Shift to reverse

[jones]

Last night I stopped for some gas and my 05 m6 car shut down fine just like every other time. I started it up and drove again with no problems, but when I stopped and turned it off about 15 minutes later it wouldn't quit giving me the "shift to reverse" warning. Nothing weird happened in the 15 minutes of driving and the car was in reverse at shut down. I tried a few times and the engine would turn off, but it wouldn't recognize it was in reverse so it was stuck in acc mode.

I didn't have internet access at the time so my thought was to disconnect the battery. I figured I'd just hook it back up and be able to start the car again in the morning. Well after a little searching I read that it won't start unless it goes through a full shut down sequence first. I tried it and of course now it won't start with the battery hooked up.

So now I'm out of town and stuck. I plan to make some calls in a couple hours this morning but has anyone ever had this happen? What was the problem? Is there any way for me to get the car started again? Heck I'm even open to guesses given the circumstances.

Anyone got anything?

[c4c5specialist]

HI there,

Double check your battery to make sure you have at least 12.5 volts and 500 CCA.

If that is ok, you might have the switch at the transmission giving you some grief.

Check the battery first.

Allthebest, c4c5

[jones]

Thanks for the response. :D

I am fairly certain that the battery is fully charged as the lights and everything were as bright as always last night. I don't have a volt meter on me to check though.

I assume it is likely the switch on the trans. Do you happen to know if it is a part used on other Chevs or is it specific to the Corvette?

I can phone the dealership in another 1/2 an hour when they open and start working toward getting this fixed. I just hope I don't have to wait for parts to be sent here. I guess I will see soon.

Thanks again.

[c4c5specialist]

HI there,

Look at your digital display on your dash to confirm at least 12.5 volts.

Allthebest, c4c5

[jones]

Well I have BCAA road side assistance so I had it towed in for free and you're right, the battery was just too low to start it. There's some misinformation out there. They said that after I left they boosted it and it started so they could move it around and see the problem. I was suprised that it drained the battery so quickly, but it is good to know that I could actually get it going if I had to.

After looking at it they came to the conclusion that the bcm needs to be replaced. They say that the bcm is not grounding the circuit used for the reverse lights, etc and that is what is causing the problem. I am reading about the bcm now, but wanted to update the thread too. I will post back if it fixes the problem.

Thanks. :D

[c4c5specialist]

HI there,

Ok, but the reverse lights have no bearing on the shut down feature.

So, that being the case, the actual switch is only a feedback to the control modules and has no other function.

Allthebest, c4c5

[jones]

I am not 100% sure that they have diagnosed it correctly. Today they said that the bcm arrived but they couldn't get it to start at all once installed. I was told they put it all back with my old bcm as well and it wouldn't start with it anymore either. They were going over the car's grounds at that time and said they would get right back on it in the morning.

In a way it appears that it is worse off then it was when I first arrived here so I do not think I will spend anymore money on hotels waiting for it to be fixed. If they've made no progress by noon tomorrow I am going to rent a trailer and just tow the car the 300 miles home.

Hopefully someone down there has better luck fixing it.

Do you have any thoughts on it? I have never dealt with a dealership's service area before this.

[c4c5specialist]

Hi there,

The diagnostic trouble codes are the first thing to look at.

The data being sent to the BCM from the remote control door lock receiver would be critical to how it works.

Without the car in front of me, I cant really speculate much more.

Allthebest, c4c5

[NORTY]

Originally Posted by jones

Well I have BCAA road side assistance so I had it towed in for free and you're right, the battery was just too low to start it. There's some misinformation out there. They said that after I left they boosted it and it started so they could move it around and see the problem. I was suprised that it drained the battery so quickly, but it is good to know that I could actually get it going if I had to.

Sounds to me like your battery is telling you it's done. If the battery needs to "be boosted" then it's done. Is this the original battery? Is the car regularly driven? Do yourself a favor and replace the battery with a new one if it's > 2 years old.

BCM won't have any bearing on your problem until we get "lots of steady voltage" to it for an accurate test.

[jones]

I am sure that the battery was just worn down from me trying different things to fix it myself. I would read something, go out there & connect the battery, mess around, and then disconnect it again when it didn't work. It was turning my headlights and everything on every time, so doing that 5 times or so was enough to drain it I guess. The battery is working fine again. Along with the car.

When I went in on Friday I was fully expecting to tow the car home. I walked into the dealership and asked about it and the service girl I'd been dealing with came from the back to talk to me about it. It was nice she'd come in on her day off to help me. Long story short they had just fixed it.

I guess that my bcm did have to be replaced and there was just a mix up when they programmed the new one. I mentioned it was a US car when I dropped it off, but I'm in Canada so they just went ahead and tried programming the bcm for our country. That doesn't work though. They had to start out programing it as a US car and it fired right up. I've read something similiar happened for some guys from Europe.

I've been doing everything to my own vehicles for 19 years, but there's not a lot I can do when it comes to diagnosing this beast. Overall it was an interesting first experience at the dealer's.

Thinking back to when it happened I have a theory that I may have been doing too many things at one time and it overloaded something causing the problem. I don't know how the bcm works, but we were unlocking the doors, rolling up the windows, opening doors, popping the hatch, and I was trying to turn off the engine shifting to reverse all at once or within seconds. I might be way off base, but I think I won't do that again just to be safe.

Thanks for the help and advice guys. You need to set up a donation feature for the site c4/c5specialist. I know I wouldn't mind giving something back. The site is a great resource.