No crank, No start, Silence

[GaBnn3]

My '91 Suburban, 350/5.7 had been starting and running great. Today I parked it in the driveway after work, then later went out to run an errand. The dash lights go on like usual. But it won't turn over. The starter makes no sound, not even clicking, just silence. Please advise what is the troubleshooting procedure for this issue. Thanks guys.

 

[tRustyK5]

Neutral safety switch comes to mind. Try moving the gear selector to neutral while trying the key. Move the selector up and down a bit. If you get some action the switch might just need adjusted, or replaced. It's at the bottom of the steering column.

 

[Wes Harden]

Yes the auto trans neutral/reverse light switch, is on top of the steering column near the firewall. The switch is designed to only allow the engine to crank when in park, or neutral. The switch is kinda horse shoe shaped and just clips into the column. Because of where it is located it can hard to get it installed correctly. The switch it self has a small amount of adjustment, to fine tune once installed. Should be 2 purple 12ga wires plugged into the switch, sometimes one is yellow, depends on year and trans. If you unplug the connector with purple wires, one of them should have power when cranking. If you have power on one of the wires then chances are the switch is bad, installed poorly, or adjusted poorly. You can jumper the plug with purple wires and see it the truck will start, caution with the wires jumper-ed, it can and will start in gear.

 

[Blue85]

If everything goes dark when you turn the key, that's a bad main connection at the battery or starter. The bad connection can run the dome light and whatever, but it practically an open circuit compared to the load from the starter.

 

[GaBnn3]

Thanks guys for your responses. This is such a great resource for a novice like me. I went out this morning to move the shift lever and see what happens. But first, I thought, let me try and start it, which I did. It started right up like nothing ever happened. This is worrysome because in a month I am going on a cross-country trip with this old boy. The last thing I want is to start the trip with an intermittant problem that will leave me stranded somewhere far from home. I have to go to work soon and don't have time to do anything further today. I'll check the connections on the components tomorrow. Maybe I'll replace the neutral safety switch as a precaution before the trip. As an afterthought I'll point out that I had the steering column rebuilt about a year ago. The ignition switch was not quite right. I could not put the key switch into ACC mode without holding it. I let it go because I never use that and everything else worked. Any futher info greatly appreciated. Thanks again.

 

[fourwheelerjeff]

This is worrysome because in a month I am going on a cross-country trip with this old boy.

you should post up your planned trip if you are comfortable doing so. that way maybe CK5ers along the way could give their numbers in case you do need help; or if you just wanted to meet other members

 

[imiceman44]

you should post up your planned trip if you are comfortable doing so. that way maybe CK5ers along the way could give their numbers in case you do need help; or if you just wanted to meet other members

And for those who just want to have the privacy and still have resources the ck5 map of members shows you where members are and you can reach out and get contacts.
I have used it many times