Question1996 GMC Yukon SLT, 5.7L, 4WD, 84900 Miles
Vehicle is well maintained.
Turn key to start and all I get is a lot of clicking, info lights & gauges come on, tach and speedo needles jump.
No previous history of electrical or starting problems. Battery is top quality, 3 years old, fully charged; no corrosion on battery terminals or cables.
I'm very literate in auto repair and technology so DIY is how I would like to proceed.
Many thanks for your help, Van...
Bill
AnswerHi Bill,
That is a pretty classic symptom of resistance in the starter circuit.
The most common place for it to happen, is at the battery connections.
I realize the connections can look good and clean, but have you taken them off, and looked where the contact is made?
If you have a volt meter handy, connect it to the connections at the starter, and see what you get...12.3 volts or so?
Now have someone hit the key, and see if it stayes close to that, or drops to about 9.
If it stays up there, I would say a solenoid is needed.
The way to check that is put that positive volt meter lead to the connection from the solenoid to the starter itself. Sometimes that bolt through the tab on the starter, through the little copper tube, and to the solenoid gets loose, or arced.
Those connections are hard to get to on the average GM, but try.
Now if the starter is in bad shape internally, you can get the same clicking results, but check the connections first.
I have also had good quality batteries have a very poor connection internally to a side post, and still check out very good at the top post with a battery load tester.
Van
