# 1996 Tahoe intermittently doesn’t start

**URL:** <https://community.cartalk.com/t/1996-tahoe-intermittently-doesn-t-start/135316>\
**Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\
**Tags:** chevrolet, tahoe\
**Created:** [February 25, 2019, 1:18am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/1996-tahoe-intermittently-doesn-t-start/135316 "2019-02-25T01:18:33Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![PaulG1701](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a88e57/32.png) [@PaulG1701](https://community.cartalk.com/u/PaulG1701)\
**Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 1:18am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/1996-tahoe-intermittently-doesn-t-start/135316/1 "2019-02-25T01:18:33Z")

</div>

My Tahoe intermittently won’t start. The key is turned, the dash lights come on but there is no cranking, no clicking, no sound at all. The first time i had it towed to the mechanic and it was fine as soon as he got it. Another mechanic has replaced the starter and said he followed the wiring harness and cleaned and reseated some loose connectors. It was fine for about a week. Today it happened again but ended up starting a half an hour later and i was able to get home. I have tried starting it in neutral and shifting it hard back into park and trying again but this didn’t help. The last thing that was done was the ignition switch replacement which solved a different problem. The AC Delco alternator is a couple of years old and the battery is new and was checked by AAA.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Cougar](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/cougar/32/21348_2.png) [@Cougar](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Cougar)\
**Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 10:29pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/1996-tahoe-intermittently-doesn-t-start/135316/2 "2019-02-25T22:29:22Z")

</div>

Power to the starter solenoid needs to go through the safety switch circuit. Check out that pathway for a bad connection to the solenoid.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Tester](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/tester/32/15976_2.png) [@Tester](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Tester)\
**Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 10:41pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/1996-tahoe-intermittently-doesn-t-start/135316/3 "2019-02-25T22:41:55Z")

</div>

Check the positive battery terminal for this.

 ![](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/original/2X/5/5c54c560df534a86ffdfe55940fc3f1321904fc3.jpg)  
 ![](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/original/2X/2/20e1c3e7b83e4ec68153c3a6dca743cd19be2e44.jpeg)

Tester

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![shanonia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de053/32.png) [@shanonia](https://community.cartalk.com/u/shanonia)\
**Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 11:41pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/1996-tahoe-intermittently-doesn-t-start/135316/4 "2019-02-25T23:41:56Z")

</div>

New batteries are sometimes intermittently bad. And connections can be bad with an old or a new battery.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![PaulG1701](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a88e57/32.png) [@PaulG1701](https://community.cartalk.com/u/PaulG1701)\
**Post date:** [June 15, 2019, 7:02pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/1996-tahoe-intermittently-doesn-t-start/135316/5 "2019-06-15T19:02:25Z")

</div>

I checked the batt terminals and they looked like Tester’s pictures so I cleaned them up. It then started fine about 20 times and i thought i was in the clear then started acting up again.

Checking out the safety switch circuit next. Thanks Cougar.

Finally seeing a pattern…If I shut it down and try again 5 minutes later it won’t start. If I go back 30 minutes later it starts. When it’s acting up it seems to fail while it’s warm.