97 yukon starting problem

[vali31]

Hello! This morning I dropped off my 2 girls to there pre-school class, and when I returned to my Yukon it wouldn’t start. When I tried to turn the car on all I heard was a clicking sound, “Click Click”. The first thing that came to my mind was the starter, because I don’t remember ever changing the STARTER, and my Yukon has 165,000 miles on it.

I ask one of the parents at the pre-school for a jump and after the 3rd turn and pumping of the gas pedal it started. I then drove back home and switched my cars. I rested the Yukon for about 15 minutes before I tried starting it again, and it started.

I haven’t used the Yukon ever since this morning because I am afraid that it wouldn’t start again. Any solutions for the reason why I couldn’t get it started without having it jumped?


Thank you, Vali

[bcopeland]

Well a weak battery could also give you the clicking of a failed starter. Also if the alternator is starting to fail. Go to the auto repair store and have them check it while it is running.

[intrcptrbird]

I dont know if you would necessarily still get the click of the solenoid but Chevy starters are notorious for not starting when they get hot. There are many different solutions to that, if in fact that is your problem. Its happened to me several times.

[vali31]

I am sorry to mention but I also had low gas. Could that cause the problem also? I let the Yukon sit for a day and a half and it was able to start with no problem.....

[GMMerlin]

Originally Posted by intrcptrbird

I dont know if you would necessarily still get the click of the solenoid but Chevy starters are notorious for not starting when they get hot. There are many different solutions to that, if in fact that is your problem. Its happened to me several times.

Wow! I did not know that.

[GMMerlin]

Originally Posted by vali31

Hello! This morning I dropped off my 2 girls to there pre-school class, and when I returned to my Yukon it wouldn’t start. When I tried to turn the car on all I heard was a clicking sound, “Click Click”. The first thing that came to my mind was the starter, because I don’t remember ever changing the STARTER, and my Yukon has 165,000 miles on it.

I ask one of the parents at the pre-school for a jump and after the 3rd turn and pumping of the gas pedal it started. I then drove back home and switched my cars. I rested the Yukon for about 15 minutes before I tried starting it again, and it started.

I haven’t used the Yukon ever since this morning because I am afraid that it wouldn’t start again. Any solutions for the reason why I couldn’t get it started without having it jumped?


Thank you, Vali

Check the battery cables to see if they are clean and tight. Next I would have the battery load tested.
Oh yea..put some gas in it

[vali31]

Originally Posted by GMMerlin

Check the battery cables to see if they are clean and tight. Next I would have the battery load tested.
Oh yea..put some gas in it

:::::> What is a battery load ? I filled up the tank, drove 7 miles to do my laundry which took me about 2 hours to do, then I jumped into the YUKON, prayed, and it started. I drove it straight home where it has been for about a good 24 hours. I will now check the battery cables to see if they are loose or in any need of cleaning.

...........Please respond back thank you.

[2000-Denali]

I've also heard that Chevy's with After-Market Headers can heat up the Starter to the point where when they shut up the engine... it won't start up again because its so hot! You don't happen to have Headers on your engine do you?

[afsfcop]

We recently had a similar problem and unfortunately ours shut down on the 101 freeway coming out of Hollywood. As a result it fried our fuel pump! But enough about my problems...
Eventually we found that the accessory cable was corroded. This is the cable that runs along the front of the engine compartment. We had two options at this point. Buy a new cable($200 at our local GM Dealership..no Autozone didn't carry it) or cut the cable back from the corrosion and reattach.
We chose the latter(there is a bit of extra slack so don't worry about cutting too much).
While replacing the fuel pump a family friend mentioned that he had problems with the side battery posts. Seems that although it may save space, this option is Murphy prone and not the best engineering design. He cut his cables and went with traditional clamps. We opted to do the same. This has fixed all of our electrical problems!
The advice given is excellent and hopefully it will help you. If not check the Acc cable, and the side posts.