Kids called and said the battery was dead, truck would not crank over. 2002 EXP 4 L. Drove 90 miles and checked battery to be o.k. Changed out with my truck to double test... no crank. Decided the starter must be bad. Banged on it with a long pipe from above - no start.
Winched onto a trailer and brought it 90 miles home. Winched it off and pulled to the gragage. Looking from above i looks like this is a straight forward solenoid / starter / hot wire to the battery. No switches/ etc in between. Though i would try it one more time ... clicked key on and off 3 times and truck started on the 4th turn. Tried it 6 times over 2 minutes and it started every time.. IM thinking the starter and solenoid dont owe me much after 11 years and 165k miles. Plan to check the cable and ends also.... Just wondering if anyone has had a specific known problem with the starter / cables before i jump in.

 

My son's 2002 Explorer 4.0, cable was loose on solenoid on starter. He went ahead and change out starter.

 

I had a similar experience with my 4.0 Aerostar. The external ground strap (braided stainless strap) on the starter was loose somewhere after it went inside the case and would intermittently cause problems. If you moved it, sometimes you could get it to start. I took a look at the picture of the 2002 4.0 starter and it is similar in design. Can't say if it's the problem in this case but something to consider.

 

REmoved the starter and see several "small problems". Connected to battery it will run. Sounds kind of "dry" inside. The terminal end of battery cable on the solenoid has a small amount of gree crud on it. The bare cable from the other solenoid terminal that runs inside the starter is also somewhat green. It is also 25% damaged / broken / cut.... Seems odd, but this is the main "HOT" wire into the starter and it is bare. It connects to the solenoid, and other side of solenoid connects to battery.. Come to think about it, in the old days this was a brass strap that connected the solenoid to starter, now its a wire mesh, and about 25% of it is broken. I cut the solenoid open and the contact face looks 12 years old. Still copper faced, but heavily pitted. I ordered a new starter off e-bay for $65. Has a good guarantee, but probably built in china. Will see how that works.

 

New starter installed. Cleaned the battery cable to starter both ends. The new starter of course has a new cable from solenoid into the starter case.. That looks 100% better. May have been the total problem.

 

I'm having the same issues with my 01 Explorer. Worked great yesterday no click, no crank today. Changed out battery an starter last week when had similar problem but it was at least clicking. Now the damn thing doesn't even turn over. I'm currently replacing the battery cables because of some corrosion. I do hear the starter solenoid clicking. Any other suggestions?