I need help with a cranking problem that has turned into a money pit. I have 98 Chevy 1500- 5.7L 4-wheel drive. 247K miles.
Two problems: fuel and electrical. Vehicle would bog and spit and sputter. Did everything to resolve. New fuel filter, new pump (even went as far as replacing the tank). This seems to work for a while. During all this vehicle was draining the battery constantly. New battery and alternator and still doing it. Mechanic shop could figure it out and recommended putting a cutoff switch at the battery to shut down the power. I knew this wasn't fixing the short, but did it anyway. All seems to work for a minute.
I can crank the truck. Hits in like one second and runs like a top. Next day nothing. Crank and crank and it spits and sputters and does nothing. Starter fluid sometimes will bring it to life. Once running for about 30 minutes it may start to bog and leave me on the side of the road.
Next day it will crank first time. I hate to get rid of a truck in pretty good shape over an electrical problem I'm thinking. I've spent a ton on this thing and it's turned into a personal challenge to resolve.

Please help if you know what to do. I will send you a personal thank you via Venmo!

 

I would suspect a poor electrical connection problem. One minute it makes good contact and the next it does not.

This will involve voltage drop testing start with the battery cables. Reminder, voltage drop testing must be done while the circuit is under load.

If the questionable connection happens to involve power supply to all areas of the vehicle , it could be affecting the performance including the spit and sputter problem that could be coming from the ignition system.

Both areas require sufficient electrical power to function correctly and if the required power is not available all the time it can and will affect starting and running performance .

 

Thanks so much for your response. I'm about to start checking what you suggested. Would it be normal to have a short and it still able to turn over? Thats the part that has be confused how it will turn over and over and won't crank. Wait an hour and boom. Cranks. Crazy. Thank you again. I'll let you how it turns out.