intermittent no crank 87 suburban

[Hugomartin]

any ideas? Most times i only get one click eventually it starts

 

[WFO]

Sounds like the solenoid, or bad or lose wires to the starter.

 

[scrap--metal]

Sounds like the solenoid

+1 on the solenoid. I wouldn't trust it like that for too long. Eventually it will give out.

 

[RecklessWOT]

What kind of condition are your battery cables in?

How old is the battery?

 

[Hugomartin]

Starter is brand new battery is one year old cables are good. I had a mechanic remove the bellhousing around the flywheel it was grinding in the bellhousing. Maybe the mechanic didn’t tighten the starter nuts tight enough? I looked at my neutral safety switch it didn’t seem burnt out

 

[SirRobyn0]

Starter is brand new battery is one year old cables are good. I had a mechanic remove the bellhousing around the flywheel it was grinding in the bellhousing. Maybe the mechanic didn’t tighten the starter nuts tight enough? I looked at my neutral safety switch it didn’t seem burnt out

+3 on the solenoid. Brand NEW or rebuilt? And new or rebuilt does not guaranty good, defective parts, especially rebuilt parts does happen.

So is it still grinding? clicking only? or grinding and clicking? I'm not trying to be difficult but it does matter.

To me if you have had grinding issues with the starter and now it's clicking it seems pretty obvious you got a bad starter, but sometimes lack or power or good grounds can reduce power and mimic a bad starter. So check over the battery terminals, the wires and grounds. If it all looks good get your starter warrenteed. If you find out your starter only came with a one year warranty buy a different brand and if you have to buy another one pop for new not rebuilt if you can.

 

[Hugomartin]

The grinding is no more because the bellhousing sheild or flywheel cover plate is removed

Still just one click no grinding

 

[hoagster]

Ditto on the battery cables especially if the are original. They may look good at the terminals but corroded under the sheathing at both ends.

 

[Snoots]

Just a click?
1. bad solenoid (just because it's new don't mean squat)

I had a mechanic remove the bellhousing around the flywheel it was grinding in the bellhousing.

Why the heck didn't he fix it before you left?
2. bad connection at solenoid or battery
3. bad positive cable

 

[SirRobyn0]

Ditto on the battery cables especially if the are original. They may look good at the terminals but corroded under the sheathing at both ends.

Yes, that's a really good point and for whatever reason especially a problem on side terminal vehicles. I think because that entire batter terminal cable connection is covered. As an example years ago (this was back in the 90's but it's a good example) I owned an 88 Olds 88, also a side terminal vehicle. I was having trouble with intermittent click no crank, then crank and fire, sometimes it would click once, sometimes it would take a few attempts to get it going. In this case the battery passed load testing, and the starter passed a draw test. Cables looked good from end to end, eventually I cut the plastic off the terminals to find the connectors corroded where they joined the cable. New cables solved the problem.

At this point there is any magic advice we can give @Hugomartin he needs to do some checking.

 

[mshawn]

Follow some of my other posts on here tonight as I go through the troubleshooting a slow crank situation. Which the troubleshooting will be the same here

 

[mshawn]

“Voltage issue “ by imtherealjay