No Crank No Start and Electrical Shananigans

[Frank Aruffo]

So the other day I drove to the store, came back out to my 2002 chevy s10 blazer (4.3L v6, 4 speed auto, 4WD), and when I tried to start it it made a bunch of clicking noises from the starter like when you have a dead battery. It wouldn’t crank or start. Called the tow truck and the guy put a jumper box on the battery. It cranked but it wouldnt start. I got it towed home (for free thanks to the insurance company!), and I tried to juump it off my moms car. It wouldnt crank. Its also been doing weird electrical things. For example, the dash lights will flicker or itll seem like the battery is very low one minute, then itll be fine the next. It just seems very glitchy and weird. Im scratching my head trying to figure this out. It almost seems like a loose connection or ground somewhere.
Some things worth mentioning:
-I replaced the battery with a Bosch about a year and a half ago
-Battery terminals are clean. I didnt clean them but they are shiny and dont have any corrosion
-The night before I took the distributor cap off tracking down an intermittent misfiire issue. I put the old one back on since I didnt have a new one yet
-The vehicle has a remote start. I didnt install it so I dont know who did it or when, or where any of the components are to check. Maybe its a faulty component in the system
-For several months it has been making a grinding noise for a second or two after I start it, Sounded like the starter motor but im not positive.

Topic

[Its me]

Lot of suspicious stuff there… Grinding after start… Possibly starter related issue…

Battery worn down… Needs charged and a load test…

Check Distributor cap and connections to ensure all plugs are in properly and tight…

As you stated, check your battery grounds and connections… Clean and tight… Possibly do a voltage drop test…

-Karl

[Frank Aruffo]

So I bought a multimeter and measured for parasitic draw by putting one end on battery negative and the other on the negative terminal (which I disconnected from the battery), just like Eric showed in his parasitic draw video. It draws about a full amp when the car is off, and every now and then it will spike to almost 10 amps and then the car tries to start itself without the key in the ignition. This makes me think it has something to do with the remote start. Next step will be to find out how that was installed and then ill disable it and see if i still have any parasitic electrical draw.
Something else I found was that when I turn on the flashers, the relay, which is behind the glove compartment, makes a loud noise similar to a squeaky car door. Not sure if this is important but I figured id mention it.

[Chris]

Lot of stuff there I can’t comment on but your initial description of it not starting sounded like the starter solenoid gone bad to me.

[Frank Aruffo]

Well I discovered that when I get the car started by jumping it, it does all sorts of crazy electrical things. The rear wiper goes on when I honk the horn, I hit the unlock button and the doors lock and unlock twice, the flashers flash twice as fast as usual, and the remote start likes to engage when the key is out or the car is already running. This makes me think my BCM has gone bad 🙁 Im gonna take it to the dealer to make sure and probably get raped in the process…

[Frank Aruffo]

So two days after this happened I got a job in a local shop. I jumped it, took it to work, and my boss tested the battery. Turned out it only had 10.56 Volts so i replaced it under warranty and now everythings good. I just overlooked it. My boss told me hes seen cars do weird things when the voltage is low.

[Author]

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