Today I drove my 95 GMC Suburban fairly heavily - about 250 miles.
Getting home after the last leg (20 miles), I turned off the car in the
driveway, then realized I wanted to move it.

I tried to start it - the lights were still on, along with various other
accessories. As I turned the key, everything turned on for a
fraction of a second, but before I heard the starter turn,
everything dropped dead, leaving me with a dark car - no
electrical power whatever. Turning the key again got
zero, nada, nothing.

I thought about jumpstarting, and hooked up the battery
to the jumper cables. Touching the contacts together got
a nice fat spark - the battery had plenty of juice. The
cables seem to be tightly attached.

Is there some kind of master breaker or fuse that
may have tripped? What else could have happened?

thanks,

Peter Trei

Peter Trei wrote:
Hi Peter...

Not a car guy; just an old retired electrical guy...

Having said that, I'll betcha a dollar against a donut
that if you'll disconnect the battery cables at the
battery, clean 'em up nice and shiny, and put them
back - you'll be fine

Should you (or anyone) be interested in what causes
this, here we go...

The terminals corrode a little, leaving the connection
much like a - if you looked at it through a microscope -
like a mountain range of peaks and valleys.

The connection between those peaks is sufficient to
let you operate as long as you don't draw too much
current. But when you tried to engage the starter,
those "peaks" got real hot real sudden, and melted.
Blew like little fuses

Take care.

Ken

"Ken Weitzel" <kweitzel (AT) shaw (DOT) ca> wrote

Cleaning them eh? You just saved me from going out and spending $20 on new
terminals!! Thanks!! :-)


--
80Knight
(1991 Pontiac Bonneville SSE Sedan)
My Karr's Website's:
http://www.geocities.com/brandon_80_knight/

"Peter Trei" <ptrei (AT) acm (DOT) org> wrote

Their are fusible links in the wiring to the starter.
First check your fuses, then battery cables, at both ends. Then check the
wires at the starter. Next check the starter relay. Then check the fusible
links.
Charles