bergmanjl55

Folks,

2001 Tahoe 4x4 all power options & biggest V8 with A/T:

Got home yesterday morning and shut-off normally. Later in the day, spouse asked me about strange "woodpecker" sound: Traced it to Tahoe starter continuously clicking in-and-out. Disconnected battery right away! It apparently had been trying to self-crank for a while and worn the battery down to the point where starter solenoid would engage, drop batt. voltage, disengage, and repeat. When found, it was happening about 3x per second. Sounded just like a metallic "woodpecker"!

This morning I re-charged the battery, then started troubleshooting: Upon temporarily re-connecting the "ground" battery connection, it was continuing to try and crank the engine continuously without starting. I immediately disconnected battery again and started to troubleshoot the cranking circuitry: I first pulled the "Start" relay from the under-hood relay box and re-connected the battery - no cranking; so, it's not the starter solenoid. I then pulled the 10A "CRANK" fuse from the fuse panel at left side of dash and re-inserted the under-hood relay - no cranking; so, it's not the under-hood relay either.

I then again pulled the under-hood start relay and re-inserted the "CRANK" fuse at left side of dash. I then turned the ignition key to "ON" and temporarily inserted the under-hood relay to see if it would start: It would start and run for about two seconds, then die. This happened whether I immediately pulled the start relay or left it in place. I tried this a number of times in order to "prove" what I was seeing in the way of symptoms.

I'm now at the point of needing an actual wiring diagram: Can anyone here post at least the diagram for the "start/run" circuitry? I'm also contacting the local Library for the same information; however, we're in the country with this vehicle being our main transportation and my not trusting our "old" farm truck to get me into town reliably.

We're retired and on fixed income - so, I need to fix this myself if at all possible. I am experienced in electronics/electrical from my working career and have fixed these kinds of issues myself before on a number of other vehicles - I just don't have easy access to the diagram(S) for this vehicle right now.

Any help (especially diagrams) is appreciated.

Thanks, JB

JoRaeBo

I too am in the exact same predicament, I've not found one solid solution to this problem. did all the same things you have, clicking under the dash from relay occurs even when the key is not in the ignition. have checked all connections,fixed a ground, tested relays, replaced fuses, new battery..... same thing! sorry i'm not offering a solution either, just wanted to let you know your not alone. let ya know if I make any progress

mountainmanjoe

You are replying to a 2yr old post.

You have a bad connection somewhere. get out the diagram and circuit tester.