JOEUSA

Yes ive had this truck since new its a 01' 1500 silverado 4x4 w/ the 5.3 its my baby i love this thing like a child!
But today i stoped to get gas and when i went to crank it i had no power at all, the door locks the instrument panel nothing so naturaly i checked the battery its less than a year old , its good the connections were good i checked most the fuses the ones marked ign. Now i noticed working on it for a while theres a clicking sound thats kinda random like the blinker indicator clicker in the dash some where. Im out of ideas any would be appreciated are links to more info ...
Thanks ,
joe

RacerX

do you have an aftermarket alarm installed in this car?

The clicking sound is a relay in the dash. Which one? Dont know. There is an ECM relay that if missing would not permit the car to start.

JOEUSA

no there is no aftermarket alarm it has the factory keyless entry fob with panic but that i dont think is the problem ive unhooked battery for a while and tried it.
what ever it is its got the entire electrical system off. theres no power to anything (interior push buttun lights , door locks things that work wihtout the key on) and nothing happening with key turned its weird .
the hanes book aint helping at all i aint found anything with google either im at a lost the only thing i was thinking im gonna try next when weather permits is the ground on the engine block, or im not sure if the starter getting a loose wire would do this haha, im not sure what fuse would be like the master one for the entire truck ..... i dont know.....
thanks though
joe

JOEUSA

the ecm relay would it shut down power to everything else like this?

RacerX

nop. but it wouldnt allow the car to crank nor start.

and aftermarket alarm would do that depending on how it was installed to prevent drive off theft.

another thing to look at is the negative battery cable(the ground) running from the battery to the starter. You have total power loss. All power comes from the battery. This happens alot in GM cars with the crap side post terminals. As the cables and motor mounts age, the starter pushes the block away from the battery pulling on the cable. This has happened to me on a Eldorado, my Deville and my Suburban(as a matter of fact it happened one day last week when I was leaving the movie theatre). Go out there and pull on the battery terminals and I bet one of those cables will move.

The clicking sound is a relay closing and opening. Which one? I dont know, also a sign of a weak battery or poor starter connection after the starter relay.

JOEUSA

thanks im gonna diagnose more tommorow if it aint raining so much, i checked the ground to the engine it felt tight but i didnt drop starter to check it yet , i changed it a while back and it could have loosened up some how haha no tellin i hope its just a connection problem its gotta be ! its just givin me a hard time finding it
thanks again
joe

RacerX

Well...if the battery is good and the cables are firm it should start. But if the cables are loose a slight pitch on the motor from the starter can disconnect them. But in most cases the problem is isolated to the fender where the relay is(FORD) or the battery posts.

JOEUSA

i got my power back ground wire to engine and frame just needed c;eaned and put back now its startin and shuttin right offf and the security lights blinkin so im thinkin its the factory alarm tellin the ecm to shut down got to figure out what tells it aint bein stolen, i aint got the key fob i lost it years ago but the keys an original so....
im close to up and running well see

RacerX

Oh oh ok. what year is this? I think you may have burnt up the antitheft wires in the column. you will need a Voltmeter and a trip to Radio Shack to fix this. Do you have an airbag in this?

GM PASSKEY Gen I. I think. I dont know. You have had this since new so read the manual and find out if you have Passkey I, II or III.

JOEUSA

yeah its a 2001 and it has a airbags i havent had a lot of time to work on it been working at job tryin to get by and its rainnin everyday like crazy i think its a pass key 1 i know the key doesnt have a chip in it ive used cut keys before as back ups and never had problem. but this is the original key im using now and its just staying in failsafe mode i guess is what youd call it.