2000 GMC Sonoma 2.2 ltr will not start in cold weather

Maintenance/Repairs
, ,
1

I have a 2000 GMC Sonoma 2.2 ltr FFV and during the winter of 2007/08 I had to disconnect the positive battery terminal in order for the truck to start in the morning. If I left the power connected for longer than 6ish hours I would have to jump start the truck from my wife’s car. Then mysteriously, I left the truck connected in the spring when the average temp. was above freezing and the truck started with no problem. I did not have a problem all summer and fall, then just last week we got the first snow of the year and I went to start the truck after it had sat overnight and all I got was a click.

I have looked this up online and could not find a reasonable answer to the problem, however, others have had similar issues with GMC trucks, interestingly enough I did not see any reference to such problems for S-10’s. I do want to start my truck without disconnecting and reconnecting the battery cable everyday. Please help!!!

2

One item you might want to check is the positive battery cable terminals. This vehicle has the side mount type battery connections. Under the red rubber cover for the positive terminals corrosion can form causing intermitent starting problems. Remove both terminals from the battery, and then peel back the red rubber cover off the postive terminals. If a greenish/white powder is found under this cover, replace the positive battery cables.

Tester

3

Bsttery drains have been covered extensively, and thoroughly, in this forum. Here is a link to some of those posts: http://community.cartalk.com/jforum.page?module=search&action=search&clean=1&search_keywords=battery+drain&search_terms=all&search_forum=&sort_by=time&sort_dir=DESC&x=15&y=15

4

Thanks for sending these… I looked through most all of the posts. What people are suggesting make sense, however, the cold weather thing is what keeps confusing me. Something in the truck is staying on and draining the battery when the ambient temp is at or below freezing, is there a switch or a relay that turns on when the vehicle is off and the outside temp. is low?

5

Thnx… no corrosion