Recently I had my 2000 blazer towed with a chain to my house to fix a blown head gasket, and now with everything back together I turn the key everything lights up like normal but nothing else happens. I had my starter tested and its good. I ran a jumper wire across both terminals and it engages like that, but nothing with the key. Plus I can't get the damn thing to come out of park it seems. I can drop it in nuetral get out and push like hell but that damn thing wont budge like its locked in gear. I'm wondering if the neutral switch is gone out of it somehow, or if towing it with a chain somehow messed it up, it was in nuetral but the battery was pretty much dead don't know if that has anything to do with anything. can someone please help because its really making me mad.

 

Check your ignition switch. If you can't get it out of park, you can't get the engine started and/or if there are warning lights (airbag, ABS, Brake) on, that can indicate an ignition switch problem since there is no electrical power to those components. If you get the engine started and the tranny is defaulted to 2nd gear, replace the ignition switch. If the ONLY thing that is wrong is that the engine won't crank and the starter doesn't energize when you turn the key, it could be the neutral safety switch. If that is the case, I would start there. If it still won't start, I would try the ignition switch. If there are any codes in the computer, you might want to get those scanned because it could indicate another unrelated problem. Also make sure all your wiring that you disconnected or even wiring that was nearby when you replaced the head gasket is connected correctly. Also this might be unrelated, but check the plugs on your engine computer also. I had one that was halfway out once and the tranny was shifting hard. I paid $600 at the dealer to fix it and they didn't fix it at all. 4 months after that I found the problem and reconnected the plug and it was fine since then. This was 2 years ago. Good luck and if anyone thinks I am incorrect or I made a dumb suggestion, please say so because I myself am still learning these trucks so I can fix this one if needed. Thank you.

 

Alright I will check the ignition switch, I'm assuming it is on the steering column?? Like I said before when i turn the key all the normal lights in the dash come on and go off except the battery and seat-belt light and the two wheel high light is on in the 4wd instrument panel. I've triple checked all my wiring plugs and as far as I can tell they are all plugged into the right place, I can't find a diagram anywhere to make sure though. I checked the wires going to the starter and the big one coming from the battery is supplying constant power and the purple one that goes to the fuse box under the hood by the air filter has no power going to it, and all the fuses are good. I had a test light on the purple wire and tried to start the engine but there was no juice going to that wire. I'm not sure if that is supposed to be a ground wire or what. I ran a wire straight fromt the battery and put it on the end of the purple wire down by the starter and had power up to the fuse box so I know it is not the wire that is bad. As for the tranny not shifting, that has to due with the ignition switch aswell?

 

The ignition switch is on the steering column. As with the tranny, what type of lever do you have? If it is a floor shifter, pull the shift boot off and check the wiring harness plugging into the base of the shifter. Years of moving the lever is likely to brake the wires and then you can't move it out of park and in some cases, turn off the ignition. That happened to me.

 

Your positive your tranny is in Park or Neutral?

How far did you haul it while the tranny was in neutral?
Hopefully not far. With the engine off and the rear wheels on the ground the back half of the tranny is turning while being towed, however the tranny pump isnt pumping fluid so your parts that are moving arent getting lubricated.

The purple wire engages the starter solinoid, which makes your starter run. If your not getting power from the switch, verify the fuse in the cab and under the hood is OK. It does sound like your ignition switch failed, however based on my experience. Typically the problem isnt with something you didnt touch, it would be with something you touched. Did you reconnect the ground to the engine, also did you reconnect all the ground on teh back of the engine?

 

According to the owner's manual, you can only tow it with the back wheels on the ground with it in neutral for 50 miles at a max speed of 35 mph, HOWEVER if you have 4WD with an electronic transfer case (obviously the one with no neutral position (3-button)), you need a towing dolly under the rear wheels. Personally, I would call a flatbed if I had to tow my truck like I did the 2 times in NJ when the brakes failed. If they didn't have a flatbed nearby, I would have asked them to pull the driveshaft or use the dollys because there is no transmission lubrication or cooling when the engine is off and it can get damaged easily. That is basically like what running your engine with no water pump does, but with the transmission, how hot it is directly affects the life of it, so it is crucial that the fluid is always being cooled and circulated if the vehicle is moving.

I agree with Hanr3 if the problem is new and did not appear before you towed the car. Check all your wiring and your grounds. Are you sure that no wires were left disconnected or even damaged when the truck was towed or when you took the engine apart to replace the head gaskets? Good luck.

 

I'm positive that it was in neutral, and it was towed less than 5 miles. I knew it was not a good idea to pull it with all four wheels on the ground but it was my only option at the time. My shift lever is on the column so no boot to take off and check. As for the purple wire that engages my starter, i verified that all the fuses both under the hood and inside the cab down on the drivers side kick panel were good like 3 times. As far as I can tell there were only two ground wires that I disconnected to remove the heads and both were bolted to the back side of each head and they are both good and tight back on there. I'm really not good with the whole electrical part of these vehicles and I am way beyond frustrated with it. I've triple checked all the wires I unplugged and all are good and snug. Im completely lost and now have no clue as to what to do, because even if I wanted to take it to a shop to get fixed I still can't get it to roll.

 

So I finally figured out why it wasn't cranking, despite replacing the starter relay with one of the other ones that was in the fuse box which obviously didn't work. I took it out and ran jumpers with some safety pins and got it kick the starter when i turned the key. Now that that problem is solved I was still stuck wondering why the bendix on the starter wasn't catching the flywheel, despite taking it to autozone and having them test it to tell me it was good. After a few times of trying to see if it was kicking out I took it to advance and watched as they tested it and as I suspected it wasn't. Autozone is a joke! everytime I go there they never know anything and never have enough people working. So now I have to get a new starter and hopefully somehow after I put that in and start it maybe magically when I put it into gear it will roll, I hope.