Engine Light Only No Other Power No Start

[Dakcbeast]

03 Tahoe only mods Big Three and aftermarket radio.

This Tahoe has given me some hell. It's super clean and I love it though!

I had trouble with gauges, no starting etc.. Cleaned all the ground connections and ran fine for awhile. Eventually the gremlins came back intermittently. I found that the wires going ito the ECM if wiggled would start and stop this.

I bought a 99 Suburban and the Tahoe has sat for a few months. The battery died. I jumped it and it ran for ahwile.. with the battery and ABS light on.

Now it won't start. The only thing it does is display a weak engine light when I try to start..

HELP!! Thanks.

 

[Tonyrodz]

03 Tahoe only mods Big Three and aftermarket radio.

This Tahoe has given me some hell. It's super clean and I love it though!

I had trouble with gauges, no starting etc.. Cleaned all the ground connections and ran fine for awhile. Eventually the gremlins came back intermittently. I found that the wires going ito the ECM if wiggled would start and stop this.

I bought a 99 Suburban and the Tahoe has sat for a few months. The battery died. I jumped it and it ran for ahwile.. with the battery and ABS light on.

Now it won't start. The only thing it does is display a weak engine light when I try to start..

HELP!! Thanks.

Did you run it for any trouble codes? That's the 1st thing you should try--then go from there. When you turn the key, without trying to start it--so you hear the fuel pump running? Is the Passlock light on?

 

[Fless]

Be descriptive, please. "Won't start" means almost nothing. Does it crank over?

Fully charge the battery and take it in to have it tested.

Pull the ECM connectors and check for water intrusion. Post up results.

 

[Dakcbeast]

Did you run it for any trouble codes? That's the 1st thing you should try--then go from there. When you turn the key, without trying to start it--so you hear the fuel pump running? Is the Passlock light on?

Engine light ONLY with key. No other power. No dome lights, no crank, nothing. Just the check engine light.

 

[Dakcbeast]

Be descriptive, please. "Won't start" means almost nothing. Does it crank over?

Fully charge the battery and take it in to have it tested.

Pull the ECM connectors and check for water intrusion. Post up results.

Engine light ONLY. No crank, no dome light etc.. Only the engine comes on with key. I'll make sure the battery is charged all the way. It jumped and ran for 20 minutes. Could my alternator have not been charging? If not, how did it run with a dead battery for so long?

 

[Tonyrodz]

Have you tried hooking up a scanner to the obd port? You'll be able to retrieve trouble codes that way.

 

[Jimmyy]

Batteries don't like setting empty/dead. I would start with a load test on the battery or swap with a known good one. Check voltage at fuse box.

 

[Doubeleive]

with it running you should have 13v minimum (13.4) at the battery, if not then it's not charging and yes a battery will work for a bit even if it's not charging that amount of time all depends on what else is on, heater, lights, radio, etc

 

[bill1013]

Just a thought...The battery post(s) may be loose inside of the battery. I had the same problem over the holiday. Turned out one of he battery posts was just loose. It jumped with no trouble, but upon further inspection the defect was revealed. And it was still under warranty. Win/Win!!!

 

[Dakcbeast]

Just a thought...The battery post(s) may be loose inside of the battery. I had the same problem over the holiday. Turned out one of he battery posts was just loose. It jumped with no trouble, but upon further inspection the defect was revealed. And it was still under warranty. Win/Win!!!

I've actually seen this as a problem before researching. Hard to believe it could be the problem with mine. It is a dual post battery and I have the Big Three going to the top posts. I wouldn't think both sides were broken but they could be. Still been driving the beater 99 I got for $2k! I need to get out and try to jump it again today and see what happens. It shouldn't jump and run for 20 minutes it the battery was gone completely. Alternator had to be doing it's thing. I'll diag today. Thanks all.