Hey guys, I have the 81 f150 and I'm stumped on it. It has the 302. The truck will crank one time and that is it. It doesn't click or anything. I can turn the key back and turn it forward and it'll crank once and that is it. I have replaced the battery, the starter relay, the starter, and all the cables. I'm stumped. Any advice or anything I would appreciate!

 

For completeness, here's what I said in a PM:

A slow crank and then nothing says that everything is connected and working, to some extent. Here, are my thoughts, but you should really be doing this in a thread so you can get everyone's input as I may overlook something.

• Battery: One slow crank and then rather nothing or a clicking solenoid is a classic battery problem. Even though you have a new battery it may not be charged, so put it on a slow charger for several hours.
• Cables: Don't overlook the ground cable(s) as they are as important as the positive one. And, sometimes a cable goes bad on the inside but looks good on the outside. To find that, take a volt meter on the 2 volt scale and put it across each connection and each cable, one at a time, and have someone try to start it. A bad connection or cable will show up as a high voltage.
• Starter: Many guys on here have gotten a bad starter right out of the box. Take it back and have it tested.
• Solenoid: maybe the solenoid is bad. Do the voltage check across it when cranking.
• Engine: If the initial timing is too far advanced it'll kick back. But that will usually let the engine crank some. But a cylinder full of water or gasoline won't. So pull the plugs and crank it. Does anything come out? Does it crank well?

 

I had the starter tested and it tested good. What's the best way to check the starter solenoid, because that is brand new as well.

 

Put your volt meter across it set to the 20 volt scale. Have someone try to start the truck and you shouldn't see any where near 1 volt across the solenoid during the cranking.

 

So if I see more then 1 volt its no good?

 

Yep. For sure.

 

Alright I'll give it a shot tonight and let you know!

 

What type of transmission do you have? Did you have it out and then reinstalled and this problem started? Was this a problem that just suddenly happened?

 

Its a C6 transmission. I bought the truck not running. When I first got it home, it had nothing at all and now it just cranks once. The transmission has been installed the entire time I've owned it (3 months)

 

If it were mine, I'd be focused here... if you can't hear the solenoid click with the key in START... the noise is usually overcome by the starter motor...

I would put a voltmeter on the small red/light-blue wire on the solenoid, other voltmeter lead to ground... have somebody turn the key to START - do you get battery voltage there?

 

I don't have a voltmeter with me so hopefully tonight I'll be able to get one. What kinda voltage should I be getting there?

 

Here are some tests:

• Between the red/light-blue wire on the solenoid and ground you should have battery voltage when cranking
• The battery's positive post to ground should show ~12.4 volts when the battery is fully charged, and probably about 10 - 11 volts when cranking
• Across the solenoid's big posts you should see well less than a volt when cranking

 

Hate to sound like a dummy, but this is a fusible link correct?

 

That is not a fusible link. A fusible link is a wire several inches long.

 

Here's a pic of a guy splicing in fusible links: