00 jimmy won't start no clue why.

[j.rigby15r]

Just got a 2000 jimmy from a friend. Drove it home with no issues. Drove it a couple times with no issues. The last time I drove it I noticed the service engine light was on. Went to start it yesterday and nothing. Lights come on fuel pump hums battery has 12.5v. When I turn the key nothing happens no crank no click nothing. I checked fuses and battery connections all good. Tried the passlock reset but that did nothing. Security light comes on when you first turn the key but goes off. If key is in the accessorie spot and the door is open the security light blinks but goes out if you close the door. The thing started up just fine after sitting under a mound of snow when I picked it up but now nothing. What donindonand where do I start? I've seen this problem on the web but nobody has posted what fixed their problem. Any help would be great.

[BR3W CITY]

A battery can show 12.5 on a meter and have enough juice to run lights, but still be dead enough to not start the truck (diminished cranking amperage). Do the lights etc dim when you try and start it?

Do you hear any clicking from the starter (not the ignition switch or relay, the actual louder click from the starter)? A seized or dead starter can also happen in the cold. Try whacking it with a stick (seriously).

[j.rigby15r]

Originally Posted by BR3W CITY

A battery can show 12.5 on a meter and have enough juice to run lights, but still be dead enough to not start the truck (diminished cranking amperage). Do the lights etc dim when you try and start it?

Do you hear any clicking from the starter (not the ignition switch or relay, the actual louder click from the starter)? A seized or dead starter can also happen in the cold. Try whacking it with a stick (seriously).

I didn't notice the lights dimming. Majority of the time I had it hooked to my other car with jumper cables or to a battery tender. I can't hear the starter click. Was wondering if it was frozen. Thought about putting a heat light on it and let it warm up and try it again. Or pull the wife's car out of the garage and let it sit in there for awhile. If only it could be something this easy. I've read of people struggling for months to fix issues like this.

[izzy_Britton]

so my go to with any weird electrical issue is HAVE YOU CHECKED THE GROUNDS? I had a friend with an s-10 years ago who couldnt get his truck to start, over dinner i bet him a dollar that i could get it running. went out to truck wiggled under dash grounds, truck started. he gave the truck to me, i paid him ONE DOLLAR. sounds dumb i know but always always check your grounds.

the other thing that comes to mind with these trucks, and the only reason i know this is because the truck i am building for my wife had a similar problem as yours and wouldnt start, wouldnt click wouldnt do squat. make sure the truck is in PARK or neutral. my wifes truck was physically in park but the neutral safety switch on the side of the trans was out of adjustment and make the truck think it was between park and reverse, and therefor wouldnt start. what does the gear selector indicator say on your dashboard?

is it manual or automagic? if manual, straight up, check your neutral safety switch attached to the clutch pedal? i dont own a manual so couldnt tell ya exactly where it is located.

and lastly as BR3W says... smack that starter with the handle end of a mini sledge. i am guessing this is not your problem because i would imagine, frozen, froze up or just busted the starter solenoid would make some kinda noise. but again, check the ground AND power wires to the starter.

jack that truck up and jump the starter with a screw driver, if it cranks or turns the starter, then you know the issue is not the starter itself, but something else.

what year is your truck?

-Izzy

[j.rigby15r]

It's a 2000 jimmy sle with the 4.3L

[j.rigby15r]

Originally Posted by izzy_Britton

so my go to with any weird electrical issue is HAVE YOU CHECKED THE GROUNDS? I had a friend with an s-10 years ago who couldnt get his truck to start, over dinner i bet him a dollar that i could get it running. went out to truck wiggled under dash grounds, truck started. he gave the truck to me, i paid him ONE DOLLAR. sounds dumb i know but always always check your grounds.

the other thing that comes to mind with these trucks, and the only reason i know this is because the truck i am building for my wife had a similar problem as yours and wouldnt start, wouldnt click wouldnt do squat. make sure the truck is in PARK or neutral. my wifes truck was physically in park but the neutral safety switch on the side of the trans was out of adjustment and make the truck think it was between park and reverse, and therefor wouldnt start. what does the gear selector indicator say on your dashboard?

So I am new to this new of a truck. I spend most of my time with old ones that are simple to work with. Where exactly is the ground under the dash? As I mentioned it is outside and it's in the -20s so I don't spend to much time outside. If you could point me in the right direction of where to check under the dash that would help me a lot.

Also I put the battery in my garage and charged it up to 13.7 cleaned the battery terminals and cables at the battery. When I cranked it I noticed the dash lights go out for a second than came back in and all the gauges and lights reset. Don't know if that means anything.

[99LS1500]

Have you checked the fuse box fuses and relays under the hood ? Could be a bad fuse or starter relay.
Also, check your firewall ground strap and the negative battery ground wire connection at the frame. They corrode from the inside out as they age and cause random no crank issues.

[68c10airstream]

As a past dealer mechanic gm has the feature of being able to remove the cable molded ends (the red and black ) at the battery. What you end up doing is pry/wiggle the battery cable bolt out of the colored end and then slipping the colored end off and exposing the actual cable eyelet. I use a stainless brush and a single edge razor blade to dress the cable to make it smooth. the brush gets into the little cracks.

Unless you have done a voltage drop test paralleling the cable while someone else cranking the starter it's a mystery. Not trying to be pain, but the mechanics that i worked with that came to me and said they checked every connection i would ask "what was the voltage drop per connection" Their reply was "what"??

My fix for these fellow mechanics was to first do as stated above and remove the molded ends and say "look at the crappy connections". How do you expect the starter to work properly through that oxidation??

Remember that late model vehicles weatherproof all of the positive circuits and all of the grounds are exposed. When i work on friends vehicles and anything comes up as a potential low voltage poor connection in their best interests i do what i call a ground sweep. I spend an hour or two and remove every ground i can find, shine each eyelet up, reinstall and cover it up with grease and tell them you can forget about those grounds ever giving you trouble again because i cleaned it and by covering it up with grease when it was clean the salt can't get at it. If your truck is the same as the fullsize 99 and newer silverado trucks look under your drivers left foot on the frame where the cab mounts to a cup welded onto the outside of the frame. 2-3 big/small cables attach to the back side of the cup and are really blasted with salt. For sure the circuit is for the abs and other circuits.

Google "voltage drop test" and even a relatively cheap volt meter can be used for this. Good luck.

[j.rigby15r]

I've been meaning to do a voltage drop test. I've been flying solo as it's hard to get people to come work outside when it's -20. I plan on recruiting some help this weekend and moving it into my garage and going through all the grounds and cleaning them up. I cleaned the battery terminals up. The positive side had some corrosion but the grounds seemed good. I'm not real strong with electrical. That being said I'm good at following diagrams and directions. I'll try that see what happens. Thanks for the advice.

[99LS1500]

Check all your ground connections, relays and fuses before buying any parts. I learned that the hard way $$$$ when having the same issue a few months back. My fix was cleaning the corrosion off the frame under the truck where the battery negative wire was grounded and adding a new firewall ground wire.

[j.rigby15r]

So random turn of events. Had a warmer day today +9 degrees. Decided to spend some time on the jimmy. Bundled up and went outside with a hand full of tools. Checked the voltage drop, which wasn't significant. So I decided to just try and crank it one more time before I got full in. Believe it or not she started right up without any hesitation. Let her run for about 20 minutes before taking her for a couple laps in through the neighborhood. No issues. Pulled the wife's car out and decided to look over and see if I could figure out why she didn't start then did start. Checked and cleaned all the grounds I could find. The only one that had a mentionable amount of corrosion was the ground that went from the cable to under the battery tray. The one that mounted to the frame looked corroded but wasn't bad the eyelet was clean and the one to the starter was just covered in oil. Checked the block to the firewall and it was clean. Don't know why it wouldn't start. My only guess was it doesn't like the extreme cold. Even though it was plugged in with pan heaters, block heater and trickle charge. Something else didn't react well to the cold. Maybe moisture got inside a connection and when it warmed up it finally connected. Going to keep it in the garage over the weekend to let it dry out. We will see. Here's for hoping.