couple weeks without running, so the batterys low charge, but it did fire right up a couple minutes earlier), I check the voltage at the starter,NADA! ZIP!, I set the VOM meter to OHMS and check the readings between the battery and the cables in the rear battery compartment, they read fine, yet theres no voltage at the starter??? I get the car up on the lift and the problem gets way clearer, both battery cables under the car are old, lengths of cracked, plastic swollen powdered green and white crud that used to be copper cable, ...OH WELL, I order all new cables....but I find it funny that it works flawlessly for over a year hes owned the vette, then just dies with no warning or symtoms, you would think it would get hard to start or some symtom?? yeah, ITS NOT MY VETTE, or being under the car I would have noticed the cables condition LONG before that point, and my Brother-IN-law who bought the car last year , sight un seen on EBAY, thinks Im the local repair center, (I suppose with some logic) and it looks like the previous owner thought maintinance is something you do when something breaks
, but eliminating the potential problem sources , in a logical sequence and use of a meter or other diagnostic equipment can usually isolate the problem quickly
my Brother-IN-law had his 1974 BBC 4 speed vette over for some minor tune-up work, I needed to move the car to get access to a welder so I jump in and fire it up and back it out of the garage, move the welder and jump back in the 1974 BBC vette to pull it back into the garage, it doesn,t even click , the headlights won,t turn on, the dash is totally dead, NOTHING! when you turn the ignition key...NADA! ZIP! .now less than 4 minutes earlier it fired right up?????
I figure the battery terminal must be loose, I remove and clean both terminals, replace them NADA! ZIP! out comes the volt meter, batterys ok, marginal at 12 volts but ok, (the vette was sitting for a couple weeks without running, so the batterys low charge, but it did fire right up a couple minutes earlier), I check the voltage at the starter,NADA! ZIP!, I set the VOM meter to OHMS and check the readings between the battery and the cables in the rear battery compartment, they read fine, yet theres no voltage at the starter??? I get the car up on the lift and the problem gets way clearer, both battery cables under the car are old, lengths of cracked, plastic swollen powdered green and white crud that used to be copper cable, ...OH WELL, I order all new cables....but I find it funny that it works flawlessly for over a year hes owned the vette, then just dies with no warning or symtoms, you would think it would get hard to start or some symtom?? yeah, ITS NOT MY VETTE, or being under the car I would have noticed the cables condition LONG before that point, and my Brother-IN-law who bought the car last year , sight un seen on EBAY, thinks Im the local repair center, (I suppose with some logic) and it looks like the previous owner thought maintinance is something you do when something breaks
, but eliminating the potential problem sources , in a logical sequence and use of a meter or other diagnostic equipment can usually isolate the problem quickly
It is a love-hate relationship at times; and I do get frustrated when a simple 1 hour project turns into a marathon time consuming 3 day mechanical challenge. It is part of being a C3 owner, :cool . This forum makes it all alot easier and more enjoyable!
