jhudson1977

Hi everyone! Newbie here...........and not very mechanically inclined.......although I try!

Anyways, I have a 2001 Chevy Venture with 106K on it. It recently began developing some very odd (in my opinion) electrical problems. The van would be hard to start. Once it did start, I would notice the shifting from first to second, second to third, and third to fourth being very sluggish. The last time I noticed something like this is when the battery died and I was running off only the alternator to get home. However, when I get to my destination (not always - seems to be quite random), the van will be completely dead - I mean nothing is on with the exception of the check engine light.

If I jump the van, it starts fine and quickly. Initial troubleshooting showed the battery at only 6 volts. When the van is running, it shows 14.6 volts (for obvious reasons). However, screwing around with the van brought up the oddest thing. I noticed that when the van was "dead", if the ignition is in the "On" position and I turn the lights on, all of the electical items in the van start up. The other odd thing is that the radio, which would have been off before the van died, is back on at a respectible volume - almost as if it was reset back to a defaulted state.

I was leaning towards the alternator at one time, however the 14.6 volts led me away from that (I did not check amperage though). The battery at 6 volts should mean the van wouldn't start at all. However, as mentioned, when I turn the light switch on when the van is dead, the van starts fine. I have not checked the voltage after one of these "dead" incidents.

Now I'm leaning towards the ignition switch. Any ideas, thoughts, concerns? Does anyone have a wiring diagram of the Venture that would show why the lights would do something like this?