Electrical Issue 2002 Express 3500
 

Hello-

My Name is Kurt. I have a 2002 Chevy Express 3500 Roadtrek camper conversion which was running great until yesterday.

The van will only start when I disconnect the negative battery cable and then reconnect it. It will run fine, but when I go to start it again - no go

I found this out when I thought the issue was corrosion on the terminals, there was some but not significant. I cleaned them up and the the van started right up. I thought that was the issue. Until I tried starting it again. It tried to turn over weakly and then did the weak starter clicks and then nothing. No starter and no headlights no clicking - silence. . Interior lights working and I noticed a slight buzzing sound from the radio area.

I disconnected the negative cable on a hunch and it started again normally. But it will not start again unless I remove and reattach the negative cable.

That is where I stand. Any insight would be awesome.

Thank you
Kurt

Check the other end of the negative battery cable for corrosion and a good connection. You might need to replace the cable.

Thanks - I took the negative cable back off and cleaned up the bolt on the battery which had some rust on it. I then re-tightened everything and so far so good. Never thought that such a small amount of corrosion could wreak such havoc. Hopefully this will be a permanent fix.

Some conversion and camper models had a module that would disconnect the starting battery if there was a parasitic draw that would kill the battery.

Trace the battery cables and make sure there is no such module connected.

Even if you find one, the behavior indicates your van may have parasitic voltage draw to contend with. Use a volt meter and see what the draw is without the engine on.

Your Roadtrek has a battery isolator under the hood that connects the auxiliary battery to the alternator while the engine is running. When the engine is off, this isolator is supposed to isolate the aux battery. I suspect this isolator is not isolating unless you pull the battery negative cable first. Its also possible your aux battery is failing or low on charge and, with a stuck isolator, is pulling down your starter battery when you try and start. There's also an aux power disconnect switch. You should leave this off when the van is not in use to minimize draw from your aux battery. Not sure if you had it on when trying to start the van.