Starting Troubles??

[Jelly]

Here's what happen...

Truck starts up fine earlier today (cold start)...just running into town so I can pick up some parts.

Anyways, I shut the truck off to go inside and after coming back out, truck will not start. Lights weren't left on or anything like that...the darn thing just will not start! It won't even try to start either...absolutely nothing.

After receiving a jump-start though, it fired right up.

Fearing that my battery was just about gone, I went ahead and purchased a new one.

Just to check though, after sitting for a few hours, I just wanted to see if it would fire up before I installed the new battery.

Well, it most certainly did!

What's going on here? Could it be the battery?

FYI, the same thing also happened a few months ago. Shut truck off, went inside, and came back out maybe five minutes later. Truck was deader than a doornail...wouldn't even turn over.

After getting a jump, truck ran fine and has ran fine for the past few months up until this morning.

Any ideas?

Thanks,

Jelly.

 

[MAJA]

It sounds as if your starter is getting too hot, with the close tolerances inside at the armature, binding due to thermal expansion. The extra amps from the jump start overcame this. Do you have headers on this truck? Or missing heat shields around the starter, if any? Either way, it sounds as if a new starter is in your future, as the old is binding in some way when hot.

 

[Whimsey]

While I'm a Ford guy

, I have plenty of friends that own GM's. And over the years the 60's on up GM starters seemed to have "problems" with "hot" starting. It was quite common. I'd say a new starter is in your future very soon, unless you like to push

.

Whimsey

 

[SteveD2]

Is this an automatic? I don't know about your truck, but my Jeep has a switch in the shifter to only allow it to start in neutral or park. This switch commonly goes bad and won't let the starter turn. I had to wire a sperate switch around mine after getting stuck at the gas station a few times...

 

[greasezerk2]

Could be a bad ground connection. Its possible your solenoid is going out too.

 

[darryld13]

Start with the easy and cheap stuff first, mainly battery and electrical circuitry condition. Make sure your clamps are on the posts securely. An intermittent "nothing happens" situation is possibly a poor connection at the battery temporarily fixed by your fiddling with the clamps for the jump starts. Check if the store you bought the battery from offers free testing. Do you remember hearing your radio, your fuel pump or other start up related noise as you turned the key? If not, try checking the checking the condition of your battery posts, cables and clamps and make sure no corrosion or looseness is present. Verify that the auto tranny neutral switch (clutch starter interlock switch for manual tranny) doesn't need adjusting. In the past, moving an auto tranny selector from P to N has let me start the car because the shifter and switch were not adjusted properly. I've even had the ignition switch itself work loose and fail to make proper connections. Good luck!

 

[Amkeer]

Sounds like a bad alternator to me. You will know soon since it will kill your new battery if you don't get it checked. If you are able to you can replace the brush and contacts.

Daily Drives:
-2003 Toyota Tacoma PreRunner XtraCab, 2.7 Liter , Mobil1 Synthetic SS 5W-30.
ODO 8800 Miles.
-1995 Toyota 4-Runner 3.0 V6, Mobil1 Synthetic SS 10W-30.
ODO 90500 Miles.
http://community.webshots.com/user/amkeer

 

[crashz]

Having two 4.3's in the family (brother's 89 blazer and father's 89 C1500) I can attest that the starters are very prone to heat soak. The first thing most people do is toss the heat sheild. Bad idea. The starters will only live for about a year later. A hot starter draws more power than a cool one. And one subject to heat soak will draw more and more power as time goes on.

As darryl said, start with the small stuff. Check and clean your battery terminals and starter connections. Is it the original starter? Do you have the heat sheild on it? If not, try to fab up a sheild or buy one at the junkyard. Most likely you will be looking at a replacing the starter at this point, but maybe this will just pan out as a loose or corroded connection. Good Luck!

 

[theguru]

Sounds like the starter/ solenoid. Get an auto-electrician to check it out.

Had a similar problem. Would start fine. Then occasionally all the lights etc would work but the starter did nothing - Like it wasnt even connected. Which is exactly what was happening. The poles had worn off in the starter motor. Usually it would stop on a good one, but sometimes the dude ones, therefore no go.

 

[seotaji]

i know with my car the contacts on the starter corrode giving the same symptoms as you describe.

 

[cousincletus]

Had the same problem and it was a bad starter. Started fine when cold but when the truck warmed up and I parked it for a few minutes, it wouldn't do anything. Get a starter w/lifetime replacement guarantee.

 

[Gary Allan]

I'd tend to reject the starter issues. This doesn't even attempt to crank. That is, it's not a situation of drawing too much current ..it's drawing no current at all.

You may have a shorted battery. Rare ..but oddly enough, on one vehicle, I had three. You would have absolutely NO PROBLEM whatsoever ..and then wham ..nothing ..fiddle with it for a 1/2 hour (get a jump, etc.) and it would return to full service ..until the next time.

darryld13 is on the proper path, IMHO, start with the simple and cheap. Dirty connections at the battery are the most likely cause (by no means the only one) of this. A battery or starter typically isn't going to give you 100% service and just fail catostrophically (except in my aforementioned situation which isn't typical).

Now if this was a situation where it just wouldn't "crank" when hot ..but all other electrical issues with the car were normal (radio, dash, etc.) but would start when allowed to cool ..then I'd look at the connections at the starter ...or some localized hot spot that causes an open in the starting circuit.

 

[theguru]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Gary Allan:

A battery or starter typically isn't going to give you 100% service and just fail catostrophically (except in my aforementioned situation which isn't typical).

---

I've had battery, starter and Alternator do exactly that (separately). Work 100% then suddenly die.

Jelly, does the rest of your electricals work when the vehicle wont start?

 

[Gary Allan]

quote:

---

I've had battery, starter and Alternator do exactly that (separately). Work 100% then suddenly die.

---

An alt ..sure..most of the parts in them are subject to catostophic failure. You may get a bad diode or two ..but typically ..especially with integrated regulators ..they either work or they don't. Not too much "half way" about them.

Batteries..usually give good warning before being 100% toast ..same with starters. They rarely leave you sitting (as in you need a jump ..or a bump to the solenoid)with absolutely no warning symptoms and allow continued service until replacement can be arranged.

Can it happen ..sure ..but not likely. How likely was it for me to have 3 batteries short in one vehicle ..and then NOT have that occur for the rest of the life of the car (added over 100,000 miles)???

Naturally you could be referring to Eurotrash or Asian "fine junque"..my experience has primarily been with domestic iron.

Ah ..I just caught your location ..so I guess that would probably be correct...

[ June 20, 2004, 12:33 AM: Message edited by: Gary Allan ]

 

[theguru]

Nope,

GMH vehicle.