No crank, no start unless...

[Hungoveraviator]

So I put a new 4.3 in my 97 K1500. Same engine it came with.

When I turn the ignition things power on in the cab for the most part (fan won’t turn on but AC and recirc light up when pressed, wipers don’t work) but have no crank.

I took a test light and clipped it to a ground and it will turn over when you press it to the #8 Crank fuse or the starter relay.

Anyone have any ideas for what I need to do to fix it?

 

[Schurkey]

#8 Crank fuse loose in the clips? Gotta push on it to get it to make electrical contact?

Sounds to me like you have multiple electrical problems. Consider a faulty or mis-wired ignition switch.

Do ALL the other fuses test good? How about fusible links?

Is the bulkhead connector firmly attached?

 

[Hungoveraviator]

#8 Crank fuse loose in the clips? Gotta push on it to get it to make electrical contact?

Sounds to me like you have multiple electrical problems. Consider a faulty or mis-wired ignition switch.

Do ALL the other fuses test good? How about fusible links?

Is the bulkhead connector firmly attached?

No, like if you touch the metal on the top of the fuse with that test light where the other end is hooked onto a ground, it will turn over if the ignition is on.

Fuses all look good. I didn’t touch anything inside of the truck other than what needed to be disconnect it everything worked before which is the weird thing. As far as I can tell, bulkheads look normal.

 

[Hungoveraviator]

Anyone else?

 

[Erik the Awful]

Bad ground.

 

[thegawd]

the ground on the passanger side rear head? does the 4.3 have that? I would assume since its practically a 5.7 that has 2 cylinders machined out... more or less. that ground runs down and up through a heat shield around the exhaust manifold and connects to the frame. theres another ground from this same spot that connects to a stud on the firewall under the heater hoses. then theres also the negative on the battery to the fender.

theres a bunch more throughout the truck but those are the 3 main ones.

Al

 

[Hungoveraviator]

Thanks guys. There was a random ground that had the connector broken off in the harness up by the crank position sensor and it seems to have resolved the problem.