I turned the key to start and nothing happened. (I replaced the battery, as it was original equipment, but the same problem was apparent. All the lights work, the fuel pump energized momentarily, etc. but the engine does not turn over...as if the battery were dead.) I drove it last yesterday, with no problems. This hasn't happened before. Any suggestions on what to do next?

 

Sounds like a security system issue. What is the security light doing when you turn the ignition on? Also, may want to try the other key, if you have it.

 

The security light is on in the message center when I open the door to get in. When I turn on the key, the message center diaplays the red battery symbol. Using the other key had the same results. Any other thoughts?

 

Sounds like a ground problem. GM uses a centralized grounding one under the left and one under the right floorboard in my 95 pontiac bonneville. They call it a comb i believe and when you lose the ground, the fuel pump will start momentarily then quit and the engine will not start. I would ck for that.

 

Thanks, I'll give that a look.

 

Were there any symptoms prior to replacing the battery? Hard to turn over, intermittent starting, etc?

 

I couldn't find a ground problem. Also, there were no previous "hard starting" problems, or anything like that. The day before, everything was working fine when I turned the vehicle off. Then yesterday, no start. (Changing the battery seemed like a good plan in that it was original and over 7 years old.) Could it be the starter? (Though my previous experience with starters gave some warning first, like intermittant starts, or solenoid just spinning and not engaging.)

 

Yeah thats what I was getting at(starter). Usually they do start giving symptoms like hard starting, intermittent starts, etc. Not sure what else to check without being there...

 

Neutral safety switch (have you tried jiggling the shifter while trying to start it?) or ignition or relay or solenoid or starter or wiring or connections. Wiring diagram would be nice as you could learn what type of relay or solenoid system you have for the starter and test at a place you can get at. Wires are color coded and you could test with a tester and see when ignition turned to start if you had power going in the direction of the starter. It's easy to say to simply test AT the starter, but often to get at those terminals is difficult. So, if you could find the next point upstream or pierce the wire with one of those piercing-type testers, then you'd find out something.

 

I let the truck roll backwards a little and then put back into park, and then "jiggled" the shift lever a couple of times. One of these two things did the trick and it started. I've started it twice since with no problems. I don't know what the "fix" was, but I do appreciate all the good input. Thanks to all of you who responded. (Now, I hope it doesn't repeat.)

 

Coincidences can be a pain. If it is your neutral safety switch it probably is going to get worse rather than better over time.

You may want to check and see if there is a problem with the activation depth of the switch due to some mechanical wear. After a while, if that IS the problem let's say - you might be a hundred miles from home and all the jiggling in the world may not help you. Your only hope then to get you home would be to jumper that switch out, and hope that was it. And then make sure you don't forget and try starting the vehicle while in a forward or reverse gear.

 

The shifter in one of my previous cars(95 Intrepid ES POS model) would do something similar. When put in park, and turned off, I could not remove the key. Took me quite awhile to realize the push-in button to shift was catching when it was cold not allowing me to remove the key. Could be something similar. Wasn't really a fix for me, just had to pull the button out if it was stuck.

 

It probably is the PRNDL switch. These have a little bit of adjustment on them. Bad thing is, the connectors are glued to the switch. So, don't plan on disconnecting it unless you have a new switch in hand. It could also be the ignition switch too, seen a few of those fail before.