Crank Issue

chief404

Active Member
I'm having an issue with getting the goblin to crank. Fuel pump primes, throttle body moves with throttle - dash and everything comes on as normally with key on. When the key is moved to start, the dash/lights flicker and doesn't turn over. Leaving the key in and jumping the crank relay starts the car. The dash and everything else still works. No additional codes outside the typical evap. I tried switching the crank relay with another in the fuse box but still having the same issue. The last time I had a similar problem, it was a loose connection at the starter. I checked all my grounds and connection points, everything seems fine. Goblin has been sitting for a while but I go out and let it warm up every now and then, just started running into this issue. Looking for troubleshooting advice, I saw some other posts related to lan communication but the dash/power steering seems to be working as expected.

edit: starting to trace wires...85 on the relay should be the ground to the transmission...right? I checked with my multimeter to see if I get a ground signal at 85 to the engine mount area where the grounds are and got nothing. So..I'm assuming something is up with that ground? I may need to pull the fuse box and look at the wiring again. I will be surprised if that is an issue since this seems to just happened all of a sudden. The first time I had ground issues, I ran a bunch of extra thick wire grounds - one of them being the ground at the engine frame mount.
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Gtstorey

Goblin Guru
You have to be careful looking at the relay PIN numbers. The 4 pin relay will usually work no matter which orientation they are plugged in so the trigger side and the load side work on diagonals, unlike the way they are pictured on the wiring diagrams.
 

chief404

Active Member
It's a relatively new AGM battery and was sits on a charger. I'm going to try running a new ground under the relay and see if that resolves it
 

chief404

Active Member
You have to be careful looking at the relay PIN numbers. The 4 pin relay will usually work no matter which orientation they are plugged in so the trigger side and the load side work on diagonals, unlike the way they are pictured on the wiring diagrams.
Yeah I did check some other posts and saw something similar already said. I will test the ground again but on the other side of the diagonal since I already did one.

Also going to try running a new ground to the relay and see if that solves the issue.
49644
 

chief404

Active Member
So I just tried to run a new ground to 85 since I couldn't get a ground reading on either side of the 85/86 pins. Even with a new ground, it wouldn't start. Hot wiring the relay load side still works to start the car. The only thing I can think of at this point is that the ground trigger pins on the relay board don't get a good connection at all. I'll try to pull the fuse box tomorrow and check contacts. Anyone have any other suggestions on what I can test to narrow down the problem?
 

Ross

Goblin Guru
Sounds like when I had a data issue on the GM high speed LAN, but I was getting "Power Steering" errors on the dash.
Have you pulled the OBDii codes?
 

chief404

Active Member
Sounds like when I had a data issue on the GM high speed LAN, but I was getting "Power Steering" errors on the dash.
Have you pulled the OBDii codes?
Yeah, I didn't see any new codes. I have always had a few evap codes. I'm thinking it may be the ignition fuse, since that also gives 12+ trigger via the clutch switch.
 

chief404

Active Member
Checked the fuses and didn't see any issues there. Didn't have time to check today, but will try and test each side of the relay again and see what I get.
 

Traé

Goblin Guru
So I just tried to run a new ground to 85 since I couldn't get a ground reading on either side of the 85/86 pins. Even with a new ground, it wouldn't start. Hot wiring the relay load side still works to start the car. The only thing I can think of at this point is that the ground trigger pins on the relay board don't get a good connection at all. I'll try to pull the fuse box tomorrow and check contacts. Anyone have any other suggestions on what I can test to narrow down the problem?
I had a problem with the contacts on my fuse box being spread. I don't think it is very easy to get the fuse box apart to see these board. I ended up pulling the crank relay and slightly twisting the prongs to make sure they had good contact once plugged in. Worked like a charm!
 
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