99 5.7 Tahoe Cranks When battery is Connected...

[labdad]

Have had my old body style (1999) Z71 in western Oregon the past few years to hunt with, so it has sat quite a bit. It has an older Command Start auto start, otherwise no other non OEM equipment. Has a new battery. It was starting right up when cold, then balked a bit when warm, taking about five cranking tries before she would fire. Drove her home to Alaska two weeks ago where she sat parked for a week before trying to start. Had her plugged in, freeze plug, battery blanket, and tranny heat pad, but when I tried, not even a click. Tried another battery, nothing. Put removed battery back in connecting positive first, then when negative was touched the engine started to crank with no key in the ignition. Thinking either a bad widget in the autostart or ignition switch? Ideas or experience? Thanks.

 

[willxfs]

My rig is a 1998 2 door with about 260k miles. A couple of years ago, I was having a problem with the relay for the ac compressor sticking in the "on" position. The first problem that arose was the clutch on the compressor would not disengage and the ac system would freeze up. The second problem was the power to the ac clutch was killing my battery. This is where the similarities between your problem and my problem start. When I went to jump my truck and hooked up the jumper cables (dead battery) the power door locks would activate and the starter would crank the engine (without keys in ignition). I'm guessing that the system just does not like extreme low voltage. It seems that the only way the starter could crank is the solenoid being activated thus completing the circuit to the starter. I think its possible I have a short in my ignition switch because sometimes (rarely these days) the truck will only start for 1 second then die. If I move the tilt wheel up a down a few times, it will usually fix itself and fire right up. Hope this helps, good luck.

 

[God]

I had this issue once. Pull the starter fuse from under the hood, then connect your battery, then put the fuse back in. If you need help I'm in anchorage