09 Tahoe Hard Starting

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MickeyD

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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!
 

Doubeleive

Wes
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plugs, wire, clean the maf and throttle body, new air filter. fuel injection service or keep throwing injector cleaner in it for a while.
at 190k no telling what else could be happening.
probably a good idea to monitor the fuel pressure when this occurs just to rule it out.
 

mikez71

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If you keep using that janky starter long enough, the starter gear might pop out of there completely, and will bang around the bellhousing.
(VERY noisy, and the truck won't start after that)

No chance the starter IS engaged, just not powered? The extra drag might be causing your stall.

Reminds me of the time I let a friend drive my car, he used the wrong key and it was stuck in start while he was driving.
(starter engaged AND powered the whole time! Older car of course)
Luckily it was a short drive. Ended up killing the starter gear but my flywheel was OK.
I'll never let any friends drive my car again, only because none of them know a damn thing about cars.

I would change the starter ASAP, especially if you have to drive downhill for it to not make noise!
(Even if it's not the starter causing the stall, you're due. And they are cheap and easy to replace)
 

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