97 S-10 Starting Issue (4.3 v6)

I am frustrated to say the least. In the last year I have replaced: The battery, alternator, water pump, and fuel pump all at different times and due to different reasons. I just put in the fuel pump last week as it started to act up and then this morning yet another occurance.

I got in and started to turn on the vehicle and it did turn over, however it was slow to enguage and turn over. It acted similar to what I would expect if the batter was near dead. However, I know the battery is new and I am showing the correct charge on the guage. When I went to leave for work today it was a little slow but did fire up on the first time but the stereo pre-sets were all reset as if there were no electrical connection. I went across the office complex, parked, went to the gym and an hour later it started still not immediately but none the less.

When I got home today I checked the battery terminal for corossion and couldnt see anything right off, the terminals were secure and on tight and I checked all of the other easily accessable terminals.

My first guess is that its the starter, but after reading I am starting to think that maybe it is the ignition switch or distributer coil. The reason I am considering the distributor is b/c of recently having to replace fairly new spark-plugs due to reported misfires on the OBDII. Any thoughts out there?

JG

Reply to
jgunccrugby
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You said you checked the connections at the battery, that's good. What about the point where the ground cable connects to the frame? Based on what you've said so far, that's what I would check. If that connection looks good, find a buddy and have him start shaking the various cables while you hit the starter.

charles

Reply to
mad scientist

One more guess - Your battery cables are sealed all the way to the connection at the battery. Cut a piece of the insulation off near the battery. If its all white inside, you need new cables.

Reply to
George

Do not cut the rubber boots around the terminal ends. Remove the terminals from the battery, use a small pocket style screw driver and walk them off, from the battery side of the terminal, like taking a tire off a bicycle rim, clean the metal parts thoroughly, walk the boots back on , clean the battery terminals, replace the battery bolts if nasty and re-install everything. If you want a little bit more protection, thin coat of dielectric grease. The fact you lost the radio presets says the battery lost connection. And just because your battery gauge shows proper voltage when the key is on, but no load, does not mean the battery is good. Brand new off the shelf they can be bad, anything man can manufacture is subject to failure.

Also which brand of plugs did you have to replace? And have you ever replaced the spark plug wires? and did you replace the cap and rotor which high quality parts. GM ignitions can chew up caps, wires, plugs and especially rotors if they aren't of good quality. Bosch does not fall in that catagory. Cap and rotor, if no Delco, then Blue Streak. GM wires or wires manufactured by Packard Cable. AC Delco plugs work best, Motorcraft/Autolite are ok. Champion are fine for lawn mowers.

Whitelightning

Reply to
Whitelightning

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