wogamax

Same boat 2003 5.3ltr. No click, intermittent starting problem. Mine happens, so far, only when <10 degrees. Lights fine, apparently good 12v to cabin, no pulse. Stranded twice, which is a big pain when it is that cold outside. Battery replaced last winter. Very seldom used truck, but trickle charged. It warmed up. Not a problem until 'Boston Blizzard of '15'. Then, during the snap, on another 5F morning, no start. Today 37F, it starts. That it fails hours after long'ish ~20mile recharge drives kind of rules out the battery.

Plan is to run the hot 12v, line from the starter + terminal, and at least have Imposter 71's short term fix until either that works, or doesn't, on the very few <10F mornings we see each year. What confuses me is it sounds like there should be a click from the starter relay, if the starter is bad, and it may be happening, but we're just not hearing it. Otherwise, I get that I should just put a volt meter in the truck, and whip it out if it doesn't start, so I can verify 12v is getting to the solenoid. Actually, should probably just run two wires, one from solenoid, for testing, one from starter (~10 gauge), for starting. Both to come up into the engine bay, where testing/starting become a lot easier.

I'm seeing $254, from GM Parts.com
gmpartsdirect.com: Alternate GM Catalog

That's a little rich, if you don't know it is what's wrong. The relay shouldn't be stuck, but the first time the starter button works, but the ignition doesn't, I'll suspect maybe the cold is having its way with it, mechanically. Does this spaghetti stick? I think the thread makes it sound like the classic trouble-shoot "make sure it isn't what costs money, before you ultimately stay away from AutoZone and spend the money".

wogamax

follow up: I was in it, and had the starter down to attach a ~10ga wire, and decided to buy a "new" Duralast starter. Duralast Gold is how it was branded, and described as all new, in the description text. Parts price was $209, where remanufactured was ~$140. I can say the unit I got had a fresh cog, and was marked Delco Remy. It was not a gear reduction unit. Rated 1.4kw.

Fortunately (for this purpose only) it has gotten cold again. The truck has started without a flinch, in -7F, 4F and today's 5F mornings. I'd have done further trouble-shooting (seeing if a direct battery, to starter, switch worked), but my gut, and my free time, said "odds-on, its the starter". So, for now, problem solved.

73shark

Thanks for reporting back on your solution. It might help someone else in the future. Helps the forum.

bigdaddy38

You might have a passlock issuse

James Dennis Taylor

I have a 2004 Chevy Tahoe 5.3 I'm glad to see I'm not alone with this agervateing issue I have put a lot of money in parts on this truck including a new neutral safety switch that was very easy to replace its located on the driver side of the transmission and takes about 15 min how ever that didn't fix the problem but I believe it showed me the problem I can take my wrench and put it on the bolt and turn it towards the left (front of the truck) and this puts it into neutral and have my wife crank the truck and this works so I believe the problem is in the rod that the sensor connects to which goes into the transmission mine would only read every other gear reverse, 3, 1 and it will not start in those gears I'm gonna work on it a little more tomorrow and see what I come up with good luck to all of y'all and I hope this helps

Megan Oliver Hamilton

Hi! Somewhere in this thread I read to try "quick turning" the key. Well, I've been doing that for 2 weeks now, and not a glitch!! Does anyone remember WHY? What would that indicate needs to be repaired? I'm too lazy to go back through the whole thing!

We've had the starter switch replaced, a ground cable fixed, fuses, etc. Truck has been doing this for about 2 years off and on. In the past, it seemed connected to the battery, but now, we know, beyond a doubt, that it is not. AND, in the last 4 months or so, it has been happening constantly. Wont start, let it sit, OR even cycle through electrical components like windows, locks, seats, and most of the time that fixes it. I'm thinking that the hubby just starts it differently sometimes.

pchatty16

Been having this issue with our 02 Chevy Tahoe 5.3L V8 for a while but was able to resolve it for about a year. My father in law had an 01 Yukon Denali and had the same issue and the shop replaced his starter cable from the battery to the starter and never had an issue afterwards. I have not replaced the starter cable because I've been using WD-40 at the starter where the ground connects to the starter by the passenger wheel well and using WD-40 at the battery for the positive and negative terminals, along with the red box for the battery terminals in the engine bay next to the battery. I've done this for the last year about once a month but recently forgot to do it and guess what, the starting problem came back. I grabbed the WD-40 the other day again and guess what, no more starting problems. I obviously want a permanent fix but don't want to spend a lot of money for a mechanic to tell me they can not find anything when this method has never let me down if I do it about once a month. Would love to hear from everybody. This message board is the best I've found on this topic.

Autumn_Lynn

Hello I'm sorry but I couldn't find anywhere els to post this, I replaced the ignition cylinder in my 2000 Chevy Silverado 1500 LS and when I went to start the truck there were no security messages popping up. And nothing would happen when I try to crank the truck please help I already tried the 10 minute fix.

Angela Haws

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Hey guys so I have a 2004 Tahoe same issues as everyone with a click sound present. Went through several of the steps everyone said to try. As we were attempting to tap on the starter a few times we noticed the positiv wire on the starter was loose ... Tightened it and it STARTED RIGHT UP. No issues at all anymore!!! Check the wire on the starter❣️ Good Luck I hope that helps❣️😁

Angela Haws

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