Hello, all! I became the recent owner of a 1988 F250. The fellow I bought it off mentioned the starter might need to be replaced soon and now the truck is dead.

When I turn the key, nothing but silence. I tried jumping it and was rewarded with a fast paced clicking noise, but no attempt to turn over or start. Is this just the starter going bad? Am I on the right track here?

Thanks in advance for helping out a noob.

 

Have you put a meter on the battery while you were trying to crank the engine? If your battery is fully charged, put you meter on the battery, VDC setting, turn key to start. If the meter drops down to 5-7 volts, I'd give a good bet your starter is gone, but, that's not to say that the solenoid isn't bad or you have a bad connection on one of your cables.