Hi all,
I just purchased a '97 C-1500 Cheyenne from Carmax...nice truck, but only one problem. The first day I brought it home and went to leave someone's house, I hopped in, turned the ignition key and nothing happened. Lights on the dash came on, but no cranking of the engine at all. I'm used to driving stick shifts so I thought maybe I was doing something sequentially wrong...I.E. press the brake before starting, release the parking brake first...etc. Well, after getting out and scratching my head for a minute, and giving my wife a quizzical look, I got back in and it started right up. Go figure.
The next day I went to work and it happened again. I once again tried several things, including cycling the gear shifter throught all it's positions before putting it in park and trying again...Nothing! I scratched my head again and thought that the car should also start in Neutral...Voila'...it started right up. I went through the exact same proceedure when it happened again...no start in park, start in neutral.
I took the truck to Carmax and explained the problem...INTERMITTANT starting problem! They kept it for the day and called me back to report that there was "no trouble found." Suprise! Anyway, I told them that it was intermittant and that they could keep it another day to see if they could replicate the problem. So they are doing so. I have also contacted Chevy and they told me there were no TSB's or recalls on the truck. I spoke with the lead tech at the dealership who informed me of the following possible causes.
1) defective PRNDL switch (neutral/park safety switch) 2) loose battery connections causing erroneous data 3) defective ignition switchMy question after being sooooo long winded (and I appologize) is:
Has anyone else out there experienced the same problem? And, if so, what was the solution?
I really like this truck (I mean I really, really like this truck). But I don't want to keep it if I'm going to have to deal with this problem for God who knows how long until it completely breaks down just so they can diagnose it. I know intermittants are the worst kind of problem out there (I know, I used to do computer work) so that's why I'm trying so hard to get an answer.
Sincerely, Scott