Hello,

All of this happens inside of 5 months and only putting 200 miles on my truck because I don't use it hardly anymore. But I do start it once A week.

Broke down on the side of the road over a year ago and changed my fuel pump. It fixed the problem and my truck ran fine but....After that....
I had a problem after my truck sat for a good couple months where it wouldn't start. I changed my fuel pump and it started just fine.
Ran another approx. 50 Miles and a few months and wouldn't start again.
I thought it was the battery so I charged it and found out it wasn't the battery, it was the Starter.
So I changed the Starter and it fixed the problem and I would go out and start the truck once a week because I figured I didn't want it to sit there never having been started. Every time it fired up without hesitation. I did this for about 2 months.

NOW I get to why I am baffled now.

I went into my truck to start it today and nothing! Not a peep of a crank!

I charged my battery thinking it went dead But I remembered that even when I charged it long ago it wouldn't register. So I grabbed a battery out of a Ford Taurus I know works fine and hooked it up to my truck.

NOTHING!

So I put my battery back in and when I turn the key all the lights come on but nothing.

I just put brand new shocks on the truck and this is how it repays me!

Can someone please give me a hint of what the heck could possibly be wrong now?

This is really driving me nuts as I am trying to sell this truck. This happens every single time I list the truck. Its like the powers that be want me stuck with this truck that I don't use because I don't have work anymore, forever.

I really need to know what else could cause a truck to not even crank at all besides what I named above. The stress level is through the roof on this one.

Thanks.

 

Aside from not starting, do the rest of your electrical system seem to be working?

 

Seem to be. But I don't know what to check other than all lights are on and the stereo works. Every dash light comes on like it is ready to start but when you turn the key its like nothing happens but the dash lights go out. Not even an attempt to crank. Literally nothing.

Is there a way to test a starter?

 

Do the lights in the dash go dim when you try to turn over the engine?

 

Bad battery cable or connection. Pretty typical symptoms. When the starter tries to pull over 100 amps, the relatively high resistance of the bad connection allows only a miniscule amount of current to pass and the voltage is dropped across the connection.

Troubleshooting is pretty easy. Connect a voltmeter across what is supposed to be a sold connection. Have an assistant hit the starter. When you measure nearly full battery voltage across the supposedly solid connection when the starter is trying to engage, you've found the bad portion of the circuit.

battery post to post (checks battery)
Battery negative post to engine block (checks negative cable)
Battery positive post to starter relay post (checks positive cable)

 

They do what they would do when the truck normally starts. The dash lights( all idiot lights) go out while trying to crank the engine. But as I said, absolutely not even a little noise. Well actually there is this little tiny faint noise that you can only hear if you get extremely close to the dashboard with your head. But I only know that because I did it. Most people would continue to tell you not a single sound.

 

Are you telling me my battery could be alive enough to run all those lights but still too dead to even attempt to crank anything?
But also that the Taurus battery that starts the Taurus easily doesn't have enough to even crank my trucks starter a little bit?

I am lost once my battery is charged and or a good battery wont even get a crank since last week this battery did crank the engine with no problem.

My battery's terminals were loose. But not so loose that they weren't fully touching. I only left them loose so I could unhook the battery when not in use. It also never had any issue with starting before with these terminals loose like they were.

But I did tighten the Taurus battery down.

If this is loose terminals I would be floored. My terminals have zero corrosion on them. I put anti corrosion spray on them.

I will check it again later on and see.

Thanks

 

Seriously, follow the troubleshooting steps. Report results of your testing if you need assistance in interpreting them.

Spending time questioning or commenting doesn't move the process forward.

 

well said, check your grounds everywhere something wierd is happening here, could be a simple fix .

 

Not sure what you mean questioning or commenting.

Just wanted to know if the Taurus battery part was missed. Or would it crank my trucks starter or not.

 

try taking off your super-tine belt off maybe the ac is froze up had that happen to me before take the belt off see if it starts

 

I just had that replaced about 3 years ago. I suppose it could be that again. Thanks

That was a real pain in the *** too.

 

What most people that ha e these problems don't understand,
The battery cables where they attach to the post , need to be Shiney clean as well as the post.

The cables often look good , but have internal corrosion , that can often times be determined by discoloration of the cables, primarily at the battery end.

You were given proper information by projectsho.
Another simple test that will confirm bad cables or battery, was the question a out your lights.
The headlights turned on, and try to crank the starter.
If the lights go dim while trying to crank , you most likely have a bad ground , or a battery issue.

You said you don't drive the truck , only start it .
Worst thing for a vehicle is what you are doing.
It has to be driven to keep the moisture at bay.

 

Well, I cleaned the battery terminals and the cable connections very well and hooked everything back up and no crank.

Headlights do not dim when the key is turned.

I believe it is the AC Compressor again. I haven't even driven 1500 Miles since that thing was replaced. But it has sat for a bit over 2 years and only been driven a few times in that 2 years for any distance and once a week started and moved a few times.

This sucks.

 

To test my A/C Compressor do I have to completely remove the fan Belt or can I just loosen it and get someone to crank the key to see if it will crank?

I had someone tell me that the AC wheel should spin freely with your hand by manually turning it if it isn't locked up. Well mine didn't turn but I don't know if he knows this engine or not.


This may be a stupid question but, When you charge an A/C system, if the clutch on the compressor doesn't engage will you be able to get the 134a in the condenser? I am thinking maybe my mechanic a few years ago put a bad compressor on that wasn't seized up but had a non working clutch and maybe that's why I couldn't get my A/C to work.