Diagnostic Information for Intermittent Vehicle No Crank/Dead Battery

When diagnosing a concern regarding an intermittent vehicle no crank or dead battery, technicians should remove and reinstall the ignition switch using the Ignition Switch Replacement procedure in the Steering Wheel and Column section of SI. The ignition switch may have been misindexed in the steering column during a previous replacement .

If the ignition switch is misindexed in one direction, the ignition switch circuits will not be completely open when the ignition switch is in the OFF position with the key removed. This may result in lights remaining on or instrument panel lights illuminating, which will drain the battery. If the ignition switch is misindexed in the opposite direction, the ignition circuits will open correctly but the ignition switch may not close the crank circuit properly when the ignition key is turned to the crank position. This will result in a no crank concern.