2nd Gen Non-Engine/Transmission 96 Won't crank consistantly

[96UTRAM]

Can anyone lend some advice on my probs? Here's what happens.



1. Turn the key - nothing. Put charger/starter on - fired right up. Took truck to autozone, batteries and starter checked out ok. Their scanner tool indicated possible charging problem. Putting a charger/starter it will always start as well as jumping it. I've left the charger on overnight and all day on trickle to charge both batts - started up beautifully. Ran it to church one mile away, let it sit 3 hours - dead.



Jumped it got it home, charged it a little while again (2 hours max) and took it for a 70 mile jaunt. Had a volt meter attached to the left battery the whole time. It stayed in the 14. 05 to 14. 28 VDC the entire trip. Previously, I had been seeing the instrument voltage meter drop every once in a while and then come back up to right over 14 again. On that trip it didn't drop at all. Got it home and shut down - tried to restart ..... dead again. On the first try right then, the starter did bump but then quit. Someone told me maybe my starter is having problems with marginal voltage??? Engine off the batteries are showing 12. 35 VDC.



Did the PCM check (off-on 3 times) and I get a 1-2 and 5-5. I disconnected batteries to clean terminals.



2. Before the above problem, I waso having probs with starting like fuel deprivation. A garage told me some time ago it was prob a clogged filter in the tank. They checked out all the pumps. They recommended I go back to an unlocking fuel cap and leave it just seated, not cranked down to minimize vacuum in the tank. Usually the truck starts just fine (before the #1 above). Sometimes it takes quite a bit of cranking to get it started.



Thanks in advance for any and all ideas!

 

[Rams-n-Hogs]

Just a shot in the dark, but have you ever checked, or changed your starter contacts?



Jim

 

[96UTRAM]

Thanks for the reply. I replaced the starter about Jan 03 I believe it was. Are the contacts "in" the starter or where are those located?

 

[Joe G.]

It sounds to me like you have bad batteries or something is drawing more than it should when the truck is just sitting. Try charging up the batteries and then disconnecting them. Let it sit for a few hours, all day if you can. If it starts right up then the batteries should be ok and you have a drain somewhere. If it does not start right up then you have bad batteries.

 

[ndurbin]

I had mine drain down earlier this week b/c I left my CD player on and the key in the ACC pos. for 4 days (they still had some kick left but not much). I pulled them out today and let them charge up. I'm going to let them sit overnight and test them in the morning with my load tester. Will post the results in the morning.



Nathan

 

[ndurbin]

I poped my batteries back in today and the truck fired right up. So I did some poking around and found the alt. was only putting out 12. 3 volts at best. Yanked the alt. off and tore it apart. Looks like the brushes are bad and the shaft is pretty well wore down where one brush rides. Bearings seemed okay. But all in all I figured not bad for 238,000k.



I forgot to mention in my previous post that the check engine light was on and that I had codes 12, 41, and 55.



Nathan

 

[ndurbin]

Ok well heres were I am at upto now. I've had the alt. tested and it checked fine. So I then called the dealership I use from time to time and asked them about the codes it threw. 12 and 55 are battery disconnect codes, and 41 is generator field not switching. According to the dealership that means the alt. is bad. I'm stumped, I've chased the wires down and they all seem okay. Checked the 120 amp fuse and it's fine.



TIA

Nathan

 

[Todd T]

before you spend money at the dealer i would check the starter contacts. they are in the starter and 11-12 months is not a short time for them to go out again if you use the starter alot.



also when the contacts start to go bad the fuel shut off relay will act up too. that is your fuel deprevation problem more than likely if it was at startup. IE long crank and no/hard start condition.



get some contacts and a plunger and replace them first. its only preventative if they turn out to not be the problem.

 

[Lnwing]

This shouldn't need to be stated, but make sure that the batteries are checked individually . I replaced a starter needlessly one time when the problem was a bad battery, and the mechanic didn't isolate the batteries when load testing them. Grrrr!



The comments on starter contacts are right on. Get a set of Larry B's heavy duty contacts.



Lynn

 

[Turbo Thom]

I also would say check the batteries one at a time. You have a dead cell. 2 new batteries and you will be fixed up.



. . Preston. .