Chevrolet - 1500 :: 1997 Chevy Just Cranked For Few Minutes But Wouldn't Start
Apr 10, 2014
I got this truck from my step father, drove it from mississippi to washington (state) with minor problems. It's been sitting in my driveway for the last 6 months and I probably drive it once a week. I loaned it to my sister-in-law and she drove it for a couple of days with no problems. She went out one morning to take it and it wouldn't start, just cranked it for a few minutes and gave up. To make a long story even longer, I though it was fuel so I checked the pump, changed the filter, drained some fuel thinking water might have gotten in, ... to no success. I then started looking at electrical. Spark was getting to at least one plug. Pulled the distributor cap and cleaned it all up, replaced all the plug wires, and then tried starting it with the same results. (Oh, by the way, no check engine light so I assume no codes).
This goes on for a couple of weeks as it's in the driveway and I only pop the hood when it's not raining (we live just outside of Seattle). The other day I have the hood open, my wife decides to check on me since she thinks I'm talking to God and is wondering why I would use that kind of language when address a diety. I ask her to jump in and crank it while I pull a plug wire to see if I'm getting spark....again. Low and behold, the truck starts right up. I jump in to see if it's throwing a code and nothing. The thing is running great. I did notice that there is a ticking coming from the engine compartment and I realize the plug wire is still disconnected so I turn it off (with much hesitation) connect the wire, go back inside to start it and the thing won't start. I'm a private pilot and they say, if you're flying along and you do something and the engine stops, undo what you just did. So, I go back out, unplug the spark plug wire, and the thing starts right up. So, I start thinking, try another plug wire. I reconnect it, try another, and it won't start. So, what I figure is that it will only run when the second to the front cylinder plug wire on the drivers side on the engine is disconnected.
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Several years ago I had to replace the fuel pump - truck had about 100,000 miles. Within the last 4 - 5 months I have replaced the fuel pump twice and just today (about two months since the last replacement), the fuel pump has failed again. That has been the pattern now for the last several months. I have had the work done by one of the reputable car repair shops in town - they have also done work on my 2004 Impala with no issues with the repair. There must be something else going on besides just the fuel pump going bad. What would cause so many fuel pump failures.
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I have a 1996 Chevy Cheyenne pickup with a fuel injected small block that has 50k miles. Earlier this summer the truck developed a problem where it is very hard to start when cold (after sitting overnight or after sitting for many hours on my flat driveway). When the engine is cold (say the first start of the day) I can only get it to start by giving small bursts of cranking power to the starter. That is, it won’t start if I hold the key in the cranking position but is more likely to start if I give it a short burst of cranking power (when I hold the key in “start” position) for a second or two.After the first start of the day, the engine runs fine and subsequent starts are quick and normal. The “Check Engine” light is not on and there are no trouble codes…. Other than hard starting there are no issues with engine performance.
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I had a problem recently with my '11 SE. It only did it once and hasn't done it since. I pushed the START button and the engine cranked over but it never started. I let it crank for about 5 seconds before I pushed the switch again to make it stop. The next time I pushed the START button the engine started.
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I have a 97 chevy and the only way to start it is to jump the starter relay, not sure if it is the key switch ot the nuetral saftey switch.
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2003 SC430 with ~140k miles. Friday night, stopped at a gas station and left the car running for about 15 minutes. Then stopped the engine and left the radio on for about 20 minutes. Then the car wouldn't start- cranked weakly, then began clicking. Jumped the car- took about five minutes before it would turn over again.
Then, after disconnecting the cables and running for only about a minute, it cranked strongly twice in the span of a minute. I found that strange, not believing that it had properly charged up that quickly. Drove to an auto parts store, asked them to check the battery and such. Battery said good, alternator said voltage regulator failure.
After about 10 minutes, went to drive off, not planning to stop until I got to my destination. The car wouldn't start again, same weak turning and then clicking (note- this after about a fifteen minute drive, as opposed to the first one minute of charging after which it started twice just fine!). So I was surprised that it wouldn't crank.
Then I drove it all weekend without a problem (5-6 stops and starts). Then Monday night after I parked it, I went back to check it and it didn't start (same weak turn, and then clicking). Tuesday morning, I tried twice and got weak turn & clicking, then it turned a little more strongly and started.
My guesses:
-don't think my battery is bad
-don't think my battery really was fully discharged and then suddenly recharged even though it has seemed that way, in such short time frames
-my alternator claims to be bad (voltage regulation)
-maybe I have some sort of loose connection on the backside of the battery? (the terminals look solid)
But I didn't shake or bump the car, or do anything for the cabling to be loose/bad Monday night, and then start Tuesday morning. But perhaps the very effort of trying to start the car is enough to shake a connection back together?
(I don't think this is at all related to my blower post- my fan seems to be kicking on quite frequently while I drive, still trying to sort that out).
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I have a 97 Chevy K1500 truck that i have been having problem with starting. Sometimes it will start. When it does the idle is rough. When i put in in gear it almost acts like it will shut off. Then it comes back and it drives fine. If it shut it off it may or may not start. I had the distributor cap a rotor replaced. Then I replaced the spark plugs and wires. Still does not start. It seems like it is getting too much fuel. I pulled the fuel pump relay and the truck would start then die out. When i put the relay back in truck does not start. I am not sure what might be the next piece to look at. I was thinking the MAP sensor or the throttle position sensor. So far i have not had any codes come up.
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can i adjust idle on car, seems to be running faster without using gas pedal.
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My 1997 chevy suburban wouldn't start after being parked for a few days. the battery seemed to drained out so quickly and not because the lights were left on. The alternator was replaced less than two years ago. and the battery less than a year ago. I tried to jump start but it did now turn orver. What is the problem?
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I was at the bank today and when I put it in reverse to back out, the car jolted and then it rolled forward slightly while at the same time sounding like there was grinding. I immediately put it back into park and the noise stopped. Then I tried to reverse again and it started making a clicking and whining noise and wouldn't back up. It sounded like it went into gear but it won't move. I was able to get it pushed out and the drive still worked. So I was going down the road and got up to speed and the shifting was significantly delayed.
It's an automatic by the way. So I tried to take it on the highway and it won't shift out of 2nd gear or 3rd. I know for a fact that overdrive isn't working so i'm doing 50mph down the road and hitting 2500 RPM. I don't know what the deal is but for about 8 months there has been a rumbling vibration when it tries to go into overdrive and when I accelerate quickly I force it to downshift and the rumbling goes away but it still shifted into overdrive when it got passed the rumbling and vibration. It's a 1997 C1500 2WD 5.7L Silverado.
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I've got a 2001 Chevy Prizm (160,000 miles) Starts right up-after I drive for awhile and turn the engine off. It won't restart at times - I have to wait anywhere between 5 and 20 minutes till the engine will start again. The engine cranks - so it's not the starter or the battery.
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Had an odd situation earlier tonight. The starter cranked normally but the engine wouldn't actually start. I let it go for 10 seconds and hit the button again to make it stop in order to protect the battery. A few seconds later, I tried and it fired right up without a hitch. The MIL never came on so no codes most likely.
Car has 17k on it. 2013 2.0
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I have a 1997 Chevy C1500 with about 85k miles on it. I had the breaks checked and replaced over a year ago and this problem is pretty recent. When I got the brakes done I had the pads replaced on the front disks and I had the back drum pads and some brake part replaced that was inside the drum. Looked like a little hydraulic piston of sorts (sorry, not to up on my car lingo here lol)
My issue is my ABS light comes on from time to time for no apparent reason at all (at least that I notice). I can be just sitting at a stop light and I will notice it comes on, stays on, then randomly will go off. The car seems to break fine, especially at higher speeds (30-70mph). On occasion however at low speeds (5-15mph) when coming to a some what sudden stop my brakes seem to skip? Kind of feels like a grinding feeling. No gravel or slick road, just plane ol pavement. I think this is the ABS system but Ive only ever driven one other car with ABS breaks that the I believe the ABS system activated while stopping on ice and it felt the exact same.
I have not noticed if the light comes on during these low speed stops, as I am just now putting all these pieces of a puzzle together to figure out if something is really wrong with my ABS system or if its just a sensor or something.
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I have a 1997 Chevy C1500 with about 85k miles on it. I had the breaks checked and replaced over a year ago and this problem is pretty recent. When I got the brakes done I had the pads replaced on the front disks and I had the back drum pads and some brake part replaced that was inside the drum. Looked like a little hydraulic piston of sorts...
My issue is my ABS light comes on from time to time for no apparent reason at all (at least that I notice). I can be just sitting at a stop light and I will notice it comes on, stays on, then randomly will go off. The car seems to break fine, especially at higher speeds (30-70mph). On occasion however at low speeds (5-15mph) when coming to a some what sudden stop my brakes seem to skip? Kind of feels like a grinding feeling. No gravel or slick road, just plane ol pavement. I think this is the ABS system but Ive only ever driven one other car with ABS breaks that the I believe the ABS system activated while stopping on ice and it felt the exact same.
I have not noticed if the light comes on during these low speed stops, as I am just now putting all these pieces of a puzzle together to figure out if something is really wrong with my ABS system or if its just a sensor or something.
I would like to have some knowledge or information in case I have to take it to a mechanic to have it looked at. The last people (Just Breaks) I took it to really tried to screw me over. After they worked on it the Emergency break light was on and his fix was to just "unplug" the sensor. I said Heck no! Fix it! after three bleeds it tripped the sensor off. So I am a bit hesitant to have them looked at after that experience.
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I have a 97 chevy blazer, that has no headlights. the daytime running lights, dash and marker lights all work but not the headlights or high beams?
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I have a 2001 ford F150 with a 5.4 2WD, with a starting problem. Last Friday I went to leave work the truck cranked but did not start, turned the key off and tried again same thing, on the third try it started. Drove it home 30 miles with one stop on the way, restarted just fine. At home in the driveway I restarted it 5 times without a problem so I was thinking it was just a glitch. Did not drive the truck all weekend thinking the problem was fixed.
Monday morning leave for work and everything was fine, went to start the truck in the afternoon and the same problem as listed above (3 or 4 tries and it started). It home again in the driveway restarts every time. I do not have any check engine light on but I thought I would still plug in my code reader NO CODE. Where to start troubling shooting this problem?
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Our son has a 97 Chevy C/K pickup truck and told me about a problem that I thought was easy to solve, and we tried, but it wasn't. The driver's side front turn signal flashes fast. I checked the rear lights on that side and the turn signal wasn't working at all, let alone the tail lights, so I replaced the bulbs. They're the kind with the 2 filaments. I noticed the old bulbs were covered with some nasty yellow corrosion. Now the turn signal problem is the same and still no brake light on that side but he has tail lights at night. I tried to clean up the corrosion in the circuit board (none on the bottom light, which is the reverse light) with a neighbor's wire brush but it didn't change anything, so he suggested I change the circuit board.
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1997 chevy k1500 ... I have a misfire on cylinder 3 that i cannot figure out the cause. The idle is rough, backing out after starting is very rough, it seems to pick up at higher rpms but once the truck upshifrts to the next gear it shakes like a leaf in fall. within the past year the engine was rebuilt all new seals a new fuel pump, new injectors, new everything practically. so far i have done the following:
compression test results:125-130psi
fuel pressure test results: 50psi once primed, 50psi with engine running, no immediate pressure loss after engine is shut off
new spark plug wires
new spark plugs
replaced all four o2 sensors
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I have 1997 chevrolet Silverado k1500. When I turned the key the other day, there was no electrical power. No gauges. No lights. I checked the battery and terminals and those are fine. When I turn the key slightly the (P) park illuminates but when i turn the key further it goes out. Then there is a buzzing sound from just to the right of the brake pedal. When I depress the brake pedal, the buzzing ceases but then a relay from under the hood in the relay center buzzes. Then when I turn the lights on, all buzzing ceases. But, the lights are not illuminated. I switched the buzzing relay with the a/c relay but that did nothing. I am wondering if there is a main relay that controls all the electrical power?
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Infrequently (once every couple weeks) my 2002 Suburban won't start. The starter seems to work properly as the engine tries to turn over and even seems to initially start for a fraction of a second but then dies. If I wait 10 to 30 minutes it will usually start without a problem. This problem does not seem to be related to outside temp, recent use or car position. After dealing with this occasionally inconvenient problem for months I took the car to a service shop and was told that if they could not reproduce the problem that trying to fix it would be a wild goose chase. When the problem occurred again I took it to another shop who kept the car for 3-4 days but was unable to reproduce the problem.
They suggested that there was a problem with the fuel pump but did not want to replace it unless they were sure that was the problem. I then spoke to the Chevy dealership shop who also said it was most likely the fuel pump. In my frustration dealing with this problem I took the car back to my local shop and ask them to replace the fuel pump ($800). Unfortunately, the intermittent problem has persisted and I'm not sure what to do next. I did have an after market remote ignition added a number of years ago and took it back to them to see if this could be related and they said no way. I have also wondered about the security system being a problem in that my rear hatch cargo door does not lock even though the other doors lock normally.
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99 suburban. X 1+ year progressively harder to start. Will turn over, but seems like it is not getting gas. Engine replaced 10k ago after I blew the last one at 220k. Did this before and after replacement. Once started runs fine. Can hear fuel pump kick on when key turned to on position? fuel relay?
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