Cold weather no crank, 2015 Sierra 6.2

[Chris Duesing]

Greetings the frozen tundra of South Dakota. I mention the weather up front as I see others have experienced the issue I'm currently having. Posting up my issue to add to community knowledge.

 

The truck: 2015 Sierra, 6.2, 8-speed, 4x4. Bought it used back in August, sitting on 125k. This is my first winter with the truck. Ambient air temps have been single digit or below zero for a week or so. Anticipating this, I set out to put a battery tender on the truck and plug in the block heater. 

 

The other day I hit the remote start to warm it up before going to town to run errands, got ready and went out to find it not running. Got in, used the key and one click, no crank. After several hours charging the battery, it started right up. Next day same thing. Next day got stranded a few miles from home. No low battery warning, all the gauges read normal, no check engine light. Tried to jump it and eventually it started right back up. Since then, only the one click.

 

I do have tools and diag equipment and whatnot and there are a lot of checks I have not done yet. It's -25 outside and there is a couple inches of snow on the ground. I have done a couple of quick tests in the limited amount of time I've been outside messing with it.

 

In an effort to get it started again so I could get it inside the barn and at least out of the snow (and close to the tools and a portable heater) I pulled the starter relay and shorted power to engage the starter. It only clicks once. 

 

That points me in the direction of the starter / starter circuit being the issue. 

 

Things I need to do:

Get the multimeter out and check for voltage everywhere it should be.

Get to the starter through the passenger front wheel well so I can check the ground under the A pillar and the heat shield protecting the starter motor. There is a TSB about voltage arcing to the heat shield so I need to check that.

Thaw the starter motor. Maybe I can tape a shop vac hose to a heat gun and shove it in there to see if it is just jammed with ice.

 

 

I don't want to buy a starter if my starter is just frozen.

I don't want to go through the effort to pulling the starter to thaw it.

Where ever this path takes me, I have to solve it. Can't have a truck that turns into a paper weight 6 weeks a year.

 

I know most people won't ever experience this issue but that doesn't mean the root cause isn't present in your truck too. So I'm going to figure it out and keep a record of my findings here. 

 

Thanks.

[diyer2]

I believe the battery cables are a known issue. Might want to replace them. 

[Snowcamo]

You likely still have the first version of the starter. Having gone through the same Id swap it out based on what you say. The new version is better built, has more tq and turns the engine more quickly. 

[Chris Duesing]

I think you're right about the original starter. Previous (original) owner had it dealer serviced and that dealer reported to carfax. Nothing in there about starting issues in the past. 

 

I did read somewhere that there is a weep hole that can allow moisture in to it just may be frozen. Sill, I have to eliminate that weakness. 

 

It's frustrating for the truck to be down and frustrating it's too cold to get out and figure it out.

[Snowcamo]

I understand. You can buy them from rockauto cheaper. If you have volts to it and it doesn't turn its just bad. Or in your case possibly frozen. The symptoms you describe are that of the starter failing. I've been there. Sucks. The armature inside sticks on the first gen. 

[Chris Duesing]

Interesting. I really appreciate the info. 

 

It's a balmy 3 degrees out this morning. I stuck a hair dryer (on low) and shoved it down next to the starter. If it cranks, we have successfully diagnosed a frozen starter.

 

 

 

[dieselfan1]

I wonder if you just need a new battery?

BTW I have the new version starter on my lifted Chevy 2018. Original failed around 45,000 miles

Big difference.  It sounds like a high torque type starter.

Let us know what's up .

[Chris Duesing]

That was my initial thought as well. I am going to replace the battery in the near future just to be on the safe side but I'm not getting a battery low warning and it is always the same one click when the starting circuit is engaged. I thought maybe if the battery is below a certain level of charge the starter servo won't engage. But jumping and old school battery charging station had it steady at 14v and still just the click.

 

I just went out to check on the hair dryer and tried shorting the starter relay circuit with the same one click result.

 

We put a wood stove in the barn yesterday. So my focus with the truck is to get it started so I can put it in the barn and do actual diag on the starting circuit. 

[Chris Duesing]

Update:

 

It got up to 25 degrees today and the wind isn't blowing so I was able to be outside long enough to drag the floor jack over to where the truck is parked, get the front in the air and put an electric heater under it. 

 

It starts and runs now. It progressed from no crank to intermittent crank, then reliable crank, no start to starting right up. There was a point where I heard a scraping sound coming from the starter area, to me it sounded like ice chunks scraping on the bendix. Granted, I was assuming ice blockage in the starter solenoid as the culprit so I am biased to make that assumption.

 

So I'll order an updated starter and swap it out in the near future. 

 

In my short trouble shooting efforts in the cold, a connector I had triple checked and declared good turned out to not actually be fully seated and I had to sort through. I was getting transfer case, transmission and steering system loss of communications for a bit. Trying to undo one of those big connectors with the lever lock was actually a bad idea when it was -25 as it is now broken and zip tied together. 

 

Now that I drug the floor jack to where the truck is parked, if it happens again I can quickly get a header under it to thaw out the starter. 

 

Hope this helps someone else and I'll update this tread with any new developments. 

 

Lessons learned: when it gets that far below zero, simple things become difficult and durable things shatter when you touch them.

[Chris Duesing]

Oh, the '93 K2500HD with a 350 and the '01 Tahoe with the 5.3 that are also at the ranch start right up. 

[dieselfan1]

 

Like a Rock Brother

[Snowcamo]

Yep like a rock.

Note that scratch sound is the starter gear not fully engaging with the flywheel. Back off the key when you hear that or you have a chance of knocking teeth off the flywheel. Then $200 turns into 1k quick.

Edited January 3, 2022 by Snowcamo

[Alan Bowman]

16 hours ago, Chris Duesing said:

Interesting. I really appreciate the info. 

 

It's a balmy 3 degrees out this morning. I stuck a hair dryer (on low) and shoved it down next to the starter. If it cranks, we have successfully diagnosed a frozen starter.

 

 

 

When my truck wouldn’t start from cold weather it needed a battery. Get the most CCA possible.

[Alan Bowman]

On 1/1/2022 at 8:24 AM, Chris Duesing said:

Greetings the frozen tundra of South Dakota. I mention the weather up front as I see others have experienced the issue I'm currently having. Posting up my issue to add to community knowledge.

 

The truck: 2015 Sierra, 6.2, 8-speed, 4x4. Bought it used back in August, sitting on 125k. This is my first winter with the truck. Ambient air temps have been single digit or below zero for a week or so. Anticipating this, I set out to put a battery tender on the truck and plug in the block heater. 

 

The other day I hit the remote start to warm it up before going to town to run errands, got ready and went out to find it not running. Got in, used the key and one click, no crank. After several hours charging the battery, it started right up. Next day same thing. Next day got stranded a few miles from home. No low battery warning, all the gauges read normal, no check engine light. Tried to jump it and eventually it started right back up. Since then, only the one click.

 

I do have tools and diag equipment and whatnot and there are a lot of checks I have not done yet. It's -25 outside and there is a couple inches of snow on the ground. I have done a couple of quick tests in the limited amount of time I've been outside messing with it.

 

In an effort to get it started again so I could get it inside the barn and at least out of the snow (and close to the tools and a portable heater) I pulled the starter relay and shorted power to engage the starter. It only clicks once. 

 

That points me in the direction of the starter / starter circuit being the issue. 

 

Things I need to do:

Get the multimeter out and check for voltage everywhere it should be.

Get to the starter through the passenger front wheel well so I can check the ground under the A pillar and the heat shield protecting the starter motor. There is a TSB about voltage arcing to the heat shield so I need to check that.

Thaw the starter motor. Maybe I can tape a shop vac hose to a heat gun and shove it in there to see if it is just jammed with ice.

 

 

I don't want to buy a starter if my starter is just frozen.

I don't want to go through the effort to pulling the starter to thaw it.

Where ever this path takes me, I have to solve it. Can't have a truck that turns into a paper weight 6 weeks a year.

 

I know most people won't ever experience this issue but that doesn't mean the root cause isn't present in your truck too. So I'm going to figure it out and keep a record of my findings here. 

 

Thanks.

Buy a battery.