My '86 LG4 won't start. It had been starting and driving fine. The other day, I drove it after work, but I went to start it about 3 or 4 hours later, and it acted like my battery was completely dead. I tried jumping it, and it wouldn't even turn over. I waited until the next morning, and then it fired up with a jump. Since then, I can't even get the solinoid to click. Even with a battery charger on it to jump it, all I get is a hum. I've replaced the starter and solenoid, cleaned up all of my connections and grounds, and checked the voltage at the starter. Everything looks fine. The fusable links look okay, but I don't know how visible it would be if they had burned. Even jumping the terminals on the starter solenoid only results in a hum. Could this be an ignition switch problem? I'd appreciate any ideas. Thanks.

Cole

 

How's your battery? Batteries with dead cells, or ones that are just TOASTED.....sometimes will not accept a charge.

My buddy, SOMEHOW, managed to kill a gel-cell battery, one of the Optimas....and to get his truck started, it took us chaining 3 batteries and a 2-10-50 amp starter/charger, chained together. DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME KIDS, THIS IS NOT SAFE. We were all standing as far away as possible......except me because I was designated "flip the switch to 50amps!" guy. I never shoulda volunteered my starter/charger to that job....but it worked!

Lol.... Try swapping the battery out if you can, see what happens. Btw, the hum might just be the fuel pump.

 

My battery probably is on it's last leg. It's getting old, but can a battery be so dead that you can't start it with a jump? Judging by your story, I guess so. I would think that the other vehicle should have enough juice to at least get the solenoid clicking. I have a mechanical fuel pump. It sounds like the hum is coming from the starter.

 

Yes, a battery can be so dead that it won't accept a jump...


Give it a shot anyways. I've seen cars with headlights that weren't dim, all instrumentation worked, radio worked, but the car wouldnt crank. Battery did the trick. The old school 'tests' don't ALWAYS work.

 

Thanks. I'll give it a shot.

 

Yea i have had batteries so dead that then wouldnt even power interior lights with a jump. I would just take a battery out of another vehichle to test that way you dont have to go through the trouble of buuying a battery and still haveing the problem. Also try testing the battery with a meter

 

I would say the starter, because of the hum. And you just hear the belts move, right?

 

I know that it's possible to get a bad replacement, but I really doubt it's the starter. I thought it was, so I swapped it out. It made no difference. I still get exactly the same hum. I'm not sure what you mean about hearing the belts, but nothing is rotating at all when I try to crank it.

 

hook a voltmeter to your battery and see if you have at least 12 volts at the battery, then try and starting and see what your battery voltage drops to, if it drops to under 10 volts your battery is toast. this is assuming you even have 12 volts to start with.

 

I threw the battery on a charger, and it read either 12.6 or 12.8 volts afterwards. As soon as I tried to start the car, it dropped to 9.something. I swapped the battery from my other car into it, and it fired right up. It sucks that I over-thought this thing so much. What would be the first thing that someone that knew very little about cars would do? Buy a new battery! Oh well, I had never seen a battery that wouldn't take a jump before. You learn something every day.

 

Just wanted to confirm for other people having the same issue. All of a sudden my 1998 Chevy Suburban would not crank. Tried jumping and it barely cranked two times. Got it home and it would not crank any longer. Ran trickle charger all night and tried jumping with 225amps. Would only hum. I thought the starter was bad. Checked all connections and everything looked good. Swapped batteries out of another vehicle and it started right up. Voltmeter said battery had a good charge after charging but would not turn over no matter what. Always try another battery before you do anything drastic and waste a bunch of time.
Thanks for the info in this thread!
Joey