98 K1500 motor swap but no start

[DHud]

AMEN to that!!

Follow Up Question to your thoughts about marrying the old starter to a new flywheel. When connecting the flywheel of the newly installed motor to the torque converter of the original transmission, do you need to be mindful of which holes of each line up with each other? If so, I did not do that. I just lined up the 3 bolt holes on the flywheel randomly to 3 thread holes on the torque converter and tightened it down... did I miss something in that step and might that be part of the problem? I can move the flywheel with the help of screwdriver when the starter is uninstalled, so it still spins freely with hand power...

 

[Schurkey]

do you need to be mindful of which holes of each line up with each other? If so, I did not do that. I just lined up the 3 bolt holes on the flywheel randomly to 3 thread holes on the torque converter and tightened it down.

"Shouldn't" make any difference.

Best-practice is to keep the flexplate and the converter aligned as from the factory...but in real life it doesn't matter. And it's impossible to keep factory alignment when you change the flywheel, or change the converter.

So again, it doesn't matter.

 

[jd33173]

I had a little time to work on the truck during the little guys’ nap time!

Update:
Pulled the starter and did a bench test myself - got it to engage with no problems using jumper cables and a battery. (Bummer - I was hoping this would be the obvious problem) Reinstalled the starter and tried jumping over the switch in the same way that I bench tested it. (I know, a little redneck, but I’m getting slightly impatient). Jumping it with a screwdriver while the ignition is in the off position (and again with key in run position) resulted in same “Ping - dead” effect. I had my son quickly disconnect and reconnect the battery after everything went dead and that brought the power back on right away. While I was laying under the truck with my redneck screwdriver, I noticed that it sure seemed like the “Ping” sound was coming from the starter.
Can a starter engage with no load and falter like this when put under load? Will a parts store do more extensive testing on a starter to reveal something deeper? I still need to take the battery in to get it load tested…
The saga continues! Thanks guys!

starters can absolutely poop the bed under load. At the shop we used to test them with a piece of two by four on the bench.

 

[DHud]

Unfortunately I'm not going to be able to give an update until next week bcs we're heading out of town for a wedding/mini-vaca tomorrow.... I was hoping to tinker with the truck before we left but another car in the family fleet needed emergency attention!

Battery passed the Load Test - so that eliminates the battery as the problem. I'll continue the investigation upon returning next week! Thanks for your input everyone!

 

[Road Trip]

Unfortunately I'm not going to be able to give an update until next week bcs we're heading out of town for a wedding/mini-vaca tomorrow.... I was hoping to tinker with the truck before we left but another car in the family fleet needed emergency attention!

Battery passed the Load Test - so that eliminates the battery as the problem. I'll continue the investigation upon returning next week! Thanks for your input everyone!

Understand completely. Live in the moment, and enjoy the time with your family.
We'll pick this up where we left off when you return, and together push this thing
over the finish line.

Safe travels --

 

[DHud]

Hey all! Back from our weekend away and had a chance to do some tinkering on the truck last night:

UPDATE:
- Good news: I was able to get the starter to engage while installed in the truck by jumping it straight from the battery with Jumper Cables
- I then started narrowing down the possible "trouble areas" and long-story-short, it appears that my Negative Battery Terminal Bolt is the culprit. I have cleaned and inspected that thing at least 2 times in this whole process, but I am able to get the starter to engage while installed by turning the ignition key IF I have the Positive line from the battery installed onto the starter as it should be and a jumper cable going from a bare terminal bolt installed into the Negative threads of the battery and connected to the bare end of the negative line that is normally screwed onto the Negative Terminal Bolt - essentially eliminating the Negative Terminal Bolt ONLY. Doing this allows me to crank the motor at will using the key and ignition without losing power...
- Next step, once I get home from work later, is to install new terminal bolt and plug everything back in and see if it will fire.
- Anything I might be missing before trying to fire it up?

Thanks everyone! Your help has been invaluable!