76Stinger

Two days before Christmas I backed my car off of the carport to make room for the 4-Wheeler we bought as a family Christmas present. I immediately pulled the car back up on the carport. The lights or any other electrical item were not turned on.

On Christmas Eve I went out late to move the car and it was deader than a door nail. Even the interior lights which will normally come on with a low battery are out. Turning the key produces absolutely nothing. I have since checked the battery connections and they seem fine.

Where do I go now? :confused: It seems this :U never ends. If it isn't one thing, it is 5 others. I have boxes of parts to install over the winter and now I can't even get the car to the garage where I was going to do the work. :mad

On a lighter note - today was my last day at work and to celebrate - I didn't even go in :D I am now officially retired. :cheers:

Happy New Year to all of you - even those of you who still have running cars.

STW :seeya
Robert
76Stinger

2ND77

Wish I knew more about your electrical problem....but BIG CONGRATS on your retirement. Was it from the military? I am retired from the Navy myself. Hope you can do it without gettin another job. That I could not do. But anyway....best of luck to you!!

Ron

paso

Congrats on the retirement I think cruzmeisters retired today also:) Sounds like it's dirty battery connections you mentioned they look good but did you actually clean them?? I have been fooled many times with good looking battery connections that are corroded inside. Of coarse if you Boost it you'll know right away since you will be bypassing your battery. Heh! least you have a full time hobby now:) Vette repair extroidonaire:)

76Stinger

Retired from the Navy in 1989 as an AWC(AW). Was up for AWCS but had to go back to sea to get it. Have since worked at several jobs but this was my last. Still have two kids at home ( 12 and 8 ) and intend to spend some quality time with them. Let two older ones get away before I knew they were gone and don't want that to happen again. Too many cruises and too much to do at work has practically made me a stranger. Wife has a decent job and think everything will be OK. May be some hamburger helper nights without the hamburger :) but if I can handle the "honey-do" lists I'm sure my wife will leave out for me to handle each day, I can handle the light meals :)

Robert

7Bob3

Robert, :cheers: on retirement
If there is nothing anywhere, it has to be the ground.

Techno

Your car just beat you to retirement thats all.

I think the door was ajar or something minor like that. A little light bulb can kill the battery in 2 days.

MassVette

Check the neutral safety switch.
:yesnod: :yesnod:

mrvette

76, you need to learn to use a voltmeter, a good one to buy if Fluke, or maybe Sears/Fluke.....Radio Shack as a last resort.....get a digitall one...
and an elementary electrical book at Radio Shack.....it's not a hard as everyone makes it out to be really.....

GENE

Budman68

There is a connector to your starter harness that has a loose conection. It is located up by the distributor. If it is loose, you will get nothing but headlights.
Try that.

76Stinger

Thanks for all the tips and good words. If it warms up a bit today, will try searching out some of your suggestions. One thing might make a good starting point is the fact that many times I have had to "tap" the shift lever up towards Park (even when it was in Park) before I got any response from turning the key. Is that associated with the "Neutral Safety Switch?"

Been using a multimeter and just about every kind of electrical tester other than specialized automotive since I was about 9. Just have no clue as to how to test electrical problems on the car. My dad, the Air Force and the Navy taught me some pretty complicated electronics but we just never got to the chapter on Corvette electrical systems. :)

STW :seeya
Robert
76Stinger

DaveL82

As Budman78 said, there is a connector for the starter wiring and all fusible links to the fuse box. Not sure about your 76, but on my 80 it's on the firewall above the passenger valve cover.

This happened to my 80 (while my wife was using it LOL). Even though it looks like it is plugged together, I found that over the years the terminals inside had eroded away from corrosion and supplying the high current to all the accessories. Because the terminals were so bad, I jumpered around the connector, crimping and soldering the wires together, then covering with heat shrink tubing. The fix worked great! And now when I turn on the AC fan, the fan speed is faster and the rear defroster doesn't cause the voltage on the gauge to drop which were problems from the day I bought the car 17 years ago.

Good luck

dave

76Stinger

Don't know exactly what happened but today went out checked the ground underneath. It seemed sound with no corrosion. Decided to jump it and it fired right up after a few minutes of charging. Will pull the battery out tomorrow and get it charged. Read the posts about trying to charge it by driving and how it really overworks the alternator. Can't afford another expense. Besides - I have no brakes at the moment and can't drive it anywhere anyway.

Thanks to all for your suggestions and hints. :cheers:

STW :seeya
Robert
76Stinger