'00 GC w/intermitent elec. problem/won't start

[ksubenny]

My gf has a '00 GC Laredo, fully loaded, 4.0 with 115k. It seems to have some electrical gremlins in it and I'd like some help in finding them. Roughly a year ago we were out and she ran in to drop off something, and I shut the car off and waited. When I tried to turn the car back on, I got absolutely no response from the starter, but the dash gauges started acting up, going from peg to peg. Sometimes the radio would work and sometimes it wouldn't, but the car wouldn't even turn over or give a starter click. It started again with the assistance of a jump, and the next day I found that the neg. battery cable wouldn't tighten down on the terminal anymore, it was replaced and the problem hadn't occurred again....until today.

She was coming out of a restaurant after work, hoped in her car and nothing would happen. The gauges again were moving back and forth similar to the first time, however it wouldn't turn over, or even give a solenoid click. I wasn't there so I don't know if the lights or radio were working. With the help of some of her coworkers they got the car pushed out of the stall so they could attempt to jump it, and they eventually got it started. She did say that it took several tries to get the car started, and each time she tried it sounded a little closer to starting, which makes it sound like a battery. And then when she got back home, she said as she shut if off the gauges started jumping around again, she didn't try to start it but she isn't holding out much hope.

Any ideas on what might be causing this? It hasn't died yet while running, and I was told that when they replaced the battery cable, the original one had dual ends, one to the block and one to a body panel and they replaced it with a cable that had only 1 end and tied it to the block, but that shouldn't make a difference should it? I'm several hours away from the vehicle at the moment, but am planning on going back to try and work on it this weekend, so any leads or ideas would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

[sreilly77]

Originally Posted by ksubenny

My gf has a '00 GC Laredo, fully loaded, 4.0 with 115k. It seems to have some electrical gremlins in it and I'd like some help in finding them. Roughly a year ago we were out and she ran in to drop off something, and I shut the car off and waited. When I tried to turn the car back on, I got absolutely no response from the starter, but the dash gauges started acting up, going from peg to peg. Sometimes the radio would work and sometimes it wouldn't, but the car wouldn't even turn over or give a starter click. It started again with the assistance of a jump, and the next day I found that the neg. battery cable wouldn't tighten down on the terminal anymore, it was replaced and the problem hadn't occurred again....until today.

She was coming out of a restaurant after work, hoped in her car and nothing would happen. The gauges again were moving back and forth similar to the first time, however it wouldn't turn over, or even give a solenoid click. I wasn't there so I don't know if the lights or radio were working. With the help of some of her coworkers they got the car pushed out of the stall so they could attempt to jump it, and they eventually got it started. She did say that it took several tries to get the car started, and each time she tried it sounded a little closer to starting, which makes it sound like a battery. And then when she got back home, she said as she shut if off the gauges started jumping around again, she didn't try to start it but she isn't holding out much hope.

Any ideas on what might be causing this? It hasn't died yet while running, and I was told that when they replaced the battery cable, the original one had dual ends, one to the block and one to a body panel and they replaced it with a cable that had only 1 end and tied it to the block, but that shouldn't make a difference should it? I'm several hours away from the vehicle at the moment, but am planning on going back to try and work on it this weekend, so any leads or ideas would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

It sounds like something is grounding out. Look around the battery cables. Make sure they aren't rubbing against anything metal or hot. I had this exact same problem on my 98 Dakota 5.9 where the gauges were going crazy yet the starter would not work and it turned out the positive battery cable going to the starter was rubbing against the exhaust manifold and grounding out. Hope this helps.

[ksubenny]

sounds like a great place to start, I will check that out as soon as I can get to the car and post updates as I can, thanks.

[sreilly77]

Originally Posted by ksubenny

sounds like a great place to start, I will check that out as soon as I can get to the car and post updates as I can, thanks.

No problem. Let me know how you make out.

[ksubenny]

Originally Posted by sreilly77

No problem. Let me know how you make out.

So here's a couple of updates, first due to work I'm not able to make the several hour trip to work on the car...however I was able to talk my brother who's a pretty decent shadetree mechanic to look at it since he's only a couple minutes a way. He said he checked both cables and they aren't shorting out anywhere and that they do appear to be making solid connections.

He also said that when he would turn the ignition to start, there was a strange clicking noise and he started investigating and found it was the brake light switch under the dash that was clicking. So he was going to go pick one up a the local auto parts store and see if that makes any improvements.

[sreilly77]

Originally Posted by ksubenny

So here's a couple of updates, first due to work I'm not able to make the several hour trip to work on the car...however I was able to talk my brother who's a pretty decent shadetree mechanic to look at it since he's only a couple minutes a way. He said he checked both cables and they aren't shorting out anywhere and that they do appear to be making solid connections.

He also said that when he would turn the ignition to start, there was a strange clicking noise and he started investigating and found it was the brake light switch under the dash that was clicking. So he was going to go pick one up a the local auto parts store and see if that makes any improvements.

As long as the positive cable isn't touching any metal on the way down to the starter and the negative cable is properly grounded, then that eliminates that.

Let me know if the brake switch fixes the problem. I never heard of something like that before but if it's making weird noises replace it. I don't think they are that expensive. Also, check your starter. See if you can check the voltage going to that. I just remembered I worked on car (it was a Ford Crown Victoria though) that had similar problems to what your having now (minus the wacky gauges) and it turned out to be the starter wasn't putting out the proper voltage so I replaced it. But don't go to extremes yet since starters can be a little expensive (I just replaced mine for about $80). See if you can get a voltage test on the starter. But lets try the brake switch first and see what happens. Let me know.

[ksubenny]

well after replacing the brake light switch and cleaning off some corrosion on the battery terminals and spraying terminal protector on it, the clicking has stopped and the car seems to be starting as it should. Hopefully that was all that was wrong and its fixed.....but then I thought that same thing a year ago. Thanks for help

[sreilly77]

Originally Posted by ksubenny

well after replacing the brake light switch and cleaning off some corrosion on the battery terminals and spraying terminal protector on it, the clicking has stopped and the car seems to be starting as it should. Hopefully that was all that was wrong and its fixed.....but then I thought that same thing a year ago. Thanks for help

Hey thats good news. I hope everything is fine now. Glad I could help.