Jump to content

Starter Bad after Car Wash

Tanya

By Tanya
in Troubleshooting, Warranty & Recalls

 Share

Recommended Posts

Chase89 New Member

Chase89

Posted
Posted
On 2/28/2020 at 2:01 PM, Tanya said:

Has anyone had any issues with their starter on a 2019 Chevy Trail Boss going bad after going through a car wash.    I am on my third starter today in less than two months.  My vehicle has 13,000 miles on.  The last three times I washed it, I used two different car washes and all three times, when I shut the truck off, it will not start again.  Have to have it towed to the dealership, they replace the starter and cannot find anything else.  They cannot see where anything would be getting wet.   I am not washing the engine just the outside using the carwash places I have for the past year.   It was fine up until the first part of January when it quit the first time.  Then the next two times I washed it, boom wrecked the starter.  

 

 

I had mine go out at the car wash a few days ago. Wouldn’t turn over. This is a 2021 Trailboss so I’m so blown away. 

  • Sad 1
  • 1 year later...
Roofed up New Member

Roofed up

Posted
Posted

I have a 2021 GMC AT4 took it to the car wash washed the mats put the mats back in the truck dried off all my windows and door jams as I live in Manitoba and our winter get below -40 at times. Once I was done I tried to start the truck to leave and it would not start. After having a neighbour mechanic look it over we were dumbfounded. Thought the fuel pump was not working, had it towed to GMC to find out my FLOOR MAT WAS OVER THE GAS PEDAL, "REALLY"!!! I Mean when has a floor mat ever been a problem like this?

First I have ever heard of it. Apparently the truck thinks it's being flooded and won't start.

Anyways just wanted to share so if anyone else has the issue it at least saves the tow.

Best to all of you.

Regards,

 

  • 2 weeks later...
Johnat4 New Member

Johnat4

Posted
Posted

Wow so glad I found this post. Did the same thing with my 2020 AT4. Replaced the washed floor mat over the gas pedal as it was too dark to see under there. Walked a mile to a Starbucks and then read this post. I was just going to arrange a tow truck, but I instead went back and noticed the floor mat issue and it started right up. How dumb do I feel. You saved my day. John (Alberta) 

Mike Duhaime Enthusiast

Mike Duhaime

Posted
Posted
On 2/21/2023 at 12:11 PM, Roofed up said:

I have a 2021 GMC AT4 took it to the car wash washed the mats put the mats back in the truck dried off all my windows and door jams as I live in Manitoba and our winter get below -40 at times. Once I was done I tried to start the truck to leave and it would not start. After having a neighbour mechanic look it over we were dumbfounded. Thought the fuel pump was not working, had it towed to GMC to find out my FLOOR MAT WAS OVER THE GAS PEDAL, "REALLY"!!! I Mean when has a floor mat ever been a problem like this?

First I have ever heard of it. Apparently the truck thinks it's being flooded and won't start.

Anyways just wanted to share so if anyone else has the issue it at least saves the tow.

Best to all of you.

Regards,

 

Any vehicle has that strategy. Foot to floor, computer cuts fuel....but it cranks. This lady has no crank, different issue

Mike Duhaime Enthusiast

Mike Duhaime

Posted
Posted
On 3/2/2020 at 6:45 PM, Tanya said:

Thanks for the responses.  The dealer had my truck ready for me today.  They said they could not find anything electrical. Supposedly checked it all and worked with a chevy adviser and still couldn't find anything.    They have ran it through their car wash twice leaving it sit and starting it as well as leave it run for awhile, turning it off and then starting it.  It started every time.  I told the service adviser to take it over to the car wash I went to and use my account and wash it again.   They did and guess what.... They got it back to the dealership and it wouldn't start!  So now they are baffled and maybe it will actually get fixed.  Nothing like putting a brand new starter in and 4hours later shorting it out.  They are on Starter #4 in two months.  Frustrating.  

Sorry to hear about this!

You have no crank right...no noise...just nothing? That starter gets power from a relay, before that computer..all fuses.

It could be something as simple as the negative cable to frame. I've seen it all as an auto, truck and construction equipment tech. When the truck is towed, they twist the frame and may cause bad connection to work again. We just don't know if 12 volts made it to solenoid of starter. Sad thing is, it must fail to test. In some really hard cases, we added a jumper wire to the starter solenoid. If you got stuck and had no crank, you simply touched the positive of battery and starter worked....if it was relay or wiring, computer. As long as starter was good, it cranked with jumper.

The tech at garage needs to do this and park truck. spray water all over and test...

Please let us know how you make out with this..

JimCost2014 Senior Enthusiast

JimCost2014

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Mike Duhaime said:

Sorry to hear about this!

 

Please let us know how you make out with this..

She last posted 3 years and 7 days ago. Thinking problem solved or truck sold.

  • Thanks 2
Mike Duhaime Enthusiast

Mike Duhaime

Posted
Posted
15 hours ago, JimCost2014 said:

She last posted 3 years and 7 days ago. Thinking problem solved or truck sold.

Ouch, didn't see that. I'll have to stop posting late at night after a lot of drinks..

I always wish people would respond with outcome.

  • Haha 1

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.

  • Forum Statistics

    250.4k
    Total Topics
    2.7m
    Total Posts

  • Member Statistics

    342,791
    Total Members
    8,960
    Most Online
    d.lowrey
    Newest Member
    d.lowrey
    Joined

  • Who's Online   0 Members, 1 Anonymous, 4,018 Guests (See full list)

    • There are no registered users currently online

  • Latest Articles

  • Posts

    • Grumpy Bear
      J&L OIL SEPARATOR CO

      By Grumpy Bear · Posted

      Just did an injector/HPFP replacement on Pepper at 192,400 miles; close enough to 200K, RIGHT? (If 200K is considered life end and to me it isn't). But hey, to each his own.    Have never run a catch can on this vehicle. Back side of every valve looked like a new valve spray painted semigloss black. Port walls looked 'neat' (all a normal result of passive EGR via VVT) Zero build up even in AFM cylinders. Just color. It uses no measurable oil and never has.    At 155,000 I put her on E-85 and a borescope of the cylinders at plug change showed very clean pistons and valve faces. The replaced injector tips looked new. (It was the pump piston seal that was leaking). Oh well, have six good backups.    Still gets 28 mpg on gas (highway average) and over 20 (highway) on alky. UOA's look good and runs as good now as it did when I bought it. Better in fact.    What improvement would a Catch Can provide this motor?     And given all this I expect that IF I installed one I'd see some water/gas/oil vapor accumulation. Byproducts of normal combustion.   Having said that, IF my motor used an appreciable amount of oil I'd consider it a useful 'crutch' until I had the situation corrected OR if bore polished, until I junked it or rebuilt it to stave off repeated plug fouling.    I'm not telling you what I THINK. But what its DONE.          
    • Grumpy Bear
      Starting a new thread regarding mounting my 2014 OEM wheels to my 2026

      By Grumpy Bear · Posted

      Love the look. I'm a SCSB lover myself.    Two items. 1.) A spacer changes scrub radius but this also changes when we use wheels of different offsets. A little isn't a big deal. 2.) Steel wheels, alloy wheels all have different thickness. Same effect on the stud and lug nut as a spacer. When hub centric the wheel isn't supported by the stud. It's supported by the hub. The stud just keeps it all together.  
    • JAI3
      2016 Sierra 5.3L L83 new injectors now runs rich.

      By JAI3 · Posted

      I had a evap sol go bad a couple weeks ago. . I replaced it.  While watching live data at the time I saw I had some cylinder 1 misfires. No MIL but on live data I could see ~50 at startup and about 70 more after an hour a drive all on cyl 1.  I also noticed that the LTFT were -5% to -15% always.  And that bank 2 is always -3% richer than bank 1. Even across all driving modes, city, highway, etc it’s always 3% richer than bank 1. So I start with the misfire. Swapped coil, plug, and plug wires from 1 to 3. No follow. I got an Injector reseal kit, pulled the D/s injector rail, swapped #1 and #3 injectors, resealed them, reinstalled and retested.  The misfire followed to 3. So I ordered and replaced all 8 injectors, spark plugs, and plug wires. Also replaced the 1 time use fuel pipes under the intake manifold.  Injectors that were in the truck since new were  Part # 12668390.  I replaced them with # 12742701 Got from RockAuto. Pretty certain they’re genuine and the correct ones. I called a friend at a parts store who told me “the 12742701 were the correct superseded part # for the originals I was replacing”. So started truck after replacing all that and it’s running -15 - -30 LTFTs. I reset the fuel trims with GDS2 and drove it for a 60 miles trip each way. There have been no changes in the LTFTs.  I checked if the HPFP was leaking into the crankcase. I removed the pvc and watched the trims. No difference.  I checked the alcohol content and it was at 10%  I’m out of ideas here. Truck seems to run great. Just always rich on the fuel trims.  Anyone with any help or ideas would be greatly appreciated.  I ran an injector balance test just for the heck of it and it came back this. I’m confused.  I have gds2 and some other diag tools if anyone knows of anything I should test next.
    • Coastie05
      Will not stay in Reverse

      By Coastie05 · Posted

      Definitely needs to go back to the dealer. 
    • Grumpy Bear
      Wow I'm in a pickle. (Broke down truck) and a story.

      By Grumpy Bear · Posted

      No, but don't skimp on safe! 😉 

  • GM-Trucks.com Clubs

  • Popular Contributors

×
×
  • Create New...