finally got stumped...

[knightlife]

okey dokey... as you all know I usually try and help out when your trucks break down and give advice on what could be wrong... well, turns out, the table is turned lol...

here goes, went to start my truck today prior to PT (wound up having to run there and was late). everytime I turn the key to the on position, everything turns on like normal. When I go to turn the motor over tho, kills all electrical power.

1.)heres what I've found, battery ground is proper from the block.
2.)all wires running to the starter are in good condition, none frayed, none burnt
3.)starter clicks as tho its about to start the motor, right before all electrical power is killed.


any ideas? spose a massive re-wire is due? or am I just over-reacting like always?


thanks in advance for any feedback


Kru

[old Rusty C10]

i had a impala cab do that years back and it turned out it was a faulty ignition switch

[1Ton]

Hows the battery?

[OJOE]

re check battery connections. if they are good, check ground wire to block and the hot wire at starter. has to be one of these. good luck

[Jonboy]

Is the ground strap from the cab to engine still connected?

[spudz]

either bad battery connection, bad ground, dead battery, or bad switch...

[MylilBowTie]

Are you sure the wires are good. Corrosion can wick down the copper wire strands and look fine but are not conducting well.

[xtreme80]

My educated guess would be that it's either a bad battery or a bad connection right at the battery. GM uses the stupid side post batteries, and they don't make a great connection anyways, but they do go bad and get corroded.

I would start with the wiring at the battery, or the battery most likely has an internal short.

[Duro5341]

Have the battery load tested........me thinks you have a shorted cell, or there is no reserve to start the motor........that starter probably draws 350 amp on initial start up

Duro

[Russell]

My GMC used to do that, go wiggle the negative battery terminal and I bet it comes back

[Zoomad75]

I'm betting cable. I had that happen to mine...Then I saw smoke from the cable end. The cheesy bolt on cable end had enough. There was corrosion in the cable and that combined with the cheesy bolt on end provided enough resistance to actually melt the lead on the cable end.

Had to call the wife to run to the parts store and get me a new negative cable.

[knightlife]

well. I fixed it! I swapped a new ignition switch into it, that didnt work, same problem... so I put a new engine to cab grounding strap on, still no go... new negative battery cable and life was back to perfect...


thanx for the hella fast responses all... gave other venues to look at.


this is my chevy family, and I love it!

[piecesparts]

In the start position EVERYTHING but the starter and ignition wire to the coil are de-energized. That is a planned thing.... The problem you have, may be in your solenoid or the ignition switch

[old Rusty C10]

glad ya got it going again and it was a relatively simple fix

[Ivan D.]

Originally Posted by Duro5341

Have the battery load tested........me thinks you have a shorted cell, or there is no reserve to start the motor........that starter probably draws 350 amp on initial start up

Not the case if you have a big battery - the summer of 2006 I lost a cell in the 1000CCA monster in my Lincoln, drove it like that for near half an year, never ever had a problem firing up, even during cold. Ended up replacing it cause I got a good deal on a new Motorcraft battery, also with crazy-high CCAs and also a 4-year warranty. Lincoln has a 302 engine in it, so just as hard to run over as the SBC. Lesson learned - always get the largest fattest most heavy duty battery that can fit in your vehicle