1996 K1500 6.5 diesel Suburban No start

[jrsavoie]

1996 K1500 6.5 diesel Suburban No start about 360,000 miles

My daughter's Suburban 30 miles away

She said when she hits the key the glow plug light cycles correctly but when she goes to start. Nothing happens.

No click or anything.

Any likely ideas?

Maybe fuse, starter relay Not sure if the 96 has a starter relay or if the starter relay would cause a no click/ no nothing issue when the key is turned to start, ignition switch, bad wire, bad starter, neutral safety switch, Not sure what else

What all should I take with me?

Floor jack, impact, wrenches, screw driver, battery load tester, multimeter, breaker bar, sockets, torque wrench

 

[Twisted Steel Performance]

Tell her to keep hitting the switch. Sounds like the silonid going bad.

 

[jrsavoie]

Tell her to keep hitting the switch. Sounds like the silonid going bad.

I told her to hit it 20 or 30 times and she got nothing. Now I'll have to find somebody to give me a ride back, one way or the other. PIA. LOL

But isn't everything?

 

[Will L.]

Did ya have her tryin nuetral then back to park?
If everything else is working then expect to drop
The starter.

 

[jrsavoie]

Did ya have her tryin nuetral then back to park?
If everything else is working then expect to drop
The starter.

No I did not. thanks

I am expecting to be buying a starter. I might have one left on the shelf. Not sure

 

[JMJNet]

Alternator?

 

[jrsavoie]

What do I need to take to change the starter, just in case? I did have a rebuilt starter on the shelf. This just had a rebuilt starter installed in January 2018.

I have everything listed above, socket set, extensions, battery ratchet, small torque wrench for starter bolts, starter bolts, tool to pull the inner fender flaps.

No matter how good a list I make. It seems I always need something else.

 

[Will L.]

Yeah true- alternator issue -or simple dead battery.

Sounds like all the tools- big rock as a hammer, vice grips, and screwdriver to pry with

 

[Twisted Steel Performance]

Number to a tow company lol

 

[ak diesel driver]

Test light to see if it's getting power to the starter

 

[jrsavoie]

Load tested good. I didn't bring everything the first trip - foolish move there.

I thought I would at least be able to jump the solenoid and get some action. Nothing when the solenoid was jumped.

Cables and everything ohmed out to the starter.

Heading back with the rest of the tools and the starter after a short break. Bad time to be afibbing.

What's the torque spec for the starter brace bolt?
Starter bolts 35'lbs

 

[jrsavoie]

Apparently I was wrong on the starter bolt torque and I thought the brace bolt was about 25'lbs or so

Starter:

• thru-bolts are 40 ft. lbs. 54Nm
• bracket bolts/nuts 30 ft. lbs. 41Nm

 

[ak diesel driver]

Seems like a lot for 1/4" bolt

 

[jrsavoie]

Seems like a lot for 1/4" bolt

That is for the brace to block bolt M8x1.25 - I believe.

Got the starter swapped last night.

I can see where having the torque specs for all the hardware including the little stud on the starter would be very handy.

Hands do not fit anywhere and using long handle stuff gives a lot of leverage and makes it hard to tell what tight or loose is. Not that I have any feel for that anyway.

I would have liked to have been able to torque every fastener. To tight can be worse than not tight enough.

Hopefully next time I will be working at home and have more time to get numbers.

The spare starter didn't have a stud in it. I could not get the stud out of the starter I removed. I had grabbed a bag with starter bolts, brace and a stud. The nut was stuck on that stud, So that's how it ended up going together

 

[btfarm]

At least you got it going...

 

[jrsavoie]

I have one starter left in the shed.

I'm not sure what the scoop was on this starter. Might have been bad from sitting. It was a local rebuild. It's been sitting in a plastic bag in the shed since 2015. I installed it in January 2018.

I pulled the back cover off today. It seemed like a lot of copper shavings in there.

 

[JMJNet]

Is it running?

 

[jrsavoie]

Is it running?

Yep, It's running on the starter I took over. The starter that went bad was the 2015 starter that I installed in January. 2018

It did the same thing on the bench as it did one the suburban. When I crossed the contacts it would make a little arc, but no clunk like you would expect.

 

[jrsavoie]

Actually the starter still looks new. I halfway expected it to turn over as it should.

I'm still curious about all the copper shavings that were inside. I expected dust maybe, but these were shavings. I hope the starter I just put on lasts a lot longer than this one did. I'll be glad when I run out of starters and have to buy a decent one.

Is there anybody close or that might be traveling through that would like my extra starter parts and the rebuilt starter that didn't last?

I wish somebody close stocked what Quadstar Tuning sells or a Powermaster. What's the difference between the 2 starters?

If I stock them, odds are the warranty will be out before I use it. I usually go in streaks. But is seems everything is an emergency and I don't have time to wait a day or 2 whenever anything happens.

 

[Will L.]

COPPER SHAVINGS?!? Yeah....
you wont forget which tools needed before using them again.

The trick with something like a powermaster not being at a local store, is to buy and run it before the old worn unit dies.

Buy the powermaster and install it. Keep the still working but about to die starter on the shelf. Eventually the powermaster will die. Swap in the piece of junk one for a week or two while awaiting the next quailty unit.

Imo treat pmd the same way. Buy and run Leroy’s lifetime and only use your no warranty old unit when awaiting the delivery dude for your warranty replacement.