2005 4.3 litre not turning over

Hello all. Thanks in advance.

My 2005 Tahoe 4.3l is not even cranking. I can hear the solenoid clicking and hear what sounds like perhaps the start spinning but not engaging?? This happened intermittently last year. I assumed the problem was either the battery and/or the wires not providing enough juice due to the charging and cleaning of the wires and terminals appeared to work. I had no issue starting it for winterizing in the fall. Unfortunately I can't seem to get anything going this year.

Am I looking at a new starter or could I have further electrical issues? How can I tell? Sadly I believe the only way to change the starter is to pull the motor ($$$$).

Thanks again

mercury uses a slave solenoid before the starter and starter solenoid.

These slave solenoids do fail often.


find the salve solenoid it will have a large red and a large yellow with red stripe and a small black and small yellow with red stripe wires going to it.

once you find this if you know how to activate a solenoid then test it if not ask and we can explain.

Thanks kghost. I'll look for and try that as soon as I get home.

If you can hear the starter spin but no engagement into the flywheel then your bendix is bad in the starter. I can't imagine you would have to pull the engine to replace the starter it is on the starboard side. I pulled my starter off my 4.3, was it tricky to get off? yes but I did not have to pull the engine.