MickeyD
TYF Newbie
- Joined
- Nov 2, 2019
- Posts
- 20
- Reaction score
- 7
Good afternoon all. I have been having some issues with my 09 Tahoe, 5.3, and I’m hoping I can get some guidance before I start throwing parts at it.
A few weeks back, I had an unusual starting issue. I had been parked off the road where the front end was up in the air, then when I started it, I had a noise that I was fairly confident was the starter bendix banging on the flywheel after not retracting correctly. I started and stopped the engine a few times, and it did this consistently. When I finally decided to try driving like that, once I put it in gear and rolled forward it stopped.
Every once in a while, since then, the truck would be hard starting. Nothing like this instance, but it would turn over for an extended time and almost sputter and cough, and the RPMs would dip severely before coming up to idle. Sometimes the issue seems exacerbated by starting while the car is parked at an angle (uphill or downhill), but it’s done it on level ground as well. My intuition is that it’s not a starter issue, as the starter always engages and disengages, but it’s almost like it wants to stall. Almost like it needs choke on a carbureted engine.
For reference, the truck has 190k miles, I’ve had it since about 120k. I put in a new fuel pump and sender about 10k miles ago. I have not replaced the plugs, and I have a feeling they may be factory (yes I know, it’s been on the list). Through all of this, the truck hasn’t shown any check engine light or pending codes (I would have expected a misfire code by now if the plugs were the issue). And once it’s running, it runs fine with no apparent loss of power (even while towing 3-6000 pounds).
So, I welcome some advice and experience. I think without question I’ll do my plugs and wires; I would love to find a smoking gun there. But I’m not sure if it could be a fuel delivery issue, as there’s no real smell of gas or anything like that. I can also try replacing the starter, but my gut tells me that it’s not related to this issue.
Thanks in advance!
A few weeks back, I had an unusual starting issue. I had been parked off the road where the front end was up in the air, then when I started it, I had a noise that I was fairly confident was the starter bendix banging on the flywheel after not retracting correctly. I started and stopped the engine a few times, and it did this consistently. When I finally decided to try driving like that, once I put it in gear and rolled forward it stopped.
Every once in a while, since then, the truck would be hard starting. Nothing like this instance, but it would turn over for an extended time and almost sputter and cough, and the RPMs would dip severely before coming up to idle. Sometimes the issue seems exacerbated by starting while the car is parked at an angle (uphill or downhill), but it’s done it on level ground as well. My intuition is that it’s not a starter issue, as the starter always engages and disengages, but it’s almost like it wants to stall. Almost like it needs choke on a carbureted engine.
For reference, the truck has 190k miles, I’ve had it since about 120k. I put in a new fuel pump and sender about 10k miles ago. I have not replaced the plugs, and I have a feeling they may be factory (yes I know, it’s been on the list). Through all of this, the truck hasn’t shown any check engine light or pending codes (I would have expected a misfire code by now if the plugs were the issue). And once it’s running, it runs fine with no apparent loss of power (even while towing 3-6000 pounds).
So, I welcome some advice and experience. I think without question I’ll do my plugs and wires; I would love to find a smoking gun there. But I’m not sure if it could be a fuel delivery issue, as there’s no real smell of gas or anything like that. I can also try replacing the starter, but my gut tells me that it’s not related to this issue.
Thanks in advance!
