1998 suburban 6.5l Will Not Start - not even crank over

[ealemany]

Greetings everyone.

Well, i was enjoying my new toy after i changed the FSD/PMD and relocated away from the engine.
After few days sitting in the garage i decided to take the suburban to work
just for the pleasure of driving it.

Put the key in the ignition - Wait for the "Wait to start" light to go off....
and nothing, nothing at all. The engine will not crank over whatsoever !!!
I can hear the chimes and all the lights and gages are operational but i when i turn the key all i hear is an "electronic" clicking which sound like it is from the starter.
The batteries seem fine. i put the battery charger before i left to work and it seems that the batteries were fully charged - however when i was driving (last week) i noticed that the battery gauge's needle was pointing towards the left more like towards the number 9.
Does that mean that my batteries are charged but do not have enough AMPS
to crank the engine over?
Can it be the starter?
Last week i drive the suburban during a heavy storm. Can it be that the starter got too wet ?

Any idea will be helpful

Thanks

Eric

[joe bleaux]

Eric,
Turn on the headlights and honk the horn. Both the lights and horn should be strong with a charged battery.
If either the horn or lights are weak,
make certain that the connections to the battery are tight.

If the battery connections are tight AND you have a fully charged battery, check the ground connection to the engine and the positive side connection to the starter.

Do you have a voltmeter?

Joe


Greetings everyone.

Well, i was enjoying my new toy after i changed the FSD/PMD and relocated away from the engine.
After few days sitting in the garage i decided to take the suburban to work
just for the pleasure of driving it.

Put the key in the ignition - Wait for the "Wait to start" light to go off....
and nothing, nothing at all. The engine will not crank over whatsoever !!!
I can hear the chimes and all the lights and gages are operational but i when i turn the key all i hear is an "electronic" clicking which sound like it is from the starter.
The batteries seem fine. i put the battery charger before i left to work and it seems that the batteries were fully charged - however when i was driving (last week) i noticed that the battery gauge's needle was pointing towards the left more like towards the number 9.
Does that mean that my batteries are charged but do not have enough AMPS
to crank the engine over?
Can it be the starter?
Last week i drive the suburban during a heavy storm. Can it be that the starter got too wet ?

Any idea will be helpful

Thanks

Eric

Eric

[copcarguyP71]

GROUNDS>>>GROUNDS>>>GROUNDS!!!

Double check your ground connections. Most people check the hot lead but fail to check the ground at the battery, block and frame.

Do you have dual batteries? If so you might have one with a shorted cell causing a drain on the entrire system since GM does not install any sort of isolator. Also from what you describe with the volt gauge it sounds like maybe a bad alternator. I know AutoZone will check them for free if you pull it off and take it to them. Check your connections and then the alternator.

[ealemany]

I checked both ground of my batteries both are clean and tight onto the upper-block of the engine.
I could not find the ground that goes to the frame of the truck.
Any ideas where it comes from and where it goes ?

Also, i checked the wiring of the starter (from underneath - since i could not see anything from above because of the turbo) and all wires seems clean and tight as well. As i was looking i was wondering if + cable of starter from the battery was intact - i could not see well but it seems that the + cable is right next to the exhaust and maybe the + cable is damaged somewhere (?).

I charged both batteries all day and all night and this morning i tried again - nothing !!!

I even "hit" the solenoid of the starter with a rod and a hammer - still nothing.
I shift the transmission to "D" and rcok the truck back and forth - still nothing. Did the same thing on "P" - nothing.

i am running out of ideas. Maybe it is a bad starter (although, it looks very clean for a 1998 suburban - the Solenoid part is still yellow/gold color.

Thank you all for your help and tips - i really appreciate it.

Cheers

Eric
:confused:

[joescj5]

Almost every time I see this it is due to a bad connections somewhere. Everything works except the starter because the starter is a huge current pig. If you think about it the next highest current draw on your rig is probably the headlights (or maybe the glow plugs). Look at the size of the cable going to the headlights compared to the cable going to the starter. The starter uses an enormous amount of current to start your rig.

When you hit the key there is just not enough of a connection to let enough current flow. I suggest cleaning all the battery terminals (a thin bladed pocketknife is the best terminal cleaner I have ever found). After cleaning both the battery posts and the cable ends need to be a bright gray, not a dull gray. While you have the cables off the batteries check for corrosion under the insulation by the cable end, if there is corrosion then you probably need new calbes. Then give it another shot and let us know how it works.

One other possibility. The GM ignition switch in the steering column is prone to failure. If all your connections are good then it could very easily be your ignition switch.

[ealemany]

I am living on vacation on Saturday for a week.
i was suppose to drive the truck.
When i will get back i will look at all the batteries' cables, battery post and
check for corrosion.
The battery posts look fine. No dull color, no corrosion on the surface. The ground cable end look dull though but all clean.

Anyway, i will do the whole cabling work and will let you know.

Should i post my findings back in the forum or here under my thread ?

Thank you again for your help.

Eric.

[redbird2]

A simple test can be to hook a jumper cables from the battery ground to the starter case it only takes few sec and if it works you know where to look. good luck have fun on vacation.

[ealemany]

Hi

Thank you for all the tips.
Before i go on vacation i would like to buy battery cables for the suburban.
I have read that the OEM cables are not so good.
I googled some site and there is a site called www.jamestowndistributors.com
that sales battery marine cables.
I figured that if those cables are Marine proof they can only be better than OEM chevy cables (?)

Could you tell me if it will be a good idea to buy a
1AWG Marine Tinned Battery Cable, rated 600 volts and 105 degree C
exceeds all UL 1426 US Coast guard and ABYC standards ?
for both + and ground ?

Thank you

Eric

[HH]

I had some battery cables made at a HD truck repair center.

[ealemany]

Hi everyone.

Well, the starter is bad.... and one of the battery cable needs to be replaced.

Thank you everybody for your support and tips. i will let you know how things are doing !

Cheers

Eric