I have a 92 that had been sitting for awhile. I was able to get the truck started yesterday by jumping it...barely. So last night i got it home and put the charger on it all night and all day today. Get home from work today and try to start it and it just barely cranks over. Tried this a couple of times with no start. So I yank the batteries out, head to wally world and swap them for 2 new ones.

Get home about an hour ago and drop the new batteries in. Then I go to start the truck and now it just clicks. It wont even turn over. I move on to the solenoid. I jumped it thinking maybe something is wrnong with iit. NOTHING!!! Still, it just clicks. My next step is to check the ground wires b/c when I jumped the solenoid there wasnt alot of sparking going on.

If anyone has any ideas then I am all ears.

Thanks,

Ben

 

did the batterys come charged ?

 

They say the did. I check the voltage on both of them and they show 13-14v.

 

have u tryed jumping with the new batterys

 

No I haven't. I'll give it a try as soon as the weather breaks. It started raining pretty good shortly after i finished putting the batteries in.

 

ciuld be the selloind on the fender

 

Check the battery cables and all the connections, make sure nothing is corroded and they are all tight.
Then check your starter, it may have crapped out.

 

im with tecgod13, had the same issue thinking it was batteries, turns out it was the starter, kept getting weaker and weaker like the batteries werent charging until there was nothing, so i assumed alternator, had it checked when i went to get a new one, checked out fine. Didnt think till after that to check the batteris and they were both 13 sumthin.

 

that's what happens when you don't keep the battery cables good.if they are original,if you slice the one open from the battery terminal going to the starter,i bet you see white powder and green cable instead of shiny copper and no powder lol.
plus just age on the starter too.they don't last forever.old cables and worn out starter,possibly poor off brand glow plugs,and even original injectors........all common problems with the older idi diesels.it leads to hard or no start engines.
these replacement old worn parts (even upgraded size cable if $ allows) for new (assuming compression is good) leads to instant starts even down to 0 degree's without the need to even think about a block heater.

 

When i moved my batteries i replaced the cable, so i split the old one... looked brand spankin new inside. Going to keep it for.. something not sure yet lol, but good battery cable can be used for a bunch of things.

 

just replacing my positive cable made a HUGE difference in cranking speed.

 

Its the starter or the cables.

If the motor in the starter is getting weak and needs more power to turn over. When you jumped it off you used 3 good batteries rather than 2 good batteries. The batteries from wally world are probably not charged 100% due to the fact they have been of a shelf for weeks. If the starter had been good it would have fired right up and the alt would have charged them fully.

Battery cables that are bad will reduce the amount of current getting to the starter. Jumping added more power to push through the corrosion.

Its not the solenoid. If it clicks or the motor tries to turn over the, solenoid is good.

Test it !!

Have a friend put a voltage meter on the batteries (both batteries) and then on the starter while you turn the key to the start position. If the starter is bad the voltage will drop really low at both points and should be within .5v of each other. Thinking it will drop to 9-10v range.

If the cables are bad you will have a much higher voltage at the batteries than you will at the starter.

 

Ok, so I'm a little embarrassed at my lack of thinking about the little things it could be. Normally w/ my luck it's usually something much more significant than oh say just a lack of a good solid connection at the battery posts!

So, after messing with it a little more I tried jumping the solenoid again. I figured I would give it one more try. While doing that I started to hear a popping or a sound that is similar to bacon frying. That's when I realized I didn't have a good connection on the passenger side + battery post. So, I checked it and found it was slightly loose. Oops! Anyways, got it tightened up and it STARTS & runs like a champ.

Thanks, for the input fellas, I appreciate it!

Ben

 

Glad you got her going.
I'd like to add, that a new battery, or any battery, should NOT read 13 or 14 volt's, if the truck is not running.
If it does, there's a problem somewhere.

 

x2 with what hookedondiesel says...if you have 13-14 volts while not running...something aint right and you got yourself an electrical gremlin...