vettes in general can make you crazy at times

grumpyvette · 09-18-07, 10:10 AM

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

Rawj · 09-18-07, 04:47 PM

Similar problem happened to me a few weeks ago. Car was running just fine till it died on me with no advanced notice. Thank God, I had just pulled into the garage coming back from a lenghty ride. Just like you, the battery was fully charged but with no power going anywhere else. To make a long story short, it ended up being a corroded & broken fusible link on the starter.

I agree,these cars can drive you nuts at times.

muddywaters · 09-18-07, 05:01 PM

Most cars that are 33 years old have already been recycled............

lone73 · 10-06-07, 10:52 AM

I believe everyone here that works on their own car deals with that. I consider it part of what makes an old vette owner (owner of an old vette that is), unique among car enthusiasts in general. Most of the supposed "car guys" I know at work can barely change their own oil. I say enjoy the challenges, its what makes a true corvette guy.
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George Black · 10-07-07, 12:01 AM

[quote=lone73;850256]I believe everyone here that works on their own car deals with that. I consider it part of what makes an old vette owner (owner of an old vette that is), unique among car enthusiasts in general. Most of the supposed "car guys" I know at work can barely change their own oil. I say enjoy the challenges, its what makes a true corvette guy.
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I agree.

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,

. This forum makes it all alot easier and more enjoyable!

DarkShark · 10-07-07, 05:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lone73

I believe everyone here that works on their own car deals with that. I consider it part of what makes an old vette owner (owner of an old vette that is), unique among car enthusiasts in general. Most of the supposed "car guys" I know at work can barely change their own oil. I say enjoy the challenges, its what makes a true corvette guy.
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Nicely put!

Every once in a while, I make a stop at a parts store on the way home from work. I have a "white collar" job and so I wear suits to work.

About a month ago, I was in a parts store and two guys in their 50s walked in with some filthy GM TBI injectors. I could see they were trying to clean and rebuild a two barrel TBI unit and it wasn't the first time they've tried to put it back together. I overheard the two men say they hoped a rebuild would clean up the way the car was running at an idle. The 20 year-old clerk at Auto Zone was unable to give them any real advice. So I offered a little advice and said not to forget the IAC passage as carbon can cause it to get stuck and ruin the idle quality.

Well, one of the guys looked at me like I was crazy. The other said "You look too clean; your hands are too clean and the suit- you can't know anything about what you are talking about."

I laughed and said "Don't let the suit fool you. That Corvette you parked next to outside- yeah, thats mine. I do all my own work- such as the polished and ported TPI on under the hood, side exhaust, and interior. I've been working on old Corvettes since I was a teenager."

The two guys looked at each other and then at me as if to say "Really?". Then they asked me a few more questions about what to look for with TBI. Then, they thanked me as I left. They said thanks because they hadn't even thought about setting the base timing or adjusting the IAC after they cleaned the TBI.