2000 Chevrolet S-10 2.2L - Won’t start with new starter
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General Information:
This vehicle was towed in with a “no start, no crank” situation. Another mechanic was looking at it before me and made the call that it needed a starter. It’s a common component that fails on these trucks, so it is not out of the ordinary that a mechanic would think that it needs a starter. A new starter was put on and still nothing. There was something else wrong with it.
First Thoughts:
Like I said earlier it’s not uncommon for the starter to go out in these trucks. The weird thing about this truck is that the new starter didn’t make any noises or indications that it was trying to start. I was thinking maybe it was installed incorrectly or maybe a wiring issue.
Diagnostics:
I decided to use my Power Probe 3 with this diagnostics. I wanted to see if the starter was actually getting power to it to turn it on. I assumed that it was because I could feel the starter relay clicking on and off when the key was turned into the start position. But I still wanted to see if the start wire on the starter was receiving the power.
Note: My thought process after feeling the relay click was that from the ignition switch to the relay was good. Everything was working from the key to the starter relay.
So I crawled under the truck while someone else turned the key, and I noticed that there was no power going to the start wire. I immediately thought broke wire, but I was wrong because as I was crawling out, I saw this. (Picture below)
As you can see, the wire is intact, but it is exposed. I started to think, “This is a blown fuse”. The insulation on the wire had melted from the exhaust and exposed the wire. It probably landed on the exhaust and the next time the key was in the start position, it blew the fuse.
I looked at a wiring diagram and found the fuse. Sure enough, it was blown.
I stuck a new fuse in that bad boy and it cranked right up! Problem solved!
Now, I could’ve solved this way quicker if I would have checked the inputs at the relay. This relay has two grounds and two powers. I would have noticed that one of the power inputs would not have been there. One was there because it controlled the “clicking” of the relay. But the power that was supposed to be sent to the starter was not there.
It was a good thing I checked at the starter though because I wouldn’t have seen the exposed wire. I got the wire fixed and the truck is good to go!
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