'88 Cheyenne 2500 ignition?/solinoid? trouble

[shtsmt]

My truck had been giving me trouble starting lately, I have to repeatedly turn my ignition after a few sometimes quite a few turns it will kick over now it won't do anything. I have plenty of juice according to the voltage gauge , plus I do get all my lights,radio, blower to come on .Even after switching everything off (thinking I have low voltage) still nothing. I have heard solinoid and ignition switch but I no longer have a ohm reader so any advice before I start taking the steering wheel off to replace the ignition switch?

[16th hippy]

when you turn the key, do you hear a click? should be loud enough to hear. one other test to rule out the starter is hook a wire to the pos terminal of battery, or to the battery post on the starter itself, and jump it to the S terminal on the starter. make VERY sure you are jumping to the S terminal. if the starter spins normal, then start with the ignition switch. if it just clicks, then start by replacing the starter

[bigj-dog]

If you've been having to turn it over for a long time before it starts for awhile, you probably burned up your starter. Test it like 16th Hippy says, otherwise check for 12V to the big post on the solenoid all the time, and check for 12v on the S post (small post with a small gauge wire going to it) on the solenoid. If you've got power to both, and you hear the audible click when attempting to start, try rapping on the starter with a hammer and see if it works then. It's only a temp. fix, the starter should be replaced or rebuilt.

[shtsmt]

The starter is fine, bendix engages .... I have jumped the starter .....I guess I'll just replace the soleniod and the ignition switch.........get them both at once and not have to test them individually, I no longer have a multimeter so testing was outta the question anyway..........oh well, I just picked up a 92 Astro to play with while my truck is on the disabled list.....

[ChevyWonTon]

I'm anxious to hear how this turns out. I once had a problem where I could turn the key multiple times with NO CLICKS, and then it would just click, crank, and start. As I ignored the problem over time (well, it DID eventually start every time), the number of silent responses got greater and greater.

What I ended up finding when I broke down and removed the Starter/Solenoid unit was that the Solenoid had the internal contacts on the back of the posts burnt enough that the disk in the end of the solenoid was not making contact with the inside of the connector post. (This was a long time ago and my memory might not remember these details entirely correct. Sorry.)

Of course, the right course of action was to replace the solenoid, but I think I was able to rotate the contact post within the solenoid housing and get more life out of the solenoid (for those on a low budget like I was at the time). I'm guessing that the reason jump starting the truck works is that the higher voltage during a jumpstart is able to bridge the burnt gap to the post contact.

Jumping the two starter terminals is a good test of these theories, as 16th hippy noted; if that doesn't start the truck either, you're ignition switch is not the problem. You can use an old screwdriver to jump the two starter terminals if you don't care about the arc burns on the shaft of the screwdriver when you're done! The first time you do it, you will likely jump from the arc created, but you'll get used to it!

Just be careful not to touch any metal points like the engine block, frame, or starter housing as the screwdriver makes a nice path to ground for the 12V! Bbbzzzztttt!

Here's hoping you've already figured it out by now. If not, good luck!