Starting problem

[Guenter J.]

I just returned from 6 day road trip to Kentucky Derby and Bowling Green VIP factory tour. Wonderful experience and great tour. 2250 miles and the car ran perfect. 1974 convertible L-48 automatic with 70,000 miles. Averaged 14.5 miles mpg. I tried to start it the other day and totally dead . No turnover . The radio and lites come on strong as well as quartz clock keeping accurate time. . I jump started with portable starter and it started right away. I drove it to charge battery and then tried to restart it immediately. Once again, nothing . I made sure the lites were off, all doors were closed . All fuses were checked. No recent work done. The only way to start the car is with jump starter. Past threads mention starter solenoid. The battery is heavy duty Die Hard and not that old. All battery connections are tight. Any recommendations to solve this ? Guenter

[Tom R.]

Re: Starting problem

Could be a solenoid but could also be the battery. I've had two new factory as-delivered batteries on new Corvettes die (one or more bad cells) within the first six months of ownership. A battery simply dies and will no longer take a charge but may still power low draw devices like a clock. Have you tried to honk the horn? That will usually tell you.

[Patrick H.]

Re: Starting problem

Also check the ground cables. There is the main battery one right under the battery box where it attaches to the frame. A second one attaches from the right side of the motor to the right side of the frame near the motor mount.

Been there, done that with both issues.

[Joe L.]

Re: Starting problem

I just returned from 6 day road trip to Kentucky Derby and Bowling Green VIP factory tour. Wonderful experience and great tour. 2250 miles and the car ran perfect. 1974 convertible L-48 automatic with 70,000 miles. Averaged 14.5 miles mpg. I tried to start it the other day and totally dead . No turnover . The radio and lites come on strong as well as quartz clock keeping accurate time. . I jump started with portable starter and it started right away. I drove it to charge battery and then tried to restart it immediately. Once again, nothing . I made sure the lites were off, all doors were closed . All fuses were checked. No recent work done. The only way to start the car is with jump starter. Past threads mention starter solenoid. The battery is heavy duty Die Hard and not that old. All battery connections are tight. Any recommendations to solve this ? Guenter

Guenter-----


If the car starts with a jump start from another battery the problem almost has to be with the battery in your car. If it were caused by the solenoid or anything else "down stream" of your battery the jump start would be just as ineffective as the battery in your car

[Ken P.]

Re: Starting problem

Also check the ground cables. There is the main battery one right under the battery box where it attaches to the frame. A second one attaches from the right side of the motor to the right side of the frame near the motor mount.

Been there, done that with both issues.

And don't just check for tightness. Take them off, clean the frame and the terminal ten reattach.

[Paul J.]

Re: Starting problem

Guenter, Joe is correct. My guess is your battery either has a bad cell, or it's not charging. Electrical things like your lights, clock, etc. need volts, and your battery probably shows 12 volts, but drive motors like your starter need amps, and your battery probably does'nt have a lot of these. This is caused either by failure of the battery, or a bad voltage regulator.

Paul

P.S. If your battery is not that old, Sears will probably pro rate it.

[Guenter J.]

Re: Starting problem

Thanks for all your advice. Replaced the battery and so far , the engine turns over without any issue. Guenter