I'd suggest you recheck all the connections ensuring they are correct including the small black wire to the negative pole. Check this out for details: RedHot gets a battery for her upcoming 4th birthday Also, the battery should have way more than 4 amps. I think you got a bum battery.

 

Thanks, JSvette, that’s an excellent write-up for changing out the battery; I reviewed it before I swapped mine and have checked everything mentioned in the post; I concur with your thoughts on the bum battery and have started communication with the location I got the optima from. I also still think it may be the starter also due to the initial start/die and now just clicking & engine light flashing when trying to get her to turn over. I'll keep running down things and post back what it is when I get it started (hopefully sooner than later).

 

Update: I got the car up in the air today to take a looks at the starter. I had my wife come out to the garage and start the car while I was under it able to speak on the starter in an attempt to get it unstuck. Well, that didn't work so while the car was still clicking I quickly got out from under it and pulled the fuse box top to discover the ECM Relay is the clicking noise I heard. I removed the ECM Relay while it was clicking and the car cranked.. Scared me to death as I wasn't expecting that. Car cranked over about 3 to 4 times and I ask the wife to turn it off.

Now, I'm thankful the car isn't some form of hydro-locked and at least turns over. But, this ECM relay has me puzzled...

Question, what does this ECM relay control? Could the relay be bad? (I'm assuming it's working if it's clicking) Keep in mind, I only changed the bettery due to the original battery going dead.. Also, with the relay in and clicking, I can hear at the rear of the car what I'm assuming is the fuel pump and rear transmission fan running, (from everything else I've read).

I just don't understand why the car will not start just from a battery change.. Also, I've checked the voltage and its around 12.8 at the battery and at the fuse block under the hood.

 

Puzzling indeed. Did you smell any fuel when it cranked? How long has it sat with the dead battery since it was last driven?

 

I've not smelt any fuel while cranking, didn't let it crank very long since the only way it will crank was with the ECM relay removed, and I'm sure it won't start with that removed. The the car sat for about a month while I was working on an old S10 truck in the adjacent garage area. I covered the vet up as there would be possible paint overspray in the garage. I thought the vet was plugged up, but I guess I pulled the plug out (just enough to keep it from charging) while covering up the car. I've had the car since late June, and it only has 4700 miles on it as the previous owner bought it new and obviously didn't drive it. So when the original battery went, I didn't think much about it, tried to charge the old one with no luck, and then just ordered this new optimal DH6, installed it, and now, well, paper weight comes to mind... I've checked every ECM, BCM, and every other fuse, all the fuses (to everything) are good, and I thought, well, maybe the clicking ECM relay is bad, so I went and bought a new one of those and told my wife to say a short prayer on my way back to the garage... The new AC Delco Relay must have been made a little stronger as the clicking seemed louder. = the original relay isn't bad; they're doing what they're meant to, I guess, but why will this car just not start... I've never experienced anything like this... I'm now fearing a tow trip to the Chevrolet dealer as I have no idea how to troubleshoot/fix this.

 

Seems like you've done a great job troubleshooting so hopefully you have a reputable Chevy Dealer that sells a decent volume of corvettes which should mean they also service them and would be more familiar with servicing vs a dealer that doesn't really sell and/or service them. Good Luck and looking forward to see what the gremlins were.

 

Lol! I don't feel like I've done a good job because it still won't start, and it baffles me this is all from a battery changeout. But I also feel like I've done everything an individual could do, given my home garage resources and equipment. Time for a chevy (hopefully Corvette) tech w/ a computer to look deeper into the digital fold, I guess.

Also, with luck like this, what is the best aftermarket insurance everyone has found for these cars because I'm definitely going to look into that after this experience.

 

Chevy dealer bound Thursday; luckily, my hometown dealer sells enough Corvettes that they have a corvette trained tech on staff; I spoke to him while at the dealer, and he gave me some tips, but I had already tried them; he said they could sometimes be Finicky and he's seen minor electrical issues keep them from starting due to the car being aluminum and not being able to produce reasonable electrical grounds, he'll be looking at her Friday or first of next week. I'm interested to see what the cause is. 🙏🏼

 

Well, the car was delivered at the dealer today. Now we wait. It’s scheduled for the Corvette tech to look at it starting tomorrow thru Monday of next week sometime. Also, has some recalls they are going to take care of, and I think I’ll just go ahead and have the oil changed and coolant flushed also if they get it where it will start and run again…🤞🏼

I've already got a feeling from $100.00 tow fee and the $168.00 diagnostic fee after dropping it in the dealer p-lot this ain't gonna be cheap so might as well have it ready to roll once they get done having their way with it..

I'll be glad to know what has caused this a hut down when it's all done, though.

 

Ok, so what happened????????

 

I would chime in though that I never had any luck with optimum batteries I've had so many grief issues with different vehicles from trucks to spor to sports cars everything I know people love the optimist but I'll take a good old EGM any day

 

Agree, no more Optimun batteries for me as well, they have gone down hill over the years, I’m done with them.

 

Don’t know what the cause is yet, just got it dropped off today. Hopefully they will get it looked at and back to starting soon and I’ve always for years had good luck with Optima but this new battery may be bad even though I’ve had it load tested twice and it shows good. I’ll post the diagnoses when it is known.

 

Chevy dealer just called… it’s gonna need a new ECM. $1,200 later it’s gonna be fixed so I told them to change the oil and flush the coolant while they have it.. oh yeah, they’re gonna do all the recall updates as well so there’s that… I’m also glad the new optima DH6 battery is good.. 🤦🏻‍♂️🤷🏻‍♂️

 

Check the silver plates nuts are tight.