Typerod

Just curious, what was the voltage on the battery and how old is the battery?

ecullen

A little troubleshooting and replaced the starter everything is fine. The bendix drive failed. I think the starter gear was hung up in the fly wheel. Anyhow, everything is back to normal. Thank You for all the help and suggestions.

Typerod

So I have an update on my situation, I apologize in advance for the long winded post, but I need to vent....lol! Ok so I left home this past Thursday to go on vacay for about 8 days and visit my parents who live about 185 miles away from me. I live in Northern VA and my parents live in Norfolk, VA. My son and I drove seperately and my wife and daughter to arrive this past Saturday.

So yesterday, Saturday, I get a bunch of texts and missed calls from numerous people. My wife and daughter are stuck at church and the Tahoe won't start. CRAP!!! I was on the phone with some friends who were trying to help me troubleshoot the issue. They would try to start the car, but all they would get is a single click. They were trying to jump start the car, but I know for a fact the batteries are good. One friend got under the car after I suggested they should try to hammer a bit on the starter. He took a "Life Hammer" I have in the car, which is not hefty at all, and he had to find the starter and I think he tapped the correct part, lol. But it was a no go. My wife had to unload the tahoe and get a friend to drive her and my daughter home to go get our 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee and use that to drive down to be with us

So now, my Tahoe was left there by its lonesome. They are 3 hours from me w/o traffic, and if anyone knows the Northern VA and I-95 they know on a weekend you're probably sitting in traffic. So I had to cancel my plans with my son, and go drive up to Northern VA to go home and gather my tools. It took me about 4 hours to get home then I loaded my car up with my 3 ton jack and jack stands my socket set, work light, extension cord, jump starter, battery charger, and tool box. So I get to my car about 730pm, tried to start it off the bat, and just the single click. Which tells me the starter is getting the signal and voltage to turn, but it just won't turn. I jack the car up and take my hammer and try to tap as hefty as I can since its a tight area. Tried to start it again, nothing but the click. Under the car and tapped more and more, still won't start. I start putting the transmission into gear and throwing it back into park just to make sure there is no issue with safety switch. Still no start just the evil single click. Then I just kept fumbling with the shift lever, and put it into Drive, then Neutral, then tried to start it, and on the 3rd try of having it in Neutral and starting it, it slowly turned over and the engine started!! Hallelujah! So all in all I only spent 30-35 mins there. So then I drove my Tahoe home and some friends came and picked me up from home and brought me back to my other car which I had to leave there since I can't drive two cars home by myself. lol!

So then after I got home to my Northern VA house after picking up my working car, I went to go start the Tahoe just for kicks and it wouldn't start again, just the evil single click. lol! So I will be ordering a new starter soon.

I left my house about 1045pm and arrived back at my parents house around 130am this morning. But at least I had the road mostly to myself and best of all no Northern VA traffic or Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel traffic, who hooo!

I'll update again once I install the new starter...

Needless to say, my wife doesn't want to drive the Tahoe anymore, she's lost faith in it! lol! Car is only 9.5 years old and has about ~194K on it, I feel the starter should've lasted longer, but thats just me, lol

in2pro

Without being there and doing various sanity checks I can't say I'd think it's 100% the starter, but I would say it's a safe bet to start with, 10 years and 194k miles is a decent run for a starter...
The starter relay might also be worth swapping out, as it has 10 years of opening and closing its contacts too...

73shark

Might try holding the key in the Start position while slowly moving the gear shift thru the quadrant.

Typerod

I just may do that. Do you happen to have a diagram or know where its located? Underhood? or within the dash? Thanks for the suggestion!

UPDATE: I found a parts diagram, looks to be underhood, but still not sure which exactly relay it is.


I'm going to try your suggestion when I get home from this vacay. Thanks!

Typerod

Its listed on GMPartsDirect.com as part #4, but there are 4 different relays in the identifying square.

in2pro

ACDelco 15-8733 Starter Switch Relay
Its marked STRTR in the underhood center

Typerod

Thank you once again!! Always there to lending that helping hand! =)

Typerod

I put in the new starter this morning and all went well. I did have trouble after unbolting the old starter, and had to finagle it pretty good to work it out. I didn't see any shims, so I just installed the new one and all is well. The car did start with the old starter when I went to work on it this morning, I was hoping it wouldn't start so I could get my test light on the smaller terminal to check for a signal.

I do hear like a faint turbo spooling whistle now when it starts, but its very faint. According to the instructions if I hear whining depending if its while the engine is turning over or after the car has started, it will need shims or some space adjustment. I feel like the whining described in the instructions will be very loud and noticeable, but since what I hear is faint, I'm not going to worry about any space adjustments.