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Any idea???

2K views 19 replies 7 participants last post by  2old2fast 
#1 ·
Hiu. I have a 96 Blazer. I have a weird problem with it. It is cold here, but I don't really know if it matters or not. I can go to start it, and turn the key, and nothing. I have a new battery in it. There is still alot of power in it. The dome light shines bright. I can wait a while, and it starts right up. I went to the shop. They went over it, and said it is clear. They kept it for 2 days and never had a problem with it. I thought maybe a neutral safety switch, but found out that there isn't one. I am thinkinging now of something where there might be points somewhere that are sticking.. I just put in a new Interstate battery about a month ago. I did notice that when i installed the battery that after I put the cable on the positive. I put the cable on the negitive and it sparked. Something is drawing power. They only thing that I installed on it is a new radio, but it was a optionoem for the 96. It was just a plug and play. The draw would be the memory. The only other thing is a trailor conection. They checked that out and it looked fine.. Any idea as what the heck this could be?? Oh, and when you turn the key and nothing happens.. I put on the battery charger, and it will start right up.. Al
 
#4 ·
Sorry.. Figured that out after I posted.. Didn't know how to move it..

The radio I installed is for the 96 Blazer. I went from the cassette to the single CD player. Just a matter of plug and play. If the fuse under the hood was bad.. Wouldn't the radio not work?? Radio works just fine. The shop hooked up two different machines to the system. Everything checked out. Still something is drawing.. Would there be that big a spark just from the radio memory, and clock??
 
#6 ·
Would that make it so that it wouldn't start every once and awhile?? Last week it did it. It wouldn't turn over. I let it sit for a day, and it turned right over.. That is what is weird. When you turn the key to start. It does nothing. Not even a click.. Al
 
#7 ·
No, obviously something else is wrong. You said you replaced the battery. recheck the wires particularly the smaller wires if they are separated from the harness to make sure you didn't accidentally cross one. You're getting a draw someplace. While your at make sure all connections are clean and you may want to check your alternator output if you haven't done that already.
 
#8 ·
The radio was replaced 3 years ago. I never had a problem with it until last year. It happened one time. This year more times. I have tried the battery after I unpluged the radio. It still sparks. Like I said. The shop ran it on two different machines trying to find the short. Nothing went wrong with it. This is just weird. Al
 
#9 ·
Now you tell me! Now you tell me! Radio was replaced three years ago and just recently, this started happening. Now you tell me!

Beauford, I’m trying to help you out here, help me by not holding back information.

You may have a bad battery or a bad alternator. Have them checked and replaced if necessary.
 
#10 ·
I would check the connections at the battery. Maybe it is not the charger that is helping but the fact that you are moving the cables. Most of those have sise mount batteries with multiple connections on the positive post under the rubber cable head.
 
#11 ·
Alt is fine. Battery is fine. Battery is new. Only about a month old. Alt. was checked by the shop. Came back just fine. Cables are down tight. It is like some sort of relay was stuck shut. Like with the old Voltage regulators. You could give the case a whack with a screwdriver handle, and the points would pop free. The thing that is weird is when you go to start it and turn the key and nothing. Then 1/2hr later. It starts right up. Doesn't seem to do it at all in the summer, or when the weather is nice. Only in the winter. Al
 
#13 ·
If it is the solenoid. Can I just change that?? In the old days when the solenoid wasn't working . You could just flip the little copper wheel over and put it back together and it worked just fine. I will check the wires in the morning.. Al
 
#18 ·
Be aware that an underhood light, the interior light, the radio (as already noted), the glove box light and the ECM will all be capable of causing enough draw to create a spark when the battery cable's attached. The question is, is the battery going flat when the vehicle is left to sit, for instance?

In any event, to locate the circuit that has the current draw, remove the fuses to the radio and ECM to begin with. That should kill any draw from anything that should have a draw. Then disconnect the negative battery cable and put a meter between the neg. terminal of the battery and the neg. battery cable. If there's still a draw showing, start removing fuses one at a time (replacing each one afterwards) until the draw is found when the meter drops to nada.

From there, start tracing the wiring of that circuit until the problem is found.

As for the 'no start' condition, I also agree the terminals are suspect, if for no other reason that hooking a charger allows the engine to start up- even though the battery is already fully charged. The terminals and their connections should be the first thing you check, IMO. If you have those ****ty clamp on terminals- get rid of them!! If they aren't the problem NOW, they will be.

The vehicle does have a safety interrupt switch to prevent the engine from starting when the shifter is anywhere but "P" or "N". If this is out of adjustment or going bad, the condition you describe can occur. Have you tried moving the shifter around as you hold the key in the "START" position? This will sometimes point to the switch as the problem.

The ignition switch itself could be going bad, for that matter. You can also check the adjustment on it, the switch can wear or slip if it's not tight.

When you turn the key to "ON", before you try to start it, do you hear the fuel pump come on briefly? You should. But if you only hear it when the engine actually cranks when you hit the key, the fuel pump relay could be going out, or have corroded terminals, etc.

You're already aware of the starter solenoid- check the wiring to it, as well. You can hook a remote starter switch to it to see if it will motor the starter when the switch is used. If it does so w/o issue, you can check the solenoid off the list.

Good luck
 
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