'01 chevy silverado no start, no click, electrical?

[fishermatt]

This spring I had a problem with my '01 chevy silverado where I went out to start it, turned the key, everything lights up but the starter doesn't engage. Charged the heck out of the battery, still nothing. Pulled it to town, the repair guy switched the starter relay with the headlight relay inside the fuse panel (on top of the firewall on the driver's side), and it started right up. He put the original one back and it still worked. (I was scratching my head too!) It has worked fine until tonight, now it's doing the same thing, except that switching out the relays didn't help this time. I actually replaced the battery this spring, so that should be good, the headlights are bright. What else can I try before I have to pull it into town again? I'm just lucky this didn't happen 25 miles down a grouse trail somewhere in Pine Island State forest. Thanks for any ideas.

[Jeremy airjer W]

Make sure the battery cables are tight! Many times especially on a side terminal setup, as yours is, the terminals are very loose. Don't be afraid of using a fair amount of force with a 1/4 inch ratchet and a 5/16 inch socket to make sure the ends are seated. Also make sure they are clean especially in between the cable ends and the lead button.

The first thing I( would do is see if there is power to the S terminal on the starter (the smaller wire). A test light will work fine. Have somebody hold the key in the crank position. If the test light lights up you likely have a bad solenoid. If the test light does not light up then you need to trace back to the source of the lost power.

It wouldn't hurt to check the Ignition A fuse and the Ignition C fuse in the under hood fuse block near the battery and the Crank fuse in the fuse block on the left of the dash.

The system works by supply power to the ignition switch. The switch directs it to the through the crank fuse, then the park nuetral switch (you may want to try putting it in nuetral and try to start it as well), then to starter relay solenoid. When the solenoid is energized it closes the contacts and allows power to go through the relay and energize the starter solenoid.

[fishermatt]

Terminals are tight, Fuses are all good, tried in neutral with same result. Will need to buy a test light to check starter, but I'm skeptical that power is even getting to it given that I had the same issue in April and basically wiggling the relay worked. There's nothing worse than an "intermittent" problem. Especially one that totally disables the vehicle!! Any other thoughts welcomed.

[Grant]

does your chev have any sort of security system on it?

reason I ask is that my Outback had the same symptoms; root cause was a loose wire on the alarm system starter lockout circuit.

[Jeremy airjer W]

The anti-theft disables the fuel system. It will crank until the battery goes dead but never start if it is activated.

[fishermatt]

It does seem like a loose wire or bad connection. I have pulled it into town to the repair shop to have them check it out. Will post the cause in the next couple days.

[WingDing2]

Airjer, It's really hard to read your posts with that sweet avatar! I would guess thats yer sister?

[Jeremy airjer W]

Actual its the Matchdotcom girl in the add on the right column add bar if you have it enabled in your preferences. Theres been some talk about her lately and I decided to make an avatar out of it as a little inside joke.

[Scott K]

I like your inside joke

[fishermatt]

It was the starter. Thanks.