1999 Chevy Suburban Starter and Ignition

Tiny
FAUVERT
  • MEMBER
  • 1999 CHEVROLET SUBURBAN
  • V8
  • 4WD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 93,000 MILES
I have a 99 suburban. The starter went bad, just clicked when turned key. I replaced the starter with a new one. When I hooked up the ground wire on the battery, the starter started turning the engine over. The key was not in the ignition. I took the starter back and had it tested because, I thought it must have a faulty solenoid, but it tested ok. I put the starter back on and hooked up the ground wire to the battery. Again the starter immediately started turning over the engine. I then turned the key on and hooked up the battery to see if it woudl start the truck and it turned the engine over, tried to start but would not. Almost like it was not getting enough fuel. I have looked for loose wires etc and checked fuses. Could the problem be the ignition?
Thursday, October 22nd, 2009 AT 8:21 PM

6 Replies

Tiny
RASMATAZ
  • MECHANIC
  • 75,992 POSTS
Hi fauvert and TY for the donation

The starter relay could be sticking closed causing it to crank the egnine over w/o the key

Do this find the starter relay at left rear of engine compartment underhood fuse/relay center-remove it and see what happens if it stops cranking replace the relay.

If its cranking over and will not start do below to determine if its fuel or spark problem.

All that disconnection of the battery on and off probably caused the computer to lose its memory
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Thursday, October 22nd, 2009 AT 8:38 PM
Tiny
FAUVERT
  • MEMBER
  • 4 POSTS
I pulled the starter relay in the fuse box under the hood on the drivers side and the engine still cranks over without the key.
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Thursday, October 22nd, 2009 AT 9:31 PM
Tiny
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Do this disconnect the battery and then remove the purple wire on the starter solenoid isolate it from ground. Now hook battery back up and check for power on the purple wire -Do you have power?
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Friday, October 23rd, 2009 AT 12:44 AM
Tiny
FAUVERT
  • MEMBER
  • 4 POSTS
I unhooked the purple wire, hooked the battery back up and the starter kicked on immediately. While the starter was running I checked the purple wire. It had no power. I assume that this is a solenoid problem based on this result. I called autoparts and they are going to exchange it in the morning. Is there anything else it could be.
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Friday, October 23rd, 2009 AT 6:56 PM
Tiny
RASMATAZ
  • MECHANIC
  • 75,992 POSTS
The purple wire has power bcuz the solenoid is grounded passing the battery power to it-get the starter squared away
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Friday, October 23rd, 2009 AT 8:46 PM
Tiny
FAUVERT
  • MEMBER
  • 4 POSTS
I exchanged the starter and it fixed the problem. The solenoid was stuck. The starter still tested as working properly at the autoparts so I had to argue a little bit.

Thanks
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Saturday, October 24th, 2009 AT 10:21 AM

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