This 2003 Chevrolet Express 2500 van with the 5.3 liter engine was towed into my shop as a no crank condition (starter does not work). There were two problems found. The IGN A fuse was blown in the underhood fuse box and the starter was no good. The starter had been replaced the day before by the owner but during installation the solenoid cap was allowed to rotate and it broke the “S” terminal wire internally. The rotation problem was a combination of a poor quality replacement part and lack of experience of the installer. An improvement in either could have prevented that problem.
The owner informed me that the IGN A fuse had been blowing sporadically for a few weeks. Although I could not duplicate the IGN A fuse blowing I took the customer at his word and started going over the wiring diagrams and inspecting the vehicle for problems. I spotted a potential problem area during my inspection and accessed the wiring harness through the passenger front wheel well. The split loom had started falling apart from where it had been ….
… laying on an air conditioning hose.
Inspecting the back side of the wires with a mirror found the spot on the purple wire that had been hitting the a/c line.
You can see the wear in the metal fitting where the corrugated loom had been rubbing on it for a long time.
A little bit of electrical tape and new new loom and this problem was fixed.