RoryHamaker

Hello all, this is my first time posting on this forum so I apologize if I mistakenly ask a duplicate question.

I have a 2004 Tahoe with 110k miles on it. It is the Z71 with the 5.3 V8, and I have had an issue twice where it will not start. I got in it Tuesday started it from a cold start, no problem. Ran a few errands (starting and stopping it) no problems. Finally I made a stop ran in for about 5 minutes and came back to the truck, put the key in the ignition, turned it to the start position and nothing happened. In the run position everything was working as expected, all gauges were correct, radio was on, lights etc worked as normal. I removed the key 3-4 time and tried it again and on about the 5th time it magically started. Yesterday it was fine, no problems at all. Today same problem happened again, jumped in it (engine hot) put the key in and it wont turn over. I removed the key a few times ( a few more than last time, around 10 this time) and finally voila, it fired right up. I had it in the dealer yesterday and had them check it out, all they found was a lose battery connection. Other than that they were unable to recreate the problem. I JUST bought this truck and am trying to work the kinks out of it, thats the problem with used cars.

Any help would greatly be appreciated.

tlavergne

I had the same problem on my Subaru. It was the Neutral Safety Switch. The dash lights would light up but when you turned the key...nothing. The switch tells the computer that the vehicle is in Park or Neutral and that it is okay to start. If it is malfunctioning the computer will think it is in something other than Park or Neutral and it won't allow it to start. Just a thought.

73shark

Welcome to the forum.

You can test the neutral safety switch by holding it in the "Start" position while running the gear shift thru the gears. If it still doesn't show signs of engaging the starter, then it's probably either the ignition switch or the neutral safety switch.

Imposter71

RoryHamaker- Don't have an answer fo you but I have the exact same problem. My trk is a used 2005 burb I just got in the end of Dec. I have been dealing withit for the past month. If it is any consolation it has never left me stranded, just been annoying. Pevious owner had it to the dealer for that issue but of course it didn't do it when they had it.

If anyone can tell me (us) where the neutral safety switch is located and if it is readily accessable I'll check that connection first then see if it still happens. I don't have a wiring diagram or service manual yet.

Not tryin to hijack your thread. Just have the same problem and maybe if we both work on it we can get it straight twice as fast. Good Luck!

tlavergne

Haynes repair manual page 7B-4 section 6. 1994 and earlier they were on the lower end of the steering column near the firewall. On 1995 and later I would assume it is located on the side of the transmission. You can also see a picture of it on page 7B-3 pic 4.5 and page 7B-4 pic 6.14. If you don't have Haynes manual you can get one at any auto parts store or maybe the library.

RoryHamaker

Imposter71. I don’t know if this will help you or not, but mine did it again yesterday. I fix computer for a living so I am very methodical when troubleshooting a problem. I had my girlfriend try to start the truck while I tapped the starter relay under the hood, no good. I switched that relay with another relay, still no good. I had her hold the start position while I tapped the starter solenoid, nada. I cycled through all the gears and even tried starting it in neutral, nothing. Finally I put it in neutral and rolled it back about 5 feet, then voila it cranked right up. I am not sure if the motion has anything to do with it or not. Being that the neutral safety switch is on the trans, it might. I am going to run mine back to the dealer with this new information this morning and see what they say. I'll keep you posted.

Imposter71

Thanks for the info. Mine did it yesterday as well. Tried starting it in neutral and cycling through the drive positions same as you did. No luck. Also tried changing tilt positions on the wheel. No luck. Left it alone for an hour or two and changed nothing when I came back. Didn't even get in it. Just reached in and put the key in and it started right up. Worked fine the rest of the day.

I was wondering about the starter so thanks for kind of ruling that out. It will be interesting to see what this turns out to be. Previous owner of mine wants me to let him know when it is fixed b/c it was driving him crazy as well. He wants to know what it was too.

Imposter71

Just curious if you heard anything from the shop on this..........

RoryHamaker

As of now, no. I left it with the dealer ALL day tueday and they were unable to reproduce the problem (big surprise). Since sunday it has not done it to me, knock on wood, but it is in the shop as i type because the rear heat stopped working today. Its 19 degrees here so it was rather important. I am supposed to leave it with them again on monday for another round of testing, but as of now, nothing.

Imposter71

Thought I would see if you got any resolution from the shop on this. Think mine is getting worse, happened about 4x today. Been hesitant to take it to the shop until I saw what you had to say.

Any luck?