Suburban 2004 Electrical or Starter Diagnostic

red.suburban.2004
Wed, 01 Feb 2023 05:36:41 +0000
Maintenance/Repairs

2004 Suburban 1500 LS

In the past few days my wife has reported that a few times all the lights on the dashboard and control panel would flicker off and back on and the radio would be reset to 12. As if the battery had been disconnected. The car was still running and, other than the clock being reset, there didn’t seem to be any issues.

However, tonight I went out to start it and it wouldn’t turn over. No turning over. No noise. No nothing. I tried jumping it and it started right up. Let it run for awhile, then turned it off and tried immediately to turn it back on. Same deal. Absolutely no effect. No noise. No indication that I was doing anything other then turning the key in the ignition.

I got out my multimeter and checked the battery. 12.6 volts. I checked the ohms from the negative to the engine block. 0. So… battery and ground seemed good.

I jumped the car again and while it was running (after removing the jumper cables) I checked the battery again. 14.2. So… the alternator seemed to be charging the battery just fine.

But, I turned off the engine again and tried starting it again. Absolutely nothing. Tried jumping it again, immediately started up and ran as happy as a clam. At least until I turned it off.

What do you think might be the issue? What else should I check?

11 posts - 7 participants