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2002 Chevy Venture won't start.
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Sgt_Saurus
Novice
Mar 9, 2014, 12:48 PM
Post #1 of 16
(2823 views)
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2002 Chevy Venture won't start.
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I recently purchased a power converter so whenever I go on long trips I could power a laptop or game console for entertainment for any passengers. I have a 2002 Chevy Venture Base Model 3.4L V6. It has about 150,00 miles. Anyway, I was getting ready to hook the wires up to the electrical posts on the battery to test it. It tested fine and worked, the problem is that when I unhooked it and put the leads back on the battery, the fuse box back in its place, and everything was screwed down as it should, the van would not start. I didn't get any power at all. I'd put the key in the ignition and get no power whatsoever.
I thought the battery was dead so I hooked it up to a battery charger only to find that it was fully charged. I left it on for maybe 20 minutes just in case. the last thing I did was get back to the battery posts with a multimeter to see that the battery is pumping out 12.56v so I know for certain the battery isn't dead. Now I'm just stuck wondering why the rest of the vehicle is acting like it is. I tried the fuses that seemed would be the main culprits like any PCM fuses and Ignition fuses. None of them were blown.
So I'm at a loss and am feeling more and more like I seriously screwed something up with my electrical system and won't be able to bring it back beyond the brink of death.
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Tom Greenleaf
Ultimate Carjunky
/ Moderator
Mar 9, 2014, 1:06 PM
Post #2 of 16
(2816 views)
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Re: 2002 Chevy Venture won't start.
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?? You have no power to anything at all like there's no battery now yet you have power at the battery and cables at least right at it?
Gotta follow those cables and don't just check posts at battery the inside of GM sideposts can sometimes be horrible without notice.
BTW do you mean "inverter" to make 110v 'house current' type thing? Why did goodness are you messing with the battery. For chump change you can just use an existing power port and be all fused as the port is. Silly 100w inverter can be just $20 or less and some with USB or whatever you need. The assorted stuff doesn't use that much power.
Chase down where power cuts out from known at battery. If equipped with anti-theft or other stuff it should only not run but seems you have a total disconnect,
T
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Sgt_Saurus
Novice
Mar 9, 2014, 1:23 PM
Post #4 of 16
(2802 views)
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Re: 2002 Chevy Venture won't start.
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I can go double check for you but I swear to you everything is back how it was. there are only three cables that got disconnected and then later reconnected. the two battery leads + and -, and the + lead that goes to the fuse box. I got a 710 watt power inverter and the whole reason I plugged it into the battery directly is because it's limited to less than 100 watts through the cigarette lighter. plugging anything of use would just set off the Short Circuit alarm and eventually blow the fuse in the inverter. Trust me on that. It's happened to me before. I haven't touched the van since yesterday so I'll go and see if anything has changed.
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Tom Greenleaf
Ultimate Carjunky
/ Moderator
Mar 9, 2014, 1:37 PM
Post #5 of 16
(2799 views)
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Re: 2002 Chevy Venture won't start.
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Sport, dump that 700W thing and forget that. That's tons of power and wouldn't stay working if an ordinary car battery was using most of that power! I don't think my full size home refrigerator uses that much.
Why were you messing with the fuse box at all which could be your "open" or more likely if that thing is still between with eyelets at battery posts it is ALL messed up right there. When you have a legit reason to add to sidepost batteries there are special battery bolts just for that.
This is nuts. If anything you need requires more than the vehicle's power ports just duct tape a gas generator to the roof for goodness sake,
T
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kev2
Veteran
Mar 9, 2014, 2:21 PM
Post #6 of 16
(2786 views)
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Re: 2002 Chevy Venture won't start.
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you need to start at the underhood fuse box- probe* fuses for 12v on both sides... let us know
Looking at fuse is not good enough - probe for voltage, test light or DVOM
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Sgt_Saurus
Novice
Mar 9, 2014, 2:30 PM
Post #7 of 16
(2786 views)
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Re: 2002 Chevy Venture won't start.
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I don't understand any of you. You can easily buy 110, 410, and 700 watt power inverters at most auto stores. All of them can be plugged into the cigarette lighter and the 410 and up can get hooked up to the battery. My friend's dad has one permanently hooked to his battery with one of those heavy duty desktop surge protectors in his van. They have a monitor mount for a desktop monitor and a mount for their dvr. Hell they can run an xbox if they wanted and they did. I don't know how none of y'all know anything about doing those kinds of hookups. I"m trying to find the specific inverter I have a 750 watt Shumacher power inverter that can power up to belt sanders if need be. I don't need that much power, but I do need enough to power a tv and Xbox 360 simultaneously. I understand that seems silly or just plain irresponsible, but I've seen it done and wanted to set it up in my van.
I understand I messed up somewhere and am also certain that the cables are all square. I never looked at the fuse box until AFTER the van wouldn't start so please do not misunderstand. From start to finish I:
1. unplugged the fuse box lead.
2. tested the inverter on the battery by hooking it up to the battery lead bolts.
3. unplugged the battery leads to see what kind of ring terminals I would need.
4. plugged the battery leads back in
5. plugged the fuse box lead back on.
6. tried starting the van only to get nothing.
7. hooked a battery charger to the batter
8. left that on for 20 minutes
9. noticed that my phone charger light was lit when it was plugged into the cigarette lighter
10. unplugged the battery charger
11. noticed that the phone charger light was off
12. unplugged the fuse box lead and moved the fuse box out of the way because it's in the way if I don't
13. tested the battery with the multimeter set to 20 volt max and it read 12.56v
14. plugged the fuse box lead back in and tested the van again and still nothing.
15. i've repeatedly tested the battery, don't know what to test other than the battery because the fuses aren't blown so I'm at a loss.the wires within the wiring harness look fine. I haven't even let the thought settle about opening the protective covers and testing those. That would surely be a mess.
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Sgt_Saurus
Novice
Mar 9, 2014, 2:31 PM
Post #8 of 16
(2785 views)
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Re: 2002 Chevy Venture won't start.
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Ok. I didn't see the most recent post. I'll test them.
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kev2
Veteran
Mar 9, 2014, 2:37 PM
Post #9 of 16
(2783 views)
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Re: 2002 Chevy Venture won't start.
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I am thinking you are testing at the battery TERMINALS for voltage -
Going step by step I would check the GROUND and the Positive cable away from battery-
I suggested the underhood fuse box- use a chassis ground to check NOT the neg batt terminal.
Another check would be red wire at back of alt should have battery voltage..
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Sgt_Saurus
Novice
Mar 9, 2014, 4:32 PM
Post #10 of 16
(2775 views)
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Re: 2002 Chevy Venture won't start.
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I tested all the fuses and relays between the engine fuse box and the passenger side fuse box.
The only connections getting voltage in the engine fuse box are 3-HEADLAMPS at varying voltage from 0.06v down to -0.07v, 7-BATT MAIN at 1.55v, 9-COOL FAN at 1.89v, 10-COOL FAN 2 at 2v, 11-IGN MAIN at 2v, 12-COOL FAN 1 at 2v, 14-FUEL PUMP at 2v, 27-B/U LAMP at 0.03v, 29-RADIO at 1.85v, and 37-PARK at 0.01v.
The only fuses getting voltage in the passenger side fuse box are PASS KEY that initally measured at 0.2v but later measured at 0.3v. It was slowly going up as I was measuring it. PWR LOCK at 0.28v, CLUSTER BATT at 0.82v, CTSY LAMP at 1.65v, and lastly (RAP) RELAY at 0.58v.
I hope this helps you figure it out. I'm surprised I had anything getting voltage, but am severely discouraged that nearly all of them are the most random voltages I've seen.
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GC
User
Mar 10, 2014, 6:37 AM
Post #11 of 16
(2754 views)
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Re: 2002 Chevy Venture won't start.
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Quick thought - have you tried removing the power inverter and hooking everything back up? 1. Could be a bad inverter 2. Just because you can buy something doesnt mean you can or should use it in your vehicle. Thats too much extra load for a standard charging system. It may work, but it will damage important components either immediately or over time.
____________________________________________________
Willing to help, willing to learn... Rob
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Sgt_Saurus
Novice
Mar 10, 2014, 10:58 AM
Post #12 of 16
(2748 views)
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Re: 2002 Chevy Venture won't start.
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I don't have the power inverter permanently plugged in or anything. At the moment its sitting on the driver side seat unplugged. I have a friend who said the same thing happened to him. He said that all he had to do was take the battery completely out and then put it all the way back in. I'm not sure what difference that would make, but I did notice that the positive lead didn't look as shiny as the negative lead so I'm not truly sure if it just looks dirty or is actually the main culprit.
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Tom Greenleaf
Ultimate Carjunky
/ Moderator
Mar 10, 2014, 11:57 AM
Post #13 of 16
(2745 views)
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Re: 2002 Chevy Venture won't start.
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I know you must hate me by now but unless not shown I can't find where you have ANY power now from known OK battery to the vehicle - right?
This is what can (the maybe) happen to GM sideposts especially. See common ones.........
The OE bolt is 8mm or 5/16th and a bolt that will connect to the battery if it tightened up. What you don't know if the hidden eyelet inside is snapped right off such that either are essentially disconnected.
They will be a real pest but you can expose the eyelet end by removing the hard rubber boot or just test for continuity from the bolt to the next place the cable goes. Point is again the eyelet inside can be bad or cracked right off now if not ruled out the rest of testing is just a waste of time.
What you want for an inverter is up to you but sounds like way too much for games to me. I have these things if just to run a power tool for a moment right off battery or a jumper box - that gives me choices of permanent or just clamp on 12v source battery the vehicle's or just any,
T
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Sgt_Saurus
Novice
Mar 10, 2014, 6:33 PM
Post #14 of 16
(2727 views)
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Re: 2002 Chevy Venture won't start.
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Ok, sorry for all the trouble guys. I found the problem, but I have to give credit where credit is due. My girlfriend's sister came outside to see what I was up to and she noticed some duct tape sticking off some wires. I had a look and gave a light tug on the wires only to notice that a sensor wasn't plugged in all the way. I plugged that bad boy back in and viola! She starts up perfectly again! I have no idea which sensor it is other that it sticks out of the front of the engine on the left side. The wire to it runs down right and around the engine. That seems like fairly poor wiring design to me.
Thanks for all the help. I'm sure to test fuses more in the future in case anything arises again, and now I'll also look for any loose sensors. As an added plus it turns out that the inverter runs fine from the cigarette lighter after I tested it using my TV and PS3. It only draws about 125w. 24w for the TV and 101w for the PS3.
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Tom Greenleaf
Ultimate Carjunky
/ Moderator
Mar 10, 2014, 8:52 PM
Post #15 of 16
(2722 views)
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Re: 2002 Chevy Venture won't start.
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Sounds like you are all set now. Let the band play on,
Tom
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Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky
/ Moderator
Mar 11, 2014, 2:31 AM
Post #16 of 16
(2716 views)
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Re: 2002 Chevy Venture won't start.
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Question closed as solved.
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We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.
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