Steering Box Replacment Now No Start Condiditon

1FastSport · December 2, 2010

Hey guys

Ok well the pitman arm seal on my girlfriends 01 Silverado 4x4 took a crap in the parking lot of her work. Well I was able to get a new steering box from the Chevy dealer on short notice and was able to change it. I made sure to use the seatbelt to restrain the steering wheel as to not let it move and indexed the intermediate shaft.

After I got everything hooked back up, and added PS fluid and bled the system...let her drive it around the parking lot making various left and right turns I rechecked the fluid and it was full, well I had her shut the truck off and now it will not restart...just clicks like the battery is dead or the starter took a crap. I was reading about the Airbag Coil/clockspring and the SRS system in the haynes manual, and am concerned mabye the wheel moved and broke the clockspring. Will a SRS or airbag system error keep the truck in emergency power mode? Will it keep it from restarting???

I am totally at a loss for what the heck could be going on. I tried to jump start it and nothing. If the wheel rotated enough to break the airbag coil what would be the symptoms other than the horn not working? I've searched several sites without any other posts similar to this. I will try the horn to see if the connection is broken but I havent yet checked the horn as it is at her work. I will tomorrow as well as double check battery voltage, or replace the battery.

Can I disable and re-arm the SRS system to get it out of Crash mode? IF that is what it is stuck in????

I cannot understand how it can fireup and drive around fine and then nothing. I was putting the splash shields back on and heard kinda a buzzing noize like a relay or something and didnt think anything of it. She had her headlights on and they dimmed and her gauges went dark. Well she tried to restart it and nothing.

The clockspring should have nothing to do with the vehicle starting right?

HEEELLLLLP HELP

8.1HD/ALLISON · December 2, 2010

Nothing with the air bag system will keep the truck from starting. Sounds to me like you have a really dead battery. Maybe droped a cell or 2, or could be loose connections at the cables. I would double check the connections and have the battery tested. Only thing a broken clockspring should do is set the air bag light and a few codes. Good luck!