What tha ???? Car has mind of its own!!

[Derrick]

ad Ok listen up fellas....here's what happened to me on Friday.

I decided to take the corvette to work which is roughly 10 miles away. I drove all the way there and noticed I needed gas, so I pulled into the gas station directly across the street from work. I turned off the car, filled it up with gas and then my Viper alarm starts making a muffled noise like it was trying to go off but it didn't have enough power. I get back in the car, put the key in the igition and try to start it.....but nothing happens, no clicks, no turnover of the engine...nothing. In fact the car didn't even have power when the key was in the accessory position. I even tried the headlights and they were totally dead.

My first thought was the battery was dead. So I had a guy try to jump the vette (battery to battery). That didn't work. The engine didn't respond at all!

My next thought was the alarm was messing something up....so I disconnected it and tried to start the car....again with no luck (absolutely no power).

Then I start checking fuses and they are all good. Another guy asks if I need help, so we tried jumping the car from the remote solenoid I installed under the hood. It worked!! I drove all the way home, parked the car. Turned off the ignition and tried to start it up again with no luck.....totally dead again.

The car sat there the rest of the day and then at around midnight I got a knock on my door and it was the neighbor. She said my lights on the corvette were left on. Went outside and sure enough. All the corvette's lights, interior and exterior were on...I tried cranking and still nothing.

Next morning I pulled the ignition switch to find that the end had broken off and the spring was poking out the end. Replaced the ignition switch and everything worked fine.

My question is.... is there another electrical issue that still needs to be looked at? When I tried the lights at the gas station they should've turned on regardless of whether the key was in the ignition or not right?

(The car has a new tumbler, new ignition switch, all the fuses are good, new battery, new starter and new remote solenoid .)

Any thoughts would be appreciated!!

 

[SIXFOOTER]

So I guess the basic question is Does Everything work? If so, then no, no more tests to do.

 

[Derrick]

So I guess the basic question is Does Everything work? If so, then no, no more tests to do.

Everything works right now........I'm just confused as to why the lights on the car had power running to them after the car sat for a few hours.

Does all power run through the ignition switch? If so, then it would make a little more sense....but I didn't think power to the lights had anything to do with the switch.

 

[Derrick]

Here's a pic of the switch I replaced.

 

[redvett]

Check the ground cable from the battery to the frame. EZ way is to use a jumper cable from battery to a engine grounded part. Its most likely the ground cable at the crossmember under the car.

 

[Derrick]

Check the ground cable from the battery to the frame. EZ way is to use a jumper cable from battery to a engine grounded part. Its most likely the ground cable at the crossmember under the car.

I checked the ground cable and it's very secure on the frame. It actually has a lot of rust in that area though. I guess it'd make sense to disconnect the ground and make sure rust hasn't formed inbetween the cable and the frame.

I'll clean up that connection later today. Any other thoughts?

 

[redvett]

It might be the terminal at the frame & the cable. Try the jumper cable trick first.

 

[red70vette]

With all the changes made to the electrical system it could be anything. Could be the viper alarm, the remote seleniod, or your aftermarket sound system. Who installed them? Did they know what they were doing? What is the quality of the installation? Has Bubba been in there?

The electrical systems on these cars are challenging because the cars are fiberglass and you can only get a good ground in certain places. As a result of this several systems are tied to the same ground. If someone tapped into these grounds they may have compromised the connection causing and intermitttent ground.

From your explaination it sounds like a ground problem. Battery is good, systems operate and then stop operating without reason, no power at times, then power when you don't request it. I would get a wiring diagram or an assembly manual and track all the grounds. Check them for integrity and then follow them back looking for connections which have been compromised.

 

[Derrick]

UPDATE:

My wife and I took the car out for a 15 mile ride and on the way back we stopped at an intersection and the car looses all power. I had to jump out and push it to the nearest parking lot.

Same problem....totally lost all power, no lights, no nothing.

I checked the battery ground to the frame, the starter connections etc. and finally found that a power wire on the engine bay wiring harness burned in half. The failed wire happened about one inch from firewall where it plugs into the main harness. I rigged it up to get me back to our place and spliced the wire back together the next day.

I think that portion of the wire is a fuseable link, but I speculate that the faulty ignition switch from before could have been the problem.....it just didn't burn the link completly through.

 

[raybies]

Ever consider a dead short in the starter?
God knows I've come across quite a few in my time.
A dead short doesn't stop the starter from working but it will allow power to flow from the battery to ground without being noticed or causing any damage. Hook a meter up to it and see if theres any significant voltage draw when the car is just sitting there turned off. If you dont have a meter take it to any reputable station and they can put the amp probe on it and tell you.