Car Issue

[BCClone]

Do you have a voltage gauge in the vehicle? Reason I said cables is I had the same thing happen in a semi. Couldn’t figure out why it would start sometimes and not others, I thought the starter would be going but didn’t want to idle the truck just then. My volt meter would read like 15 going down the road. I figured out the problem when I flipped the heater fan on and the truck died, turned it off and it fired back up (that’s fun when it happens going down the road at 60 at 90k pounds). The volt meter would bounce all over when I would flip the fan on and off. I stopped, checked cables and the ground was a little loose. I retightened everything and the volt meter hummed along at 13-13.5 the rest of the time. It was up at 15 because I was basically running all electrics off my alternator and the batteries weren’t doing anything.

 

[CycloneDaddy]

Do you have a voltage gauge in the vehicle? Reason I said cables is I had the same thing happen in a semi. Couldn’t figure out why it would start sometimes and not others, I thought the starter would be going but didn’t want to idle the truck just then. My volt meter would read like 15 going down the road. I figured out the problem when I flipped the heater fan on and the truck died, turned it off and it fired back up (that’s fun when it happens going down the road at 60 at 90k pounds). The volt meter would bounce all over when I would flip the fan on and off. I stopped, checked cables and the ground was a little loose. I retightened everything and the volt meter hummed along at 13-13.5 the rest of the time. It was up at 15 because I was basically running all electrics off my alternator and the batteries weren’t doing anything.

There is a volt meter in the vehicle. It will bounce around occasionally but it is designed to do that per my interwebs search a few years ago.

I have a appointment to have it looked at tomorrow.

 

[yler4cy]

You could have a ground that has come look on the starter, or maybe even a dead spot in the starter. Also, if the solenoid is just clicking it may be sticking. Most starters have the solenoid built into it.

 

[BCClone]

There is a volt meter in the vehicle. It will bounce around occasionally but it is designed to do that per my interwebs search a few years ago.

I have an appointment to have it looked at tomorrow.

It shouldn’t bounce around. If you are pulling a lot of amps then it should be higher but it should be a slow adjustment that you don’t notice much. If you can see movement, their is something wrong.

 

[CycloneDaddy]

It shouldn’t bounce around. If you are pulling a lot of amps then it should be higher but it should be a slow adjustment that you don’t notice much. If you can see movement, their is something wrong.

Bounce was the wrong term. Yes the movement is slow as you described.

My wife drove the vehicle this morning with no issue and I just checked and the battery was reading 12.62.

 

[cycloneted]

 

[NickTheGreat]

I'd follow the negative battery cable to the ground locations and make sure those look good. GMs do some weird things when the grounds start to get flaky. My 2013 Denali had gremlins.

Any dash lights at all? Mine would manifest as the fuel pump control module.

My last Silverado (2007) had an electrical issue that I think was a bad ground somewhere. It wouldn't start sometimes, but I could "wiggle" the battery leads and it would usually start. Was at the dealer many times, and they couldn't replicate. One time I watched it happen in the service bay. Eventually after another round of disassembly/diagnosis, it quit doing that, and was good for the next 6 or 7 years I had it.

 

[CycloneDaddy]

Put a new starter in last Tuesday and have zero issues since. Best guess was the starter had a dead spot. Kind of sucks to spend $750 (parts and labor) on a best guess.