RE: Haunted Grave? - update...........

[Kelley (Texas)]

The auto repairman came to the house this morning to check the truck...see why it would not start at the cemetery and had to be hauled home. Guess what, he turned the key and it instantly started. He checked out everything, even the starter, nothing is wrong with that truck. There is no explanation as to why that truck would not start at that cemetery. This just adds salt to the wound, and I will never go back there! Kelley (Texas)

 

[Nauti]

It's very strange.......if I were in the same situation I would delete any photo I had of that headstone........just to be sure.

 

[Nancy-IL]

That's why I had asked about your truck in the other post. I had a feeling there was nothing mechanically wrong with it. Things that make you go...................Hmm. Thank you for the update.

 

[NM5K]

Would that vehicle happen to be a GM product? They are notorius for the having the starter solenoid
do exactly what you describe. I've had it happen on several of them through the years. Mostly Chevy's
in my case.
When they start getting flaky, they will start acting up when they get hot. And being you had just parked,
it may well have been heat soaking from a hot engine, and got overly warm.
When they get hot enough, for some reason the contacts won't make a connection, and they won't start.
Won't even make a click.. Nada.. Zip.. Zilch..
Then once they cool off, they start as normal. Also.. Sometimes when that happens, you can whack
the side of the starter with something, and that will jar the contacts and sometimes will start.
With the GM starters, the solenoid is mounted on the starter, and is the tube looking thing on the side.
Probably works about 70% of the time, until they get real bad, and then often that won't even work.
But even the bad ones will usually start once they cool off back to ambient temp..

Now, I suppose it is possible ole Joe was in a grumpy mood that day, and decided to cause starter
mayhem.. :angry:

But myself, If that's a GM vehicle, I think it's more likely a bad starter solenoid that is just starting to do the
heat soak no worky thing they are well known for. And once they start doing that, it will continue.
And it's *always* at the worst possible time. Never fails..
Been through it many times with those, with almost every GM vehicle I've had long enough for the GM heat
soak solenoid bug to kick in.
And if it's a GM, and that is the problem, trust me, it's going to happen again. And like that time, will usually
be at a bad time and place to do it. Often it will be when you stop at a store, or to get gas, etc..
The starter heats soaks while it's sitting and when you come back a few minutes later....
Now, if it's a Ford, hummmm... Maybe ole Joe Ball was PO'd.. :veryangry:
Fords rarely do that type of deal as their solenoids are not on the starter, but instead usually mounted on a
fender well under the hood, and don't get too hot. They can flake out too, but it's not a heat soak type of
issue like the GM starters.

 

[Kelley (Texas)]

It is indeed a GM product, a 1998 Chevrolet K1500 4 wheel drive pickup truck which I bought new in 1998. You might be correct that the starter might be the problem because this is the original starter, has never been replaced. Regardless, I will not be going back to that strange grave site. Kelley (Texas)

 

[NM5K]

I bet that is what it is.. And the starter itself is OK. It's just the solenoid that is flaking out. So you can
pull the starter and just replace the solenoid and it will cure the problem. If by chance you end up
having that done, make sure the mechanic, or you, if you do it, does not lose any of the shims that
might be in place between the starter and the engine block. And make sure they use them when
they replace the starter. If the starter required shims and you don't use them when reinstalling,
that makes the clearance off, and will usually cause an excessive grinding sound when the
starter turns over, instead of the normal fairly quiet sound when it's right. If one does not shim
those starters right, it will grind away the teeth on sections of the flywheel, which will eventually cause the
starter to not be able to turn the flywheel when it gets to those particular teeth, and just make a grinding sound.
And then you will have to replace the flywheel ring gear. Which is a PIA.. You have to pull the engine from
the tranny to do that. Not cheap if a shop has to do it.
I can tell just by the sound of a GM starter if it's been shimmed right.. If you ever hear a GM car make a
loud grinding sound when starting that doesn't sound normal, it wasn't shimmed right, and the owner will
have flywheel ring gear issues sooner or later. So you never want to ignore one that does that.
Most rebuilt or new GM starters include a few of those shims when you buy a new starter in case the
originals are missing. They are flat pieces of metal with a "U" notch on one end of varying thicknesses.
Sometimes only one will do the trick, sometimes it takes more than one, and you have to stack a couple..