a no start, but with crank. 07 3.7

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kissjpeg

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alright. i’m at a complete loss. recently replaced some fuel injectors, car totally fine for a few days and now it intermittently won’t start. i can hear the fuel pump, starter working, checked ignition switch and pin, car cranks but won’t turn over. half the dash lights are working. left it alone for like a week and went to start, started multiple times and even let me drive it for a bit. then this morning, nothing again. no codes, only note is the fuel gauge was super slow to adjust. but again, no codes. what am i missing? initially thought pcm maybe. but this all began out of nowhere. i’m running out of ideas. but im feeling pretty confident that it’s not the fuel pump
 

DadOSix

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alright. i’m at a complete loss. recently replaced some fuel injectors, car totally fine for a few days and now it intermittently won’t start. i can hear the fuel pump, starter working, checked ignition switch and pin, car cranks but won’t turn over. half the dash lights are working. left it alone for like a week and went to start, started multiple times and even let me drive it for a bit. then this morning, nothing again. no codes, only note is the fuel gauge was super slow to adjust. but again, no codes. what am i missing? initially thought pcm maybe. but this all began out of nowhere. i’m running out of ideas. but im feeling pretty confident that it’s not the fuel pump
first off - crank and turn over are the same thing.

you can have - no crank - no start - dead batt - dead starter - broken ignition actuator pin (this is not you BTW, as your engine does attempt to start)
crank (turn over) - no start (does not run) - we are here right now.
cranks and then runs.

Anyway - It is interesting that only 1/2 the dash lights work. Curious to know which side has power - on the day it ran, did the whole dash light up?

couple suspects here - Just odd chance, but do you have more than 1 key that you use? If so, the problem points to the SKIM (security module) or associated wiring. If the security locks you out, you should have a light on the dash. It is a red lamp on the older models. My 06 has it, the 04 does not. If SKIM locks you out, you can crank til hell freezes over and you will not start/run.

Next - marginal battery voltage - how old is the battery? Do you have a volt meter to test and see how much power you have on a non-running scenario? Anything less than 12v is suspect. Dirty / corroded battery cables / terminals? Any of those aftermarket clamp terminals with the 2 screws can knock your power low enough to cause issues.

Next off would be a loss of ground. I particularly suspect the ground straps from the firewall to the engine - at the rear of the heads.
 

KJowner

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I was going to say grounding, sounds like corrosion or a broken wire somewhere.
 

kissjpeg

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first off - crank and turn over are the same thing.

you can have - no crank - no start - dead batt - dead starter - broken ignition actuator pin (this is not you BTW, as your engine does attempt to start)
crank (turn over) - no start (does not run) - we are here right now.
cranks and then runs.

Anyway - It is interesting that only 1/2 the dash lights work. Curious to know which side has power - on the day it ran, did the whole dash light up?

couple suspects here - Just odd chance, but do you have more than 1 key that you use? If so, the problem points to the SKIM (security module) or associated wiring. If the security locks you out, you should have a light on the dash. It is a red lamp on the older models. My 06 has it, the 04 does not. If SKIM locks you out, you can crank til hell freezes over and you will not start/run.

Next - marginal battery voltage - how old is the battery? Do you have a volt meter to test and see how much power you have on a non-running scenario? Anything less than 12v is suspect. Dirty / corroded battery cables / terminals? Any of those aftermarket clamp terminals with the 2 screws can knock your power low enough to cause issues.

Next off would be a loss of ground. I particularly suspect the ground straps from the firewall to the engine - at the rear of the heads.
sorry for the late response, been a weird week. anyway, for the dash lights, a random choice of lights work while others don’t. most of the time, not even the same lights turn on, they rotate. same thing with the gauges, sometimes one or two will work, sometimes all will, sometimes none. no key symbol though and still using the original key (only have one though, lost the other years ago). battery has 12.47 volts, less than a year old. no corrosion, replaced the terminals about a year and a half ago. i even went as far as to have someone try and start it while i wiggled any wires i could get my hands on. even laid across the engine bay to really get in there, still, nothing. when it randomly started, it acted as though nothing happened. everything worked again, including the dash. but only lasted that day.
 

DadOSix

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sorry for the late response, been a weird week. anyway, for the dash lights, a random choice of lights work while others don’t. most of the time, not even the same lights turn on, they rotate. same thing with the gauges, sometimes one or two will work, sometimes all will, sometimes none. no key symbol though and still using the original key (only have one though, lost the other years ago). battery has 12.47 volts, less than a year old. no corrosion, replaced the terminals about a year and a half ago. i even went as far as to have someone try and start it while i wiggled any wires i could get my hands on. even laid across the engine bay to really get in there, still, nothing. when it randomly started, it acted as though nothing happened. everything worked again, including the dash. but only lasted that day.
Makes better sense now. I would go over every ground connection you can find. If you have a pair of jumper cables, attach 1 to the engine and 1 to the negative terminal on the battery. Sometimes those thick cables can look good on the outside and be green and crusty inside. See what that gets you. Could also take the other cable in the jumper and go negative batt to body ground at the same time you do for the engine. That ensures both pathways are grounded. Do not hook up anything to the positive side while playing like this.

Interesting tale - my 05 chevy van has braided ground straps from the frame to the engine. Brother in law took it for a hauling job and called from 20 miles out. Dead on the side of the road.He tried all the likely items. I asked him to jump batt to engine (negative / ground ) and see. Said he did (but really did not)

We went down the next day and i showed him the ground strap. Yeah, it is good he says. Gave a little tug and the thing disintegrated in my hand. Hooked up a jumper from negative to the engine and i drove it home that way.

Good hunting!
 

kissjpeg

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Makes better sense now. I would go over every ground connection you can find. If you have a pair of jumper cables, attach 1 to the engine and 1 to the negative terminal on the battery. Sometimes those thick cables can look good on the outside and be green and crusty inside. See what that gets you. Could also take the other cable in the jumper and go negative batt to body ground at the same time you do for the engine. That ensures both pathways are grounded. Do not hook up anything to the positive side while playing like this.

Interesting tale - my 05 chevy van has braided ground straps from the frame to the engine. Brother in law took it for a hauling job and called from 20 miles out. Dead on the side of the road.He tried all the likely items. I asked him to jump batt to engine (negative / ground ) and see. Said he did (but really did not)

We went down the next day and i showed him the ground strap. Yeah, it is good he says. Gave a little tug and the thing disintegrated in my hand. Hooked up a jumper from negative to the engine and i drove it home that way.

Good hunting!
that’s the best recommendation i’ve gotten thus far. i’ll give it a shot sometime this week, maybe ill get lucky. thanks :)
 
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