Hard To Start And Electrical Problem

[Raptor660r]

I have a 99 GMC Suburban 4x4 5.7l(350)

 

have a couple of problems that seem connected but might not be.

 

The 1st is the trck is getting very hard to start. It cranks for a longer period of time, and sometimes does not fire. Other times it will fire up and die after a second. If I give it gas when it does fire up I can get it running.

 

The 2nd problem is while all the above is happening the truck power cuts out, and resets the clock. Sometimes I hear a click click from under the dashboard, and hear other electrical items making noises. It almost sounds like relays clicking.

 

The fuel pump went out about 2 months ago, and its been changed since.

 

I am not sure what the problem is, but its our family truck, and I need to get it back on the road..

 

Thanks

Joe

[L29er]

well you could check for corosion in your battery terminals, pretty common and can cause lots of problems, but could be many possibilities

[Raptor660r]

I will check, but I do not think that is it. The battery has side posts, and I had it disconnected when I replaced the fuel pump. They looked good then.

[HawkScot]

You may have a bad starter causing the cut out, especially with the extra workout it is getting while hard starting is happening. As for the hard starting, my 92 Suburban was getting harder to start a bit and finally would not go that well either above idle. I did a bunch of routine maintenance that was over due but the part you might benefit from is that I replaced the fuel filter (not sure if you did that when you changed the pump recently). I still had to change the starter but at 238,000 miles on the orginal starter, I don't feel too bad.

[alaska511]

I had a similar issue on my Tahoe, and I found the negative battery terminal, the actual lead side post in the battery, had actually come loose from the battery itself. It was perfectly clean but the battery terminal had failed within the battery. I pulled on it and came right out of the side of the batery.

[GatorFan]

I had a similar issue on my Tahoe, and I found the negative battery terminal, the actual lead side post in the battery, had actually come loose from the battery itself. It was perfectly clean but the battery terminal had failed within the battery. I pulled on it and came right out of the side of the batery.

Same thing happened to me. With the side posts, you usually miss the corrosion or even a loose terminal. Mine ended up being the battery and the cable. It would start sometimes and sometime it wouldn't. I think you should have your battery checked (a complete test with a load and without a load). I would also carefully inspect the areas around both terminals.

 

The starter would be the next thing I would check (as mentioned earlier).

 

Good luck and let us know how things go.

[Raptor660r]

I check the battery cables, terminals, Spark plug gaps.

 

It started up this morning, and ran fine. Its been sitting all afternoon. I went out to start it a few minutes ago and the lights on the dash were dim, and then came on like normal. So I cranked it and it cranked, fired, and died. I did it 3 times with no luck. The truck never fired up. I am going to change the battery out with the Battery in my other truck and see if the problem remains.

[rjirvine]

You can get some battery terminal protectant spray at Walmart (less than $2) or use vaseline on the posts to keep corrosion down.

[Raptor660r]

Well I swapped the batteries in my trucks. The problems have not come back. One would think the problem would show itself in my truck, but It has not. I hope this is the fix. Thanks for your help.

 

Joe