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ignition switch?

J

jrsavoie

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Location
Rural Clifton, Illinois
My daughters 96 Suburban 240,000 miles

The vehicle intermintently runs rough, dies & fails to start. Also the starter occassionally sticks.
The starter sticking and the age lead me to guess that the ignition switch is bad - which could also cause the other problems. And that with those miles changing it wouldn't be a bad idea.

Any other ideas on the cause of the starter sticking on?
Any lines on a good place to buy an ignition switch for a 1996?

We installed a new lift pump, starter, batteries and PMD not to long ago. The grounds were checked then
 
When starter sticks on, does it eventually stop by the jiggling of the ign switch?

Rockauto with the discount is tough to beat. They aren't that tough to change.. Here is a recent thread link.

It woulnd't make it run rough, could make it 'turn off' at any time. During the fail to re-start do you have ALL your normal dash lights? WTS, SES, etc ? When My ign switch was bad I did not.

http://www.thetruckstop.us/forum/showthread.php?t=13827&highlight=module

At the end of the link there is a nice PDF file on how to change it out.
 
Yes the starter has not failed to go back off after a few seconds with the key turned to the off position.

The ignition switch can cause the vehicle to run rough if it is cutting in and out rapidly. Mimicing turning a good switch off and back on again before the vehicle dies.
This could also be multiple problems

I do not know much about what else is going on as I have not been able to look at the burb yet.
I'm just going on the wife's & daughter's words.
I don't see the link you intended to post.

IS anybody interestd in a side job?
I have all the tools but I don't know at this time if I will physically be able to get the job done.
 
I replaced the ignition switch in my 95 ld[$120+]. I thought it was a pia. A few weeks later the multifunction[turn,wipers,4ways and dimmer] went bad.[$160] I didn't replace it. I replaced the whole steering colume with one from the junkyard for $60. Easier than replacing the switch!
 
I sold a wreck last year that so far I could have used many parts off of. But the little lady was very insistant that it go away. Personally I knew that it was worth way more in parts than what I sold it for.

Thanks for everything so far
 
While I was working on the brakes I installed new batteries. The one year old batteries in it were baked. I added an extension harness and new PMD. The Suburban ran fine for about 200 miles.
Today I tried to start it and the volt meter was low. We hooked the jumpers up and when we tried to start it the starter stuck on again. It had the jumpers hooked to the grounds smoking as well as the ground leads hooked to the battery.
I left it sit - batteries disconnected - and when I returned the batteries were at 10.8 volts.
There seems to be quite the spark if you try to rehook either battery. More spark on the passenger side than the drivers. The key is off.
The previous time when the wife and daughter had the problem They never disconnected the battery and when I went back a couple of days later the Suburban started right up and I drove it home. Since then it has been starting and running but had the fishbite thing going on til I replaced the PMD, added the extension cable and cleaned up a couple of grounds

Is there anything else that would cause the starter to stick other than the ignition switch?
It is evident that power is still being called for but I do not know by what. Is there a good way to trace this?
I would think that if I was smoking #2 wire jumper cables that I would have melted whatever wires were shorting. Especially the wires going to the ignition switch. Would there be a relay that the ignition switch pulls in?

I will not have a chance to look at it again til Thursday probably.
Should I invest in a new ignition switch tomorrow? Or some other part? Or wait and do further diagnostics?
 
Sure is a relay underhood fuse panel. Thats what the issue was with mine that I couldn't get the starter to ENGAGE.

Perhaps yours is getting stuck.

Or the solonoid on the starter itself.
 
Matt Bachand said:
Sure is a relay underhood fuse panel. Thats what the issue was with mine that I couldn't get the starter to ENGAGE.

Perhaps yours is getting stuck.

Or the solonoid on the starter itself.
Click to expand...

Where can I find the top end of the little wire that gose to the starter? If that is disconnected - possibly much easier to do above than below. that would tell me something. I could also check for power from either direction while disconnected.
 
jrsavoie said:
Where can I find the top end of the little wire that gose to the starter? If that is disconnected - possibly much easier to do above than below. that would tell me something. I could also check for power from either direction while disconnected.
Click to expand...

You'd have to check a wiring diagram. Someone else chime in please.

I wouldn't be surprised if the other end IS the relay.
 
It's a day away but I guess I will seperate the wires going to the positive post and check them individually for continuity to see which are going to ground. The starter lead should be dead. Actually they all should be dead with the key off.
 
It seems it was the solenoid. The wire from the battery to the starter is grounded big time.
Does anybody have a starter for sale? Or has anybody seen a great deal on one? If not I'll be looking at a new AC Delco.
Our local rebuilders reputation is suffering a little and he isn't cheap enough. Nothings cheap enough if you have to work on something twice because you saved a buck on a part.
 
I don't know about using the old one. What happened with it was, the purple wire going to the solenoid somehow got up against the heat shield. The starter on 2 occassions didn't quit when you turned the key back.

Not quite sure how all that worked or why that wire going to ground would cause the starter to stay engaged. I don't have a clue how the wire got in the position it was in. Maybe got hooked on corn stubble or something since the mudflap was M.I.A.

I actually was betting on needing an ignition switch. Probably still do. The Suburban has 244,000 miles on it & the ignition switch is original.

Everything seems to be going good now. My fishbite is gone also. That could have been the ground work or the new PMD I did while I was at it.
 
Well the saga continues. The suburban had dead batteries 2 days in a row. So I'm back to thinking ignition switch.
Something is shorting out and killing the batteries. With the starter run on problem I'm back to guessing the ignition switch.
Does anybody have any other ideas?
 
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