Non starter.

[Andy J]

Went to collect my 96 from its winter sleep today and it won't start. Apparently they had it running and drove it friday to make sure all was OK. This morning it just cranks but won't fire.
I brimmed the tank with fuel before storage but today it's showing no bars and the reserve indicator. Odd. I know these are prone to killing fuel pumps for fun but why would it show no fuel remaining?
It had a misfire last summer so had a new coil and plugs which cured it.
Any ideas where to start?

 

[Roscobbc]

Someone syphoned fuel.....?

 

[Andy J]

Highly unlikely as it was being looked after by a classic Porsche specialist in a building with cctv. There are about a dozen cars there. It's my 3rd winter with them and they've done work on the car before so I trust them.

 

[Steven Smith]

Dip fuel tank, has it still got fuel ?
Is it turning over ?
Turn ignition on but don't start, does the pump prime ?

 

[teamzr1]

1. Test battery being at least 12.5 volts and higher than 11.5 volts when cranking
2. Disconnect one side of battery for a few seconds to see if the ECM and CCM controllers had gotten into a weird state
3. Using a fuel pressure test gauge connected to the test port on fuel rail to see if, with key on, shows around 43 PSI
4. That test valve on fuel rail with key on, push in the spring-loaded internal part and see if fuel sprays out

 

[Andy J]

Well I had a mail from the guys who have the car and apparently after a few hours on a charger it started! I didn't ask if the fuel gauge was showing fuel but I have asked them to keep it on charge overnight to rule out the battery being low. It was cranking fine with a jump pack though this morning. Odd. Not sure if the fuel gauge is an indicator of something or just a red herring. It's booked in to my preferred American specialist in a fortnight for a post storage check over and to have a new exhaust fitted so as long as I can get it over to him I'm confident it will be sorted. The place where it is now are a classic Porsche place so while their mechanics are good they don't know Corvettes like my guy does.

 

[Andy J]

Went and collected the car today, it started fine and drove real nice. It's really strange, there was no fuel gauge yesterday but it's all there doing its thing today. So why didn't I have it yesterday? The fuel pump and gauge run on the same loom I believe? So why was no power going to the tank yet a few hours later all was fine. Answers on a postcard please!

 

[teamzr1]

As I mentioned, the controllers do not work correctly when with the voltage drop to the controllers is less than like low 12 volts
On cold startup, drops to like low 10 volts

The electronics just cannot function with that low voltage and why if vehicle is not used much is a must to
have a battery tender plugged in to maintain closer to 12.7 volts

Also, a must is to do battery load tests,
a tester is very cheap and would inform that voltage is OK but has weak or bad cell(s)

 

[Andy J]

I do wonder if they hadn't kept the battery on a tender like they said they would. It also has a battery isolator, I do wonder if they isolated the battery then connected to the neutral cable and not the terminal! I asked them to put it on charge overnight.
It drove and idled lovely today. I drove it for about 30 mins so it got nice and hot to burn of any condensation in the engine. I've put it on a solar charger for now. It won't charge the battery but it's good at keeping it from discharging. I'm going to give it a few days then put it on my battery tender for 24hrs-48hrs and then the battery should be as good as possible.
It's booked in next week for a few bits so I will get him to check the battery and if it's anything below perfect I will get a new one. I see it's 550CCA, ive seen 650CCA and 700CCA batteries, is it worth getting a better CCA battery?

 

[teamzr1]

If they claim they kept the battery on a charger, if they did, it might have cooked the battery
Else they did not maintain the battery level for no reason when you got it back that controllers could not work as designed

Being most vehicle batteries come from China are crap and who knows how long sat unused before bought that common
for cells in a battery degrade and never fully charge up again

Reason to own a battery load/charge tester, can be bought like this one I have tested is $50 US and does load, charge and crank tests

Amazon.com

Also, want to remotely monitor the state and life of a battery
I have been testing this for close to a year now
Small module hooks up to battery and then a remote monitor via wireless allows it to be like 30 plus feet away
from vehicle and it reports state of charge, battery case temp, voltage level
The monitor is solar charged or can be hooked up to a USB charger
Now do not even have to go to vehicle, to see how well or poor state the battery is in and know to get a charger, or tender hooked up



Cheap like $35

Amazon.com

CCA or ability to crank engine is nice to have a bit stronger one than what OEM had but has no meaning of it will last any longer
that what OEM has