I'm the proud owner of 1984 F150 with a straight 6 300. When I went off to go to work this morning, she wouldn't start up. I got a jump, but still nothing. The only thing to come out of it was a buzzing noise seemingly from the starter solenoid. I was in a rush and ditched it until now. When I got home I tested the battery to see a 95% charge, producing about 14 volts. Still not starting. My battery power has apparently not always been sending, as my radio reset, and sometimes it will not even turn on, but sometimes it will. I've checked for wear on the wires, as well as tightness. I gave the key a few turns and nothing, but one last turn send the engine aroarin. I used this to move the truck to flat land, but without 100% success, I don't want to risk taking the truck anywhere. Any ideas on the best plan of attack for this?

 

a. buy new battery asap ( ?? 14 volts seems too high, your battery might have dried up, and when you go to start it it cannot handle the load at all, a simple way to test is turn on full lights and accessories and see if the voltage holds + 12.4. obviously dont do this too long or you drain your battery)
(one option, pop the protective covers off ur battery with googles and gloves, (yes you need the googles and gloves a friend went to hospital because he ignored me) and see if your battery needs distilled water. the water level on each cell should be touching the very bottom of the vent "straws". same thing said another way, on the top of each battery there are 6 or so 5/8 long 5/8 wide "pipes" that run down from the top plastic of the battery into each cell, water should touch the very bottom of those pipes)

b. move jumper from negative terminal to engine block and try starting it you could have a damaged electrical engine ground

c. put ignition switch on "run" and manually activate starter solenoid with a piece of wire ( careful the sparks) then you can see exactly whats happening

d. check for ignition spark w/ inline spark checker (you'll have to do this while cranking)
e. if spark is good, soak starter fluid into intake (take off air filter to do this properly, then reinstall air filter)

is it cranking?

 

I just checked the water levels and they were a bit low, so I filled it with distilled. Unless it's one of the occasions when it starts right up, the engine will not crank period

 

To me it sounds like your (fender mounted) starter solenoid is going bad. 14 volts at the battery while running is good (charging system working), With engine off, you should have 12.5 to 12.7 volts at the battery. Before testing your battery voltage (engine off) you want to remove the "surface charge", so turn on the headlights for a minute, then turn them off and check your battery voltage.

http://www.marxrv.com/12volt/voltchart1.gif

 

The 14 volts was while the engine was off, but right after attempting to jump it, could that possibly be the reason for such a high reading?

 

yes, it very likey was the cause for high reading.

replace the starter solenoid on the fender

check your grounding cable also by attaching a jumper cable from the negative battery terminal to the engine block

and if that doesn't fix it either bring your battery in for a load test, or buy a new battery sometimes batteries cannot handle the starter load and the voltage can still be good

 

The fender solenoid grounds through the mounting tabs.
Make sure that it is tight and the metal is clean underneath.

Check the 'S' wire for voltage with the key in the start position.

14V is high for a battery at rest, but it could just be that your meter needs a new battery itself.
Most meters use their battery as a reference voltage when reading.

As someone else already said, check your ground cable or use jumpers on that side.

 

The Buzzing starter solenoid can be a bad starter that is drawing to much current or maybe this.....
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...ml#post9986855

Jim

 

If you want an accurate state of charge on a battery, remove the "surface charge" first before measuring. An easy way is to turn the headlights on for five (5) minutes w/engine off. Wait ten (10) minutes and then measure, compensating for outside air temperature. A couple tenths of a volt doesn't sound like much but on a percentage basis it's a lot. 12.8 is a fully charged "maintenance free" battery. 12.0 is 25% charged and may not turn over, depending

Starting places some pretty impressive amperage rates on cables and connections, loose or corroded and that's all she wrote. Sent from my iPhone using IB AutoGroup

 

Thanks all for the help. Turns out my positive lead off the battery just had a bit of corrosion, preventing a good connection. Kicking myself for not checking that first; however, y'all did teach me a thing or two with the insight.

 

Good news! What battery brand do you have btw and how long has it lasted? Just curious

as for terminal corrosion, i just apply a few drops of oil now and then. I notice new batteries also have slight coating of oil to prevent lead oxidization.

 

The battery is an Everstart, but I dunno how old it is. It's been in there the 2 years I've owned the truck, but there's no clear labeling of the date