fidelity101 wrote:
EvanB wrote:
Does it have a clutch safety switch? Not likely the problem but I don't have any other ideas.
yes and I've even jumped it to avoid pressing the clutch for diag in this situation.
I have not checked to see if I can turn the motor by hand because I'm having more of an electrical issue, if I could hear the starter click every time I used the key and the engine wouldn't crank I'd give that a shot, but i did check the oil level and its not filled with coolant and very high so i'm doubting its a mechanical related failure.
i have had a couple of Chevy starters that would jam in the ring gear and the starter wouldn't even make a "click" when you tried to start it.. try either turning the crank with a breaker bar or rocking the truck back and forth by hand with the shifter in either reverse or first gear to try to get the starter drive (bendix if you're an old timer...) to disengage..
If you are getting power to the starter solenoid when the key is turned but no power out of the ignition switch to the solenoid there would have to be some sort of short to power. However if there was a short to power the starter would be turning nonstop and it wouldnt matter if you were turning the key. Mmm. Gonna have to think about this one a bit.
Have you bench tested the ignition switch with an ohmmeter?
set the parking brake, put the trans in neutral, and jump the terminals on the starter with a screwdriver. this will tell you if the starter is good. then it's just a matter of working backwards from there- given the lack of power to half of the truck, i'd guess that you either popped a fusible link or had one of the wires come apart where they bolt under the battery cable on the solenoid. sometimes GM liked to put multiple wires to the same terminal, and one of the wires can just fall off one day without warning.
fidelity101 wrote:
Bobzilla wrote:
No crank or no fire? If you can jump the started solenoid and it doesn't turn over, then the starter is toast. Have you had the battery tested? Just because it shows a surface charge doesn't mean it's got cranking power.
no crank and no fire, no power in the accy/run position, IE power windows and horn stopped working.
Battery is less than 6 months old, headlamps turn on fine. I've got 12v at the alternator and the junction block.
I was reading back through and I must have missed this the first time through. Are you saying when you just turn the key to Run and leave it in that position you dont have power to the rest of the vehicle? If my understanding about that is correct, and you are getting power to the solenoid with the key in start, but the starter doesnt engage, you have some really weird electrical gremlins going on. I think you will need to spend some time with a meter and test light before replacing any more parts.
I would start with a good visual inspection to see if a mouse didnt make a home somewhere.
