Not sure if I mentioned it or not, but the van was running when I parked it, not too long ago, a month at most. After killing the engine, for whatever reason, I tried re-starting, and that's when this problem reared its ugly head.

 

This should've been step one. Check it and let us know the resulting voltage reading under load.

 

I see this is a fairly recent feed and no one has chimed in about the possibility of it being a glitch with the Engine Control Unit (ECU). I am actually posting a similar feed for a clicking relay trouble shooting advice. You can follow the full blog of all my experiences with the v6 3.5L at http://freehelpinghands.wordpress.co...995-6l-repair-

My ticking relay behind the driver firewall is the fuel pump relay. My blog has links to all manuals and diagrams. My pump relay is slow to engage due to voltage but I am still testing options to identify if it the ECU or a recent ground. I'm going through the wiring, trying a battery charger while starting and looking for a loner ECU to swap out for a second as of April 2014.

 

I appreciate all the tips guys. Had the flu the last couple weeks, and only now starting to feel better. We had better weather this weekend, so I pulled the starter and blocked it up. Nothing happens when hitting the ignition (thank God, I didn't want to be dealing with a seized engine!). Hear some slight clicking throughout the engine compartment from the front of the van but that's it, no spinning starter motor.

Also, there is no voltage drop when trying to crank it over. Battery was a little low, so I'm charging it again. The battery itself holds a charge outside of the van, so it's something shorting out I think, putting a drain on the battery. No lights left on or anything, and when I come back to the van, the battery override switch has engaged again (like someone left the lights on or something), and when I reset, I'm sitting around 11.6v. At any rate, when I tried cranking at this level it only dropped 1/10v from 11.6 down to 11.4-5, nothing as drastic as I should be seeing. To make sure the starter was not engaging, I also tried starting while hooked up to the charger at 13.5+v, and nothing.

At this point, I'm really suspecting the alarm system. It's been on the van since I bought it, but you never know how/who installed it, and if they used vampire taps, or did a sloppy installation or not. I'm not sure even where it is! I know it's a Silencer brand alarm, according to the sticker, but that's it.

 

A new ignition switch would be my next thing.

 

I'll have to admit, the alarm does seem to work. I can enable and disable it no problem. But once I find the alarm, it is probably the easiest thing to bypass and test real quick. Yeah, I don't know how easy it's going to be for me if its the ignition switch.

 

That was the problem, corroded ground cable.

 

Thanks for letting us know what the fix was.