so my truck has been starting really crappy lately. takes a little while longer to start than usual or it just plain starts crappy. well i got out of work this morning, and go to start her and it doesnt do a damn thing. no click, nothing. it's not the battery because i got panel lights and everything else. so i'm thinking oh crap its the starter, now i have to call my wife at 1:45am to come pick me up. well i thought about it for a second and remembered about my great-grandpa's old '74 power wagon that sometimes wouldn't start unless you had it in neutral. so i popped it in neutral, and she started. still a crappy start though. any ideas anyone?

 

update: went out this afternoon to just see if she would start normal...and she did, but still started and ran a little crappy for a bit. i seriously think my truck has a mind of it's own. and its thinking, f*ck this, im getting too tired lol.

 

The things that come to mind are the neutral safety switch or perhaps the shift linkage is out of adjustment?

 

or the starter solenoid might be crappin' out. that could all be true...but that still doesn't explain why it starts like crap. i mean, when i first got the truck, i would turn the key and it would start in like 2 seconds if that. now it starts in two seconds, but doesnt fire off like it used to. maybe the timing is off?

 

So we got two complete seperate problems right?
For the first problem I agree with Ophidia, sounds like neutral safety swith.

For it starting crappy I would look into your throttle body sensors, such as your MAP, TPS, and the IAC.... Take your air cleaner off and spray some carb cleaner into your IAC (Idle Air control) its toward the back of the throttle body, sometimes they get gunk in them and dont start or run for s h i t. Mine was doin that and then it just snapped out of it. Then my tranny blew up lol.

 

the tps and iac have both been replaced about a month ago. so thats not the issue. it sounds like a timing issue to me for some reason. wheres the neutral safety switch located. i would look in my manual but its in my truck downstairs lol

 

either that, or my compression is low or vacuum leak or something for idle.

 

update: check engine light keeps coming on after a while of driving. keeps coming up code 31 EVAP system. so i do believe i'm actually going to follow what it says (WEIRD!) and trouble shoot it from there. purge solenoid and canister perhaps? at least, thats what the manual says. plus that has something to do with idle/startup as well as oddly as i found that out as i was reading my haynes manual

 

update: check engine light keeps coming on after a while of driving. keeps coming up code 31 EVAP system. so i do believe i'm actually going to follow what it says (WEIRD!) and trouble shoot it from there. purge solenoid and canister perhaps? at least, thats what the manual says. plus that has something to do with idle/startup as well as oddly as i found that out as i was reading my haynes manual



p.s. sorry for the double post

 

Did you follow all of your plumbing under the hood? your truck doesn't have an EGR valve does it. My 97 5.9L doesn't