I need help PLEASE, I have a Chevy Tahoe 1999, Went to the store came out my Tahoe wouldn’t start i had it towed home. My husband said the starter was clicking but wasn’t getting enough power to turn the flywheel. We got a new starter put it on and it clicked just like it did when i tried to start it before. We took the new starter back and had the old one tested and it was ok so we put it back on and it still clicked like before. He said the flywheel was easy to turn, then he replaced the hot wire from the battery to the starter, now the starter don’t even click . we don’t know what else to do, anyone got any ideals? Thanks, SUVDEV
You did hook that small wire up to the starter as well, right? That’s what switches the relay on.
Get a booster cable and use just the negative side of it. Leave the positive side dangle.
Hook one side up to the battery’s negative post, the other to a large metal part on the engine.
See if it wants to start now. You’re basically bridging a connection that should be present.
You most likely have a bad connection from your battery to the frame or frame to engine. It could also be the positive lead but you say you replaced that one.
When he replaced the positive wire the starter did not click like it did with the old wire on it. He did hook the small wire back up. My husband gets off work at 1:00 am so i will ask him to do the booster cable thing. I thought all along it was the ground wire but he gave up and did not replace it. Let me know if you come up with anything else. Thank you for your help.
I went outside and hooked up the booster cable like you said and when i turned the key it did nothing.
anybody tryy having the battery tested?
Along with Marc, put a multimeter to read volts across the battery and then try to start it.
If the voltage takes a nosedive from - say - 12ish to below 10V, there’s a good chance that your battery is bad or something like your starter is shorted or at least is drawing way too much current.
Try boosting the car to take the battery out of the equation.
You say you don’t hear the ‘click’ now that you’ve replaced the starter.
I’d put that same multimeter across ground and the thinner wire on the starter. While starting, you should see about 12V there. If you don’t, move the voltmeter’s ground around to - for instance - the battery to see if you can now read 12V anywhere.
Also make sure that you read 12V across the fat lead to the starter and ground.
If your battery is okay, you likely have a bad connection somewhere. I’d look first in the fat wire you replaced. Make sure it is crimped correctly and it is making contact.
Why didn’t you ask for a jump start instead of a tow home? A clicking noise, but no engine cranking, is a sign of a dead battery, or a bad battery connection.
Ignition switch failing on the column?
I don’t think the starter would click if it was the ignition switch. .
I have heard it on older vehicles. The contacts in the ignition switch start to contact and you get some current flow when they arc out and loose connection.
I guess that could happen. A check with a multimeter will show what’s going on.
I’ll bet lunch that your battery is dead. And was from the start.
As to why it won’t click anymore, either the battery is now TOTALLY wiped or he inadvertantly broke the “small wire” from the positive terminal. That wire is actually a “fusable link”, a fuse that only looks like a wire.
i’d suggest you have it towed to a shop. I’ll bet you have a dead battery, possibly a dead alternator (which would be why the battery went dead).
Thank you jesmed we did try to jump it and it just would not start only clicking. We had to move the Tahoe because the business was closing where we were parked and they suggested we move it .
W30post thanks,we have checked the ignition is ok but we put in new ignition relay fuse, it still dose the same.
We had our battery checked and it was dead but they said it needed charged and it would hold a charge it checked out ok. We charged the battery last night. He hooked the battery back up today,changed the wire from the battery to the starter again, checked all the connections , then he put the neg. booster cable on the neg. battery post and put the other neg.battery cable to the motor and tried to start it and the ignition relay blew.He went to get another one. WE will try again when he gets it in. I don’t know much about fixing a car i hope i am explaining everything ok. Thanks everyone.
I would look at cleaning the ground connection from the battery to it’s point of termination. A bad wire from the battery to the starter motor could also be a problem. In the olden days we would take a jumper cable, connect it to the Pos of the battery then hit he pos stud on the starter motor and see if it cranks, to let you know if it is the pos or neg side. I have since been informed this is an unsafe and not recommended test, so advise you based on testimony by Dowee Cheatem and Howe, not to do this and hold the poster to no liability
the same mountainbike thanks, the battery wasn’t dead at first but it did go dead, its totally charged now we did have it checked and they told us to charge it and it would hold a charge.If we can’t fix it today it will get towed tomorrow.
Today we rechecked all the connections, moved the side post on the battery to top post, charged the battery after we got it checked out which was ok, and replaced the ignition relay switch, the Tahoe started. Thanks to everyone with your advise and special thanks to RemcoW.