1990 K5 wont start

[Alex 90 K5]

The other day I drove my truck to a friends house, turned it off and now it wont restart. I've already searched through other threads, and when I turn the key to on, I can hear the fuel pump turning on. The engine will not crank but the fan and belts are trying to move. I just replaced the spark plugs last week and have rechecked all the connections. I did one plug at a time so I know the wires aren't criss crossed. Im thinking it is the starter. I crawled underneath the truck and the starter is making sort of a clicking noise. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks alot.

 

[Pvt. Maggot]

Take a hammer and have someone crank it over while you tap it, usually they will work. do the lights dim when you crank it? like its trying to start? all other electricals work?

 

[hidesertwheelin]

Did you try to jump start it? Sounds like a dead battery to me.

 

[txfiremank5]

Did you try to jump start it? Sounds like a dead battery to me.

Ageed. Did you check the battery at all?

 

[K5Greek]

i also say check the battery as well as move the wires around.. there may be some corrosion

 

[Alex 90 K5]

I tried to jumpstart it with my wrangler. And still no crank with the engine. I didnt look at the wires but the guage on the battery was where it usually is. I will have to try the hammer.

 

[m1ndless]

Could it be you alternator? That happend to my friends jeep last night.

 

[Alex 90 K5]

I dont know about the alternator. Would it crank if the alternator was blown? My girlfriend was driving it before this happened and she said that it was running kind of rough. I didnt buy the best spark plugs so possibly that is it? Anyone else have any ideas what it is? My friend is getting pissed off that its just sitting in front of his house. Haha. I just hope its something easy to fix so i dont need to get it towed.

 

[Pvt. Maggot]

I say either the starter, or could it possibly have locked up? try the hammer trick, check the plugs for mashed heads, I highly doubt the alt would cause it not to turn over,and if you tried to jump it, it would have turned over. maybe your girlfriend got the 4x4 fever and got on her a little to hard, hah

 

[MattK]

I'd probably focus on the starter for now.

 

[Alex 90 K5]

I was just looking at it and noticed that when I had it hooked up to my jeep when I was trying to jump it, whenever i tried to start it the headlights, dash lights, and interior lights all pretty much went off. I left it hooked up for like 10 mins, unhooked it, and came back 5 mins later and the battery was in the red again. I guess I'll try it tommarrow with a new battery.

 

[hidesertwheelin]

Hook up your jeep, give it some gas and rev it up, and have your friend try and start the blazer.

 

[scouthead]

I would say it sounds like a starter/battery/charging issue, but i do have first hand expierience with the worst case cenario...
Bought a '89 suburban for $400 because it wouldn't start. It was running just fine, and then one day the owner parked it in front of his house, and 5 or 6 hours later...couldn't start it. I knew the owner well, and believed every word when he told me nothing unusual had happened while driving (overheating, etc.) He had a mechanic look at it... replaced the starter, battery, put in a bunch of relays for some reason(I pulled them back out), and some other stuff that didn't work. It took me twenty minutes to figure it out once I bought it. I pulled all the spark plugs, and it cranked like the day it was new...it also shot a large jet of coolant from #5. What happened was there had been a small headgasket leak, and when he parked the truck, the cyl that was near the blown area just happened to come to rest at the bottom of it's stroke....hot pressurized coolant pumped the cyl. full of coolant, and when he tried to start the motor it locked up. This all happened quickly as I used to see the guy driving the truck around, and it didn't smoke or run rough (and it did not have a cat, so I think it would have shown well).
All that being said, you probably left a light/radio/amp on and drained your battery, or the battery is just old, or maybe the alternator quit...but if you can't figure it out quick, make sure you can turn the motor over by hand, or pull the plugs and try to crank it.

 

[Alex 90 K5]

Interesting, how exactly do you turn the motor over by hand? I know it has something to do with attaching a socket wrench, but thats all I've heard. You guys are really helpful, thanks alot. Im just hoping the engine isnt locked up.

 

[scouthead]

Just hook the right sized socket onto a short extension, and a ratchet or breakerbar with a long handle, stick it on the crank pulley and turn the motor clockwise ( you could go the otherway but you might loosen the bolt ). Make sure the tranny is not in gear...
It's probably not hydro-locked, but it's easy to check, just so you don't spend a bunch of dough fixing things that don't need to be. (although my $400 truck came with a new battery/starter!)

 

[Alex 90 K5]

Alright I put in a new battery today. Still the same thing. The damn thing will not hold a charge. Once I turn the key the guage on the dash goes to zero. Any ideas? Distributor possibly? I really dont want to have to take this thing to the shop to get looked at.