Lights, radio, everything work fine. It just wont turn over?

SURFNSUDS

MEMBER
2004 CHEVROLET SILVERADO

About every 3-6 months my truck will just take the day off. Lights, radio, everything work fine. It just wont turn over. It won't make a sound or do anything. I call a tow truck and by the time it gets to the dealer they have no problem starting it. I began to think the tow truck ride made the fix, so the last two times I had the problem, I would shake the truck like crazy. My neighbors think I'm nuts. When the dealer accessed the computer, it read that there never was any failure. They can't fix something that aint broke. Now the problem is happening more frequent. Twice this week. After about 30-48 hours of sitting it decides to work. Any ideas? Thanks.

5 Replies

JDL

MECHANIC
16,098 POSTS

Hello, if this is an automatic, have you tried cranking in neutral? There should be a starter relay in the fuse box under the hood, you can do some testing there, just make sure the tranny is in park or neutral. When the problem occurs, unplug the relay, on the relay terminals use a test lite, with the key in the crank position, two terminals should be hot.

I haven't looked at the theft info on your vehicle, you don't have a theft lite flashing?

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Friday, July 24th, 2020 AT 10:49 AM

WAYNERSON

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2 POSTS

Any more answers to this question? I have the same problem with my 2004 silverado. I have tried it in neutral and park. It seems if I take the key in and out a few times it starts. Sometimes it's on the first try and sometimes it takes 10 min. Sometimes it fires up fine no problem. It's frustrating. My wife will be stuck somewhere and by the time I get there it will fire up fine.

Any ideas?

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Friday, July 24th, 2020 AT 10:49 AM

JDL

MECHANIC
16,098 POSTS

Are you saying, when the problem occurs, the starter won't crank? If so, you have to check the starter circuit, when the problem is ongoing. Intermittent problems can be a pain to track down. I can't tell much without testing.

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Friday, July 24th, 2020 AT 10:49 AM

WAYNERSON

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2 POSTS

Nothing cranks. All the lights come on fine, radio works, fan runs full power, but no click from the starter. If I try it a few times it will work. Some times it can take up to 10 min.

Another challenge is I live in central America, so parts have to be brought down from the states. If I need to replace a relay, is it possible to also get the part number so I can have it shipped to someone who's coming down?

Thanks!

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Friday, July 24th, 2020 AT 10:49 AM

JDL

MECHANIC
16,098 POSTS

You will have to do some testing, when the problem is ongoing. The purple wire at the starter solenoid S terminal should be hot with key in the crank position. If it isn't hot we'll have to backtrack the circuit. In the diagram for the relay, you see the line with the arrowhead on it, top, When the relay is energized, that line switches to the purple wire. The other, left side on top, is voltage to the coil side of relay, goes hot with key in the crank position, is wired through the neutral or clutch switch, depending on tranny. The yellow wire, bottom left is ground for the coil side of relay, grounded by the pcm.

You can use a testlite to check voltage. You can use a remote starter button, just to see if starter will crank. You have to hook it up to starter solenoid. If you use a starter button, hopefully the leads are long enough to get you out from under the vehicle, in my experience, the leads aren't long enough. Make sure the tranny is in park or neutral and a functional ebrake is set.

Another test, when problem is ongoing, is to turn on the headlamps, turn key to crank, do the headlamps dim--go out--stay bright no reaction? Let us know what you find.