More starting issues

[JPaul]

So I started having starting issues again. Last time I thought it was either the starter or the battery. The battery definitely needed to be replaced, and after my trip to Moab it's actually charged up all the way now (I really should have put it on a charger before, but oh well). To recap, it's just not turning over at all, and it's not Passlock causing the problem.

I still don't really think it's the starter, but it is a possibility. If it is, it's the solenoid going out on it, but it's one of those things where either it works or it doesn't, it doesn't half work.

I'm starting to wonder if it's my park/neutral switch, since yesterday when it wouldn't start after several tries I put it into neutral and it started right up. The time after that, it wouldn't start and then I released the parking brake and it started right up (I feel like the parking brake pedal banging up might've shook something into position).


Has anyone else run into this issue before? I've got about 97K miles on the truck, so it seems like it *shouldn't* be having this issue, but who knows. I still don't think it's a problem with the starter, though that is of course still a possibility. I can't take it to a shop since it's so intermittent and completely random, though it only seems to happen when it's over 60 degrees out, but even then it's not a common issue during those conditions.

 

[Happy Hummer]

Hmmm.
Temperature related....

Have you tried replacing the ground and positive cable with a new one straight to the engine and associated frame, shell etc.?
I believe Hunner did this back some time ago. He had the cables made with heavy duty ends and quality cable connections.
It's a thought. The starter could have a dead spot or damaged contacts on solenoid.

 

[JPaul]

I have not replaced the cables, but I did replace the battery terminals when I replaced the battery a couple months ago.

It acted up again today, but it didn't matter if it was in park or neutral, or if the parking brake was on or not. It did eventually start though. I think I'm hearing the solenoid clicking at least, but I'm not certain.

Sent from my SM-N910T using Tapatalk

 

[Bruces]

Relay maybe?

 

[JPaul]

That's a very real possibility. My wife's Dodge Charger had issues with starting that turned out to be a bad relay in the fuse block. It started out with it taking a half second to start turning over the engine, and slowly progressed to where you'd turn the key and it'd take a few seconds for the starter to engage, and then it finally stopped working. I think in that case the coil in the relay was starting to wear out and wasn't generating enough magnetic force to fully close the relay or something.

I just pulled up the schematic on Schwartzy's site and I see there is a starter relay. I'll have to pull that and open it up to see if it's going bad. I might just go ahead and replace it with a new one. It certainly won't hurt.

Relay maybe?

 

[JPaul]

Well, I swapped the relay out, and it's still doing it. And it did it this morning when it was quite cold, so it's not really temperature dependant. At this point it's probably the solenoid on the starter having issues. Lucky me. I've already been having to drop several hundred dollars on parts for this thing this month (shocks, ignition coils, driver door window switch, etc). Putting more money into a starter isn't what I had in mind. :no:

 

[CaseyS]

Stick a meter lead to the solenoid terminal and try to start it. You either get voltage or you won't. Divide and conquer from there. Voltage and no start, starter/solenoid related. No voltage, start circuit related.

 

[colo4x4rado]

Had the same issue with my 2005 Colorado. I thought it was the ignition because of how intermittent the issue was. The way I ruled it out was to hot start the starter. Ran a wire from the battery and starter into the cab of the truck. If the key did not start the truck I rubbed the wires together to get it started. Worked this way for about a month until finally rubbing the wires together would not work. Replaced with a new starter and never had a problem since.