My truck was randomly shutting off while driving a few days ago, and since I was having grounding issues a couple months ago I decided to replace the ignition switch yesterday. After the install the truck started and ran perfectly. When I went to drive it to class this morning the truck wouldn't start at all. When I insert the key and turn to the first position the gear selector light turns on only but the rest of the dash is dead. Any turn past the first position shuts that light back off. No power windows or headlights either. I did try leaving the headlight switch turned on for about a minute with the key in and the dash lit up and the truck started but shut back down about 5 seconds after I put it into gear and I cannot recreate this so far. Also, the power lock button seems to be reversed and if I hold it in the unlock position there is a loud repeating clicking noise under the dash. I am pretty confident I installed the ignition correctly since everything had wiring harnesses and it ran perfectly for at least 30 minutes last night after I installed the ignition switch. I have no idea how to proceed from here.
Help! Major Electrical Issue After Ignition Switch Replacement
- Thread starter Mattj96
- Start date
Disclaimer: Links on this page pointing to Amazon, eBay and other sites may include affiliate code. If you click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.
Update, went ahead and sanded and cleaned all ground connections and the truck started and ran just fine. Drove about 10 miles to the store and on the way back it died and wouldn't start back up. When it died the motor just cut out and the dash went dark. When i turn the key to the on position it would make the usual chime noise but it sounded as if the battery was almost dead (batteries are a couple months old, alt is functioning properly at around 13v, and batteries are reading at 12.5v). When I try to start the the motor absolutely nothing happens. When I opened the hood there was a strong sulfur smell from the batteries. I am at my limit of knowledge and ability to diagnose or fix this and I had to leave it on the side of the road.
Eveready
I'm Awesome
If the grounds are good then check for a blown alternator diode and an essentially dead battery. A check would be to charge the battery overnight. If it runs you are on the right track. If it fails again it is most likely a fault in charging which is most likely alternator. Good luck and let us know what it turns out to be.
someotherguy
Truly Awesome
13V from the alternator is not good. If that's what you're getting with an actual meter, not that maybe gauge in the dash, then you need to find why it's only reading 13V. Alternator itself might be fine but something in that system is not happy. 14V is what you expect from a running alternator.
How's the cable between your batteries?
You're running a dual battery setup - why, and in what arrangement? Year, model, engine type, are the batteries on an isolator, etc. are both of the batteries the exact same brand, type, size, age, how old are they?
Strong sulfur smell under the hood is a bad sign. That's the batteries kicking out hydrogen gas, and it's ridiculously explosive. Don't make ANY sparks around this. I have personally witnessed a battery explode in the face of a shop helper when he made a spark removing a battery charger from a bad battery. We got him into the shower to rinse him off just in time to see his shirt practically rot right off him.
Richard
How's the cable between your batteries?
You're running a dual battery setup - why, and in what arrangement? Year, model, engine type, are the batteries on an isolator, etc. are both of the batteries the exact same brand, type, size, age, how old are they?
Strong sulfur smell under the hood is a bad sign. That's the batteries kicking out hydrogen gas, and it's ridiculously explosive. Don't make ANY sparks around this. I have personally witnessed a battery explode in the face of a shop helper when he made a spark removing a battery charger from a bad battery. We got him into the shower to rinse him off just in time to see his shirt practically rot right off him.
Richard
Thanks for your reply Eveready! My dad and I got it to fire back up and back in my driveway, the primary battery uses side post connections and the prev owner has the fuse block and alternator terms stacked and that seemed to be causing an iffy electrical connection. It ran fine just now, but what about that would cause it to be showing symptoms of battery overheating (sulfur smell)? Would an intermittent positive connection cause the alternator to behave unusually? It also has an weird dual battery setup where the aux battery is only connected to the alt and grounded to the block. I am worried that this isn't the end of my issues given the very intermittent nature of this issue the last few days.
Thanks for your response Someotherguy, I bought the truck with the two batteries and went ahead and replaced both for good measure a couple months ago, the main batt is wired to fuseblock, starter, and alt on + side and grounded to bottom of the motor and to the frame. The aux batt is only connected to the alt on the + side and the block on the - side. Cable seemed fine as well but am going to test resistance in a few minutes here. In my response to eveready a few minutes ago, the truck did start after messing with the + teminal on the main battery, and voltage on dash read at 14v +/- .5v the whole way home, but I'll be sure to test that right now with the multimeter too. I appreciate your word of caution and I will be sure to be very careful if it smells again, however it didn't when I just drove it home. I am still wondering how an iffy + connection would cause the battery to out-gas.
Edit: Truck is a 98 chev c1500 w/ the 350 motor, batteries are on the cheaper side of the autozone middle price range and both are exact same age and model of battery. I'm thinking I'm going to pull the aux battery and leave it in the garage for the next few days to make sure it's not part of the problem, and when I get paid next week I'll probably wire them in parallel and swap the side posts cable end for tops (batteries have both side and top connections).
Last edited:
Final update for the night: The voltage straight off the alternator post was 14.6v, I will try to do more tests on the alt tomorrow when I have some light to work by. Upon removing the + side terminals for my main battery, I found that it was leaking quite badly from the + post, and had corroded the hell out of the contacts. I cleaned those terminals and decided to swap the aux battery into the main battery's place and will be taking the leaky battery back to autozone to get it replaced. I am very grateful for the help and direction from you guys, you saved me a massive headache and I would greatly appreciate any more advice or insight you could provide, you're teaching a young guy a lot and saving me a great deal of money by keeping it out of a shop.
someotherguy
Truly Awesome
Look closely at the cable that was attached to the leaking post - it probably got acid down inside of it and it can be very difficult to clean it all out. At least soak it down with battery cleaner spray. I like the CRC stuff that's yellow but turns red when it hits acid, so you can keep using it til you don't see any more red. Just note that anything the spray touches will be dyed yellow for a while, including your fingers.
Richard
Richard
