01 s10 electrical gremlin problem , help!

[poppa]

Need some help. Neighbor came knocking this morning , clicking noise coming from wife's S10 Blazer. It wants to start by itself! It was just "clicking" when we went to look. I pulled a relay under the hood and it stopped but , the dash and directional lights stay on. Hoping it went away (never that lucky) I went to put the relay back in and it started turning over , key in pocket. Not turning over real good , but I don't know if this was going on for awhile , all night or ? Was it just clicking or turning over ?First will pull battery and charge. Anyone every deal with this ?? Just looking for some suggestion as it is raining here and it will be for the next day or two , and hoping to narrow down what it might  be. No way to push it in my garage , like an alley with a slope up to get in. Gonna get wet just trying to minimize .

If I cut/disconnect the ignition wire to solenoid and it still does it , would it be the starter/solenoid?? Thanks

[crj1968]

I would start exactly the same way you are thinking.  A short in the ignition or the solenoid......

  Good luck!

[poppa]

Unfortunately still fairly wet. Charged battery , installed , no key the check engine light stays on along with the left blinker (not flashing , constant) and right blinker works (flashes , no key). When I put the starter relay in (no key) it turns over. Ignition switch ? If it dries up later I will try to disconnect and check, Thanks

[poppa]

Pulled ignition switch apart ,same problem no matter where I put the 'wheel'. Will try to disconnect wires down by the pedals , next.


Got the other end ,of the ign/starter switch off, doesn't turn over anymore when I put in the starter relay BUT , check engine light and left directional (constant) stay on still.

After sitting in the truck for a minute , it just started turning over by itself. Think I'll call it Christine.

[BDF]

Is it getting wet up under the dash?
I had a Dodge Caravan's (cowl ?)drain tubes get plugged up with fir needles and water sloshed around up in there causing strange problems because some relays got wet. 

[poppa]

Thanks for thr reply. I'll take a look tomorrow morning

[poppa]

Nothing appears wet.

Solenoid terminals corroded , green but not "flakey". Tested out of truck , seems to work fine. I thought it would have spun faster , only other ones I've tester were for 8 cylinders. Maybe why ??

Purple wire (to solenoid) tested good up to relay under hood. No bulkhead at the firewall like older cars???

[poppa]

Will attempt to add pic;

Tried to test "relay center".

At #4 , purple wire at starter.
At #3 , Yellow wire from ignition switch.
Here's where I don't understand
At #2 , from the ign switch ,The small red , bigger red ,brown ,red w/white tracer all went here.
also , the orange and pink showed up just when attaching meter (momentarily) ,when left on nothing.
More here
At #1 , the orange and pink seemed to go here but ,
the small red , bigger red , redw/white , and brown had the momentary hit like above.

Thanks for looking.

[BDF]

Did a quick "google" for S-10 starts itself & the closest thing to this was "faulty ignition switch" could "cause check engine light to come/stay on".
Down in the comments some guy said his s-10 "started itself and drove into his friends garage" but I couldn't fing any resolution to that.
I will see if I can find that again & post link for you.
Good luck with this anomaly!   

[BDF]

Here it is. It says 01's affected.
http://repairpal.com/electrical-contacts-in-the-ignition-switch-may-fail-591
Best of luck!

[poppa]

Thanks for the link.

How can I see if this thing at one time may have had a remote start. As far as I know it doesn't have one but , who knows what someone did before we got it. Where is the most likely place for the "brain" to be mounted? What do they look like? Thanks

[poppa]

The saga continues.... New ign starter  swich w/wires and new starter...same problem minus the check engine light and directional lighting up. Starts turning over as soon as I put the relay in. Tested relay , good. Swapped with 2 othe relays ,same.

I have a theory. If it was turning over by itself , for an unknown period of time (battery was just about dead) could it have melted something on the underside of the relay underhood control box (where the relays and fuses are under the hood) ??  Is that something I can open and look at?? Never even tried.

[ACUDANUT]

 Got rid of my 2001 Blazer. It was getting to be a money pit.
Trade it in a Hurry....

[J.Bond]

The saga continues.... New ign starter  swich w/wires and new starter...same problem minus the check engine light and directional lighting up. Starts turning over as soon as I put the relay in. Tested relay , good. Swapped with 2 othe relays ,same.

I have a theory. If it was turning over by itself , for an unknown period of time (battery was just about dead) could it have melted something on the underside of the relay underhood control box (where the relays and fuses are under the hood) ??  Is that something I can open and look at?? Never even tried.

A set of contacts over heating and welding shut. A distinct possibility. A neighbor's GMC half ton pick up had a starter go bad, so he thought. changed out the starter. Still would not start. He asked me to take a quick look. Unbolted the fuse, relay control box from under the hood fender wall, turned it over to find rodents had nested, remodeled and relocated a lot of wire insulation. His wiring harness was pretty much pooched. None of the damage could be seen until the control was unbolted and turned over.

[poppa]

Got this fuse box out , it seems like the four (purple) "nuts" are keeping me from opening it up. They seem like they are "cast in" the opposite side. They appear to be a nut with an extension on the other side , kind of like a "T" nut. Visually everything LOOKS ok. Ready to send it down the road.

[poppa]

Soo , I replaced the under hood fuse box today....same sh%t. Unbelieveable. Hook up battery , NO KEY in , install starter relay and it turns over. In gear with key off still cranks. Tried turning key on momentarily installed relay ,truck started and ran ,but I had to pull the fuel pump relay to shut off At some point the key was out and the relay in and it didn't turn over , 10 seconds later , turning over by itself again.Hooked jumper cable to neg post and attached to engine , body , no difference. Thought maybe a bigger ground was bad. Again , the purple wire to the solenoid tested good. Any last suggestions before I feed this pos a bullet?? Thanks for all the help already!!

[hawkeye]

I own several s10s and have gotten a lot of help on the s10 forum.  I would join and ask them.  http://www.s10forum.com/forum/

[poppa]

Thanks Hawkeye , already on there and another GM truck forum. We are looking for something else for my wife but , our oldest one was interested in it. He knows nothing about electrical.....apparently like his father 

[hawkeye]

Just split balling here.  Have you tried removing the starter and leaving all the electric connections hooked up?  That might tell you if it is some kind of grounding situation. 

[poppa]

 the dealer here gave me a  number for the under hood box BUT ,the one I pulled out had a different number and the only used one I found was with the other number (one that was in there). We have had this for at least 4 years with no real electrical issues until now ,also having 4x4 issue , won't stay in 2 hi. Other under hood fuse box produces same result. Tried shifter in different gears key off and same thing in all , turns over as soon as relay installed. Turned key on and momentarily put in relay started up and ran ,had to pull fuel pump fuse to shut off , key wouldn't let it shut off. Bummin'


Hmmm.

If I pull just the starter relay it won't turn over.
If I pull just the small 10 amp crank fuse it won't turn over.
If I pull just the 40 amp Ign A fuse it won't start.

Is there something common to these 3 things???

[poppa]

New problem .Left the battery hooked up pulled relay and both fuses , battery dead.

[TommyGun]

The crank fuse should only have power when the key is turned to start.  Test for power at the crank fuse with key off, if it has power then the problem is with the ignition switch or the wiring from switch to fuse.  If there is no power at the crank fuse with key off then check the wire from the fuse to the relay (goes through neutral safety switch). Do you have a wiring diagram?