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ignition switch?

The suburban died today on the way to town. Started back up as soon as the wait to start light came on and cycled which was almost immediately.
I changed the ignition switch out. The old switch looked in amazingly good condition other than 3 of the spade connectors in the back seemed to be stuck on more than they should have. The contacts weren't all fried like The Tahoes were. I'm guessing there was nothing wrong with the switch till I tore it apart.
The 3 wires that were stuck seemed to have been overheated. The plastic along side them was discolored. The coating wasn't noticablt distorted though.
What is the general cause of the wait to start light problem with dieing and not starting til the wait to start light cycles?
 
ak diesel driver said:
selenoid sticking?
Click to expand...
The solenoid stuck when the starter puked but the same as the batteries dieing I think that was more a symptom than a cause.
We talked about the relays but we weren't sure how to check them.
Dang old intermintent problems. It ran for about a month without a hitch before falling off the wagon again.
 
What is the general cause of the wait to start light problem with dieing and not starting til the wait to start light cycles?
Click to expand...

The quick answer is the grounds.....but a bad Ign switch could do it also, Just not as common.
 
Matt Bachand said:
Or Relays? Unplug em all and see if the drain stops.
Click to expand...

How do I measure the drain? What else could I unhook to help narrow down the source of the drain? Could I hook an inline ammeter on the drivers side battery? The passenger side battery should be of little consequence unless the solenoid is getting juice from the starter relay hanging.
How much are the relays? How can you test them out of the vehicle?
Thanks everybody for the advice and help as always
 
If you remove the pass battery from the circuit, and remove the positive terminal off the DS battery, and use your test light to make the connection from the POS terminal of DS battery to the pos cable that should go into the DS battery.

If there is a draw it should light up when truck is off. Pull the radio fuse as that has power for memory.

You should be able to measure the amps of the draw very simularly I would think.
 
So far so good since the ignition switch. But that doesn't mean anything other than if the switch wasn't the problem it will be near impossible to determine the real problem til it decides to act up again.
 
Yesterday it died - no stutter - while I was driving down the road about 55 mph and had the "no wait to start light" issue. I turned the key several times and the WTS came on and the Suburban started.
Now I'm going to have to search to find out what causes the WTS engine dies issue.

This vehicle is really jacking me. Every time I do anything to it, it runs fine for about a month.
It's supposed to be my daughters daily driver. But I can't have her driving it til I am sure we have the dieing issue fixed. I surely do not want it dieing on her in an intersection or on railroad tracks.
No codes or history when we hooked it up.
I searched and could not find the threads that dealt with the vehicle dieing and then no start til the WTS light came on after several turns of the key.
I was even involved in a couple of those threads.
 
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Quadruple check and clean fuses specifically ECM, power loss to the 'puter will most positively result in no WTS issue. Either power or ground.

OR

Ignition switch isn't making the proper power signal to PCM, cycling the key made the contact. Thus when WTS is lit, truck will fire, else crank no start.

Can't think of what else it could be. Unplug and inspect PCM's harnesses, grounds, braided ground straps (if you still have those)...

I love the 6.5, but I'm not sure I'd trust it enough for my wife or daughter... unless she's into that kinda stuff!

Brand new Honda Civic Leases for 99bux a month, 1k down.
 
Thanks I'll go after the connections again asap. Not to many that I haven't had apart. There are a few grounds that I didn't solder or replace yet. If they cleaned up fast I just copper coated or used dialectic grease and put them back together
 
Did you reuse the pmd. if yes how long was it used for before you "remoted" it? and where was it mounted? Maybe its fried. Do you have another one to try?
Leroy
 
I switched the starter and Ac relays back about 5-20-10 and haven't had a problem since.

Don't know that that has anything to do with anything though. Time will tell. It's gone longer than this before the WTS ghost reappeared previously.

There is a thread I've been looking for that told which brand of relays are better and where to buy them.
Does anybody know that info off the top of their head or the thread I'm talkin about?
I should pick up several relays.
 
The WTS light GHost is back.

The wife drove 1/2 mile and the 96 Suburban died this morning.

It made it about 6 monthes this time.

Died, No wait to start light, restarted immediately when the Wait to start light showed back up.

It seems to me that the Wait to start ghost is more prominent and harder to cure in the 96's?

The problem with diagnosing and saying the problem is fixed is the length of time between when it happened last and when it reappears. It could be 6 minutes or 6 monthes before it happens again. I have thought I had it fixed several times.

Is it correct that the PMD is not part of the equation when it comes to the wait to start ghost?

I just had a thought. Optic sensor?

Does anybody want to buy it?
 
What's changed now from June when you had your last issue, cold weather; possibly a connector pulling a way "cold electrical joint" mechanically failing with onset of cooler weather, I don't think optic as it runs okay when not failing yes/no ????

I'm working exact same issue for a neighbor 1/4 mile down road from me with his 98, just drafted a email to Bill to pick his noggin waiting for the reply as "normal" suspects aren't panning out.

When I figure my neighbors issue out I'll give a "Holler back" at you, to see if we can apply same fix to yours.

It may be a few days before I get to him though; my wife says for me to put the head back on her TDI & get it running before I do anything for anybody else, she was a little miffed at me last nite when I went over with a spare PMD in hand just "Knowing it was a PMD issue".

She's been without "her bug" for a week while parts came in & head was getting worked, I picked up the head yesterday late afternoon, she figured I'd have it in last nite, but a dealer run req'd for last trinkets I need to do the install, if she saw me on the puter rite now I'd be toast, so I'll be hit miss participation here for next few days.

As saying goes nobody's happy if the boss ain't happy :)
 
The WTS light GHost is back.

The wife drove 1/2 mile and the 96 Suburban died this morning.

It made it about 6 monthes this time.

Died, No wait to start light, restarted immediately when the Wait to start light showed back up.

It seems to me that the Wait to start ghost is more prominent and harder to cure in the 96's?

The problem with diagnosing and saying the problem is fixed is the length of time between when it happened last and when it reappears. It could be 6 minutes or 6 monthes before it happens again. I have thought I had it fixed several times.

Is it correct that the PMD is not part of the equation when it comes to the wait to start ghost?

I just had a thought. Optic sensor?

Does anybody want to buy it?
Click to expand...




My WTS Ghost was absolutely related to the GROUNDS on the rear pass side intake manifold.....either the crimps on the eyelets come loose or the wire worked it's way out of the eyelet, or the studs and eyelets are not making good connections.....The problem is 90% that ground area.....Even after "fixing those connections," I have had to revisit them again.

Seems to me that after you cut the original factory crimped connectors off, your doomed to make a "as good as factory" connection, either because the aftermarket connectors are not good quality, or the actual crimp/connection is not up to par, due to tools, parts or workmanship......You need to get quality connectors, crimp, solder and weatherproof the whole "deal".

Those grounds are responsible for to much of the "heart" of what makes these rigs run.

I still don't know whether it's a better idea to crimp both wires into one eyelet, or to put one connector on each wire?.....Also if any of those ground wires are attached to the trans dipstick, get it off and put it on a stud from the manifold.

This is just the knowledge that "I" have come to notice about this very important area that is so crucial to the PCM and it's subordinites.
 
As saying goes nobody's happy if the boss ain't happy
Never a truer saying has been said.

The Suburban runs great when not having the issue. It may be another 6 monthes til it does it again.

This particular issue deals directly with the fact that the vehicle dies and does not restart til after 1 to 100 turns of the key and the WTS light comes on. When the light comes on the Suburban will start.

If the WTS light does not come on the vehicle will not start.

This morning the Burb was only running for acouple of minutes before it died. She hit the key many times and finally the WTS light came on and it started.

Turbine Doc said:
What's changed now from June when you had your last issue, cold weather; possibly a connector pulling a way "cold electrical joint" mechanically failing with onset of cooler weather, I don't think optic as it runs okay when not failing yes/no ????

I'm working exact same issue for a neighbor 1/4 mile down road from me with his 98, just drafted a email to Bill to pick his noggin waiting for the reply as "normal" suspects aren't panning out.

When I figure my neighbors issue out I'll give a "Holler back" at you, to see if we can apply same fix to yours.

It may be a few days before I get to him though; my wife says for me to put the head back on her TDI & get it running before I do anything for anybody else, she was a little miffed at me last nite when I went over with a spare PMD in hand just "Knowing it was a PMD issue".

She's been without "her bug" for a week while parts came in & head was getting worked, I picked up the head yesterday late afternoon, she figured I'd have it in last nite, but a dealer run req'd for last trinkets I need to do the install, if she saw me on the puter rite now I'd be toast, so I'll be hit miss participation here for next few days.

As saying goes nobody's happy if the boss ain't happy :)
Click to expand...
 
Brooklyn Tow said:
My WTS Ghost was absolutely related to the GROUNDS on the rear pass side intake manifold.....either the crimps on the eyelets come loose or the wire worked it's way out of the eyelet, or the studs and eyelets are not making good connections.....The problem is 90% that ground area.....Even after "fixing those connections," I have had to revisit them again.

Seems to me that after you cut the original factory crimped connectors off, your doomed to make a "as good as factory" connection, either because the aftermarket connectors are not good quality, or the actual crimp/connection is not up to par, due to tools, parts or workmanship......You need to get quality connectors, crimp, solder and weatherproof the whole "deal".

Those grounds are responsible for to much of the "heart" of what makes these rigs run.

I still don't know whether it's a better idea to crimp both wires into one eyelet, or to put one connector on each wire?.....Also if any of those ground wires are attached to the trans dipstick, get it off and put it on a stud from the manifold.

This is just the knowledge that "I" have come to notice about this very important area that is so crucial to the PCM and it's subordinites.
Click to expand...



I know you're waiting for tim's input (I would be too), but just redo those grounds, (If you haven't done it already) and if it doesn't work, it'll be one less thing to cross off your list.
 
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