I think my starter died.

[Spazztic1]

So I'm a military member stationed in England. I have a 1999 GMC Sonoma with a 2.2L engine. The Brits have no idea how to work on my vehicle and won't even try. When I go to start it, the lights and stereo come on and everything seems fine. When I turn the key however it does nothing. And I mean nothing. It doesn't even make a noise. The stereo and lights stay on. The lights do not dim at all while trying to start it. My problem is I am pretty sure it's the starter, however I don't want to spend $150 or more for a starter to be shipped over here and probably another $100 or $200 to install to find out it's something else. Anybody have any thoughts on if it could be something else.

[Mensan]

Hey Rob, this is Eli. I'm not sure how the Sonoma works, but in most cases when the ignition is turned to "start" from "run", all of the electrical components in the car will turn off, including the lights and radio. If that is the casde with the Sonoma, I would suspect your ignition switch to be bad. I would also look in the direction of the starter solenoid, which in some newer cars is integral to the starter. If you can find the starter, find the positive lead and have someone attempt to start the truck. Whether 12V is present or not will determine where to go from there.

[Spazztic1]

Thanks Eli. I appreciate it. Hey I have been trying to get ahold of the Fat and Ugly one. I might be getting stationed back in Ohio.

[Berto]

if it is the solenoid sometimes you can bypass it by shorting the terminals with a screw driver.