Starter Problems
 

2007 Chevy 2500 express 4.8

Day 1 - - starter would click but not start - - installed new starter after old one tested bad at parts store.
put in new starter and nothing not even a click, - went back to store had old starter rechecked 3 times it checks out good. - Return new starter install old starter - nothing not even a click. - check - fuse 49 ign a blown - change fuse all good with old starter.

Day 2 - - morning start no problem - drive two work with 2 stops along the way no problem. Park at work, return for lunch - - nothing not even a click. Check all fuses, all OK, hit starter nothing. Call AAA wait get frustrated - hit starter again - starts no problem.

Drive home no stops, Purchase new starter, install starter, start truck all is good.

Day 3 - - go to start truck in morning sounds like dead battery (13.3volts in battery) low clicking. (with new starter)
Check all fuses good, Pull starter and check with cables and jumper wire from truck to test. Starter runs and turns, has power to all appropriate terminals.
Reinstall starter - Clicking but will not start.


What is my next step? This starter worked once, I now get the same results with the old starter also. Could it not be getting enough amperage to the starter to turn the engine.

Oh I also tried jumping the truck all almost all stages and it did nothing to change results.

Check you battery cables for corrosion or loose connections. Check them at both ends of the cable not just at the battery.

Bad ground? Like Old Chevy says......
On on another note, have you tried wiggling the gear shift when its not clicking? What about the starter relay?

Yes I did check the relay
and thank you all for any replies

End result is I found the problem. I could jump the starter right on the relay and it would start, so I went out to purchase a remote starter button so I could drive and find the electrical problem in due time.
It rained while I was out. when I got back I hooked up the remote starter button, and got nothing, but now I was no longer under the van. So I decided to check if I could get to start if the positive was hooked up to the battery, not I was next to the battery. (I took the positive on and off 1000 times while working on this. ) When I pushed the button smoke arose from the battery (it is a fairly new Optima). Low and behold it was not smoke but steam and the negative terminal was just loose enough to create the entire intermittent problem.

Go figure - - how did I miss that one.

So it was a bad ground after all.....lol.

Yes it was a bad ground on a very simple area to check which I did not.

And this was a simple (stupid) oversight on my part. I should have known better. If nothing else it may help both the one who does not know that much and then the one who thinks he knows what he is doing. I am somewhere in-between. But everything seemed to indicate the starter, and it would work occasionally.

Keep it simple. And if I had not found it the way I did. I may have dismissed everyone telling me to check connections, because I had power to the starter.

Don't feel bad. We have all been there. The most important thing, is you figured it out yourself, and did not have to pay someone to do it for you.

I had a similar issue, and found my ground was loose on the battery, and I hand tightened it to fix the issue before grabbing a wrench.