Tow vehicle issue - no start

[Originalsterm]

2004 Chevy Silverado 2500 - 6.0 liter gas motor

 

Sat for a few weeks, critter chewed some wire insulation by the fuse box under the hood. Wrapped these wires up and can't see/hear any shorting.  No start/crank.

 

Took the parts shotgun to it after probing around and not finding anything obvious.

Replaced:

Starter

Ignition switch

Battery

Starter relay

 

Any guesses?

[wvumtnbkr]

Uh, I'm guessing chewed wires.

 

That is quite the parts cannon.

 

How about blown fuses?

 

I assume it doesn't even turn over.

 

Get out the wiring diagrams and start chasing where you have power and where you don't.

 

Good luck.

[Team Infiniti]

Pop the cover off of your old starter relay, reinstall and manually close the contacts with the key in the run position, does it crank/start?

 

if so, check wires on trans range sensor.

 

I can get a wire diagram if needed.

[Originalsterm]

35 minutes ago, wvumtnbkr said:

Uh, I'm guessing chewed wires.

 

That is quite the parts cannon.

 

How about blown fuses?

 

I assume it doesn't even turn over.

 

Get out the wiring diagrams and start chasing where you have power and where you don't.

 

Good luck.

I haven't found any blown fuses. Doesn't even try to turn over.

So far power has been to most of the places it needs to be, but I haven't checked ALL places yet I suppose.

35 minutes ago, Team Infiniti said:

Pop the cover off of your old starter relay, reinstall and manually close the contacts with the key in the run position, does it crank/start?

 

if so, check wires on trans range sensor.

 

I can get a wire diagram if needed.

I tried starting in every transmission position, but maybe I can jump them to rule out a bad switch.

[Team Infiniti]

2 minutes ago, Originalsterm said:

I tried starting in every transmission position, but maybe I can jump them to rule out a bad switch

My suggestion shortcuts some but will isolate your issue to a particular piece of the circuit.

 

I did this technique just yesterday on a customers jeep.

 

 

[Originalsterm]

2 minutes ago, Team Infiniti said:

My suggestion shortcuts some but will isolate your issue to a particular piece of the circuit.

 

I did this technique just yesterday on a customers jeep.

 

 

In the office at the moment, I'll have to give the manual starter relay trick a shot this evening.

[Originalsterm]

On 8/6/2019 at 6:40 AM, Team Infiniti said:

Pop the cover off of your old starter relay, reinstall and manually close the contacts with the key in the run position, does it crank/start?

 

Yep, fired right up immediately

[Hanz and Franz]

On 8/5/2019 at 11:05 PM, Originalsterm said:

2004 Chevy Silverado 2500 - 6.0 liter gas motor

 

Sat for a few weeks, critter chewed some wire insulation by the fuse box under the hood. Wrapped these wires up and can't see/hear any shorting.  No start/crank.

 

Took the parts shotgun to it after probing around and not finding anything obvious.

Replaced:

Starter

Ignition switch

Battery

Starter relay

 

Any guesses?

My guess is, you should have tried a test light, with a technician attached to it! Now drive it to someone who will stop the hemorrhaging of your wallet.

Edited August 8, 2019 by Hanz and Franz

[Team Infiniti]

1 hour ago, Originalsterm said:

 

Yep, fired right up immediately

You have most powers in the right place, the computer is happy, I will look up the schematic when back from lunch

 

[Originalsterm]

34 minutes ago, Hanz and Franz said:

My guess is, you should have tried a test light, with a technician attached to it! Now drive it to someone who will stop the hemorrhaging of your wallet.

Test light showed nothing until I replaced the starter. Now the light shows power to the starter, but won't start until I manually engage the relay. 

[Team Infiniti]

Pretty complicated circuit, here is the alldata diagram

 

https://photos.app.goo.gl/hL18zq9XJQCEhAKE7

 

From the manual start you have proven out ign A fuse 40a and related wires, next will be double checking crank fuse 10a with a assistant and test light to fuse with key in start position.. both pins should have batt + when in crank

 

Edited August 8, 2019 by Team Infiniti

[Originalsterm]

Park/neutral switch maybe? I'll jumper that out when it stops raining. 

[Team Infiniti]

3 minutes ago, Originalsterm said:

Park/neutral switch maybe? I'll jumper that out when it stops raining. 

I edited above

 

[67Mustang]

Critters chewed a bunch of wiring in  my moms Buick,  some of em through, but I never could figure out exactly what those particular wires went too lol,  It had an ABS light on and I was hoping it was for that, but no such luck after I patched the wires.  We eventually junked the car  but it had me scratching my head....

[Hanz and Franz]

15 hours ago, Originalsterm said:

Test light showed nothing until I replaced the starter. Now the light shows power to the starter, but won't start until I manually engage the relay. 

I don't know what  to say to this, other than "liar, liar, pants on fire". (nose growing, his debit card still sizzling from the last trip to the parts store). 

But for sure I see trans range sensors that simultaneously fail in both the park and neutral positions all the time, no maybe about it!

 

[Hanz and Franz]

So I went to look at you profile, "An automotive engineering background" really? What were you in charge of vanity mirrors and glove box lids? Maybe not, both have those electronical lighty things in them now days. Maybe it was the buttons, no, no, they have the lighty things too. May be it was the seat track covers, meant to keep the loose change out of the seat rails, no,no, you don't seem to care about money either, especially small change. Lug nuts! that's it you must be the lug nut guy! I think I'll call you Lug Nut!

[Originalsterm]

50 minutes ago, Hanz and Franz said:

So I went to look at you profile, "An automotive engineering background" really? What were you in charge of vanity mirrors and glove box lids? Maybe not, both have those electronical lighty things in them now days. Maybe it was the buttons, no, no, they have the lighty things too. May be it was the seat track covers, meant to keep the loose change out of the seat rails, no,no, you don't seem to care about money either, especially small change. Lug nuts! that's it you must be the lug nut guy! I think I'll call you Lug Nut!

 

Wow dude, why the shade?

 

I used a test light and had power everywhere I expected to, except the starter.  So I figured I should pull the starter and get it tested, which showed that the solenoid was bad, so I threw a new starter in.  Now there is power there, but still no start.  Other than that, I had power every place I expected to and assumed some of the issues might be an intermittent connection that "looked good" when I pushed on it with a test light/multimeter.  Some of these issues required me to be at the wheel and under the hood at the same time, kinda tough to do with one person, so my troubleshooting was limited to what I could do and I asked for likely things to chase down that I didn't already do.

 

I have a Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering (not electrical, those are different things).  I have a Master's degree in Engineering Management.  I worked at Delphi as a design engineer in advanced emissions.  I designed a hydrogen reformer that took gasoline (another project was for diesel) and broke it down into hydrogen through a high temperature catalytic reaction to dump into the intake manifold of a car to reduce emissions.  In 2004, this reformer was coupled to a Chevy Trailblazer and when driven through the EPA drive cycle it achieved SULEV emissions requirements, something Honda Civics were achieving at the time.  We also coupled this unit to a 7 series BMW (Hydrogen 7), very cool experience.

 

After that, I spent 10 years for GM working on PEM fuel cells for an automotive application.  My responsibility was designing and developing the test equipment for these fuel cells.  As I'm sure you're aware, this required tight dynamic control of hydrogen, oxygen, humidity, pressure, coolant, and an electronic load to be applied to the test article while logging 300+ data acquisition channels.  

 

My senior design project in college was to develop the suspension and steering for a SAE Mini Baja car.  Not a ton of electrical components in that design from what I recall, but I would still classify it as "automotive".  Several of my classes in college and some of my early experiences after involved CFD, both modeling thermal properties in a car as well as aerodynamics, have you ever seen a car with a radiator or spoiler?  Neither of those are electrical either.

 

Not every automotive engineer has the test light under the hood.  There are quite a few mechanical components on a car that have nothing to do with the computer, battery, fuses, relays, wiring, switches, or moving electrons about.  I'd love to know what qualifies you to act like a know-it-all on a car forum because a member asked a question about something they aren't an expert in.  

 

[Hanz and Franz]

So Mr. Lug Nut, you are the guy who wants me to look at the wiring diagram, deduce a test plan, take my meter and go find the reason why your hydrogen refrigeration unit keeps setting a false alarm for low pressure right?  And for the record I gave you very sound advice, take it to a professional, stop wasting your time and money. As for my qualifications, I am just a guy who has drank with Volta, Ohm, Ampere, Bernoulli, Reynolds, Avogadro, Mendeleev, Euclid, who do you hang out with?

[Originalsterm]

45 minutes ago, Hanz and Franz said:

As for my qualifications, I am just a guy who has drank with Volta, Ohm, Ampere, Bernoulli, Reynolds, Avogadro, Mendeleev, Euclid, who do you hang out with?

 

I hang out with people who enjoy being around me.  I can tell by your tone that isn't the case for you, enjoy being an expert in everything and acting smart on the internet.  

[wvumtnbkr]

3 hours ago, Hanz and Franz said:

So I went to look at you profile, "An automotive engineering background" really? What were you in charge of vanity mirrors and glove box lids? Maybe not, both have those electronical lighty things in them now days. Maybe it was the buttons, no, no, they have the lighty things too. May be it was the seat track covers, meant to keep the loose change out of the seat rails, no,no, you don't seem to care about money either, especially small change. Lug nuts! that's it you must be the lug nut guy! I think I'll call you Lug Nut!

Dude.  This is not the place for this.

 

 

[Guest E. Tyler Pedersen]

4 hours ago, Hanz and Franz said:

I don't know what  to say to this, other than "liar, liar, pants on fire". (nose growing, his debit card still sizzling from the last trip to the parts store). 

But for sure I see trans range sensors that simultaneously fail in both the park and neutral positions all the time, no maybe about it!

 

 

3 hours ago, Hanz and Franz said:

So I went to look at you profile, "An automotive engineering background" really? What were you in charge of vanity mirrors and glove box lids? Maybe not, both have those electronical lighty things in them now days. Maybe it was the buttons, no, no, they have the lighty things too. May be it was the seat track covers, meant to keep the loose change out of the seat rails, no,no, you don't seem to care about money either, especially small change. Lug nuts! that's it you must be the lug nut guy! I think I'll call you Lug Nut!

 

1 hour ago, Hanz and Franz said:

So Mr. Lug Nut, you are the guy who wants me to look at the wiring diagram, deduce a test plan, take my meter and go find the reason why your hydrogen refrigeration unit keeps setting a false alarm for low pressure right?  And for the record I gave you very sound advice, take it to a professional, stop wasting your time and money. As for my qualifications, I am just a guy who has drank with Volta, Ohm, Ampere, Bernoulli, Reynolds, Avogadro, Mendeleev, Euclid, who do you hang out with?

 

This will not be tolerated around here. Very thin ice right now. OP got his questions answered and there were people here who are willing to help.