I have a 1984 K10 Custom Deluxe. It belonged to my grandpa and had been sitting for about 8 years until I dug it out last month. I seem to be having a problem with the starter or something else in the ignition circuit.
When I turn the key to RUN the dash lights come on, I can turn on the headlights, the horn works, etc. As soon as I turn the key to START everything goes black. Sometimes the starter barely turns the engine over before this happens and sometimes there is nothing from the starter. Even the headlights won't turn on with the headlight switch once this has happened. If I disconnect the battery ground and reconnect it, that seems to reset things and everything lights up again. If I pull the battery out and top it off with the trickle charger the truck will start once or twice before the issue happens again.
-- So far I've tested the battery, both with a meter and by swapping it into a 79 camaro with a SB 350 engine to verify it would start that car. The battery is brand new and holding a good charge
-- I've jumped the starter solenoid with a screwdriver to take the ignition switch out of the equation. This didn't turn the engine at all. A small static like spark was visible when I made contact and again when I broke it.
-- I've inspected the battery cables, they are quite old, maybe original, and I cut the rusty connectors off and installed new ones. The ground cable does have some melted insulation near where it connects to the alternator bracket from the battery having shorted out against the frame about 3 weeks ago (I picked up a new set of cables to install today, but haven't gotten to do so yet)
--The ground cable only connects to the alternator bracket on the truck, on my camaro there is a second, smaller pigtail connection to the body, is this extra connection supposed to exist on my truck?
--Resistance of the ground cable (removed) reads 0.03 on my ohm meter.
Any help or advice for trouble shooting this issue is appreciated.
Thanks,