Hello, i have an 1985 f-250 with the 300-6 .... when i try to start it all it makes is a clicking sound. my battery is fully charged, i put in all new wiring to the starter, and a brand new solenoid all when this problem occured. all that happens when i try to start it is it makes a poping sound, i think its normal because when i turn the key on i can manually start it, but when i try to use the key to start it, it only makes a clicking sound, please help

 

Your starter motor bendix may be toast and its not engageing..

what do you mean by manualy start it, roll starting?

 

I think a bad bendix gives a "Wheee" spinning sound. Maybe you got a bad solenoid, but most likely one of your connections isn't making good contact.
Also, if the starter is too tight or a little mis-alligned it will lock-up. Loosening
it a bit usually will free it up.

 

Check and clean all your connections especially the grounds. I went through a three week ordeal replacing everything from the starter, battery, ignition switch, wiring. When all was said and done, and I had replaced most of the major electrical parts, and still had the same problem. I then checked my ground wires. problem was that a ground wire wasn't making good connection.

 

I noticed that you don't mention anything about replacing the starter. Have you checked the starter to see if it runs. You can pull it out and run it with jumper cables (put it in a vise to hold) or have one of the autoparts stores check the amps its pulling.

 

you might also check out the teeth on the flywheel and on the starter.i've known cases where the teeth were stripped or worn or missing and at the time that people were trying to start their vehicles the starter wasn't alligned in a way that it would turn the engine over.

 

yes i have a brand new starter, bought it 3 days ago

 

when i say "manually" i mean jumping a wire from battery + to the starter.

 

That rapid ticking. I always carried a spare started solenoid with me in my '80 F250. Don't know how many times I had to change it in a parking lot. Tap it lightly with a hammer or wrench, it MIGHT work to get you going once or twice more...

edit: I've also had the bad fortune to have a bad brand new starter solenoid ...

 

Try jumping the solenoid and see if it cranks. They make push button tools for doing this but if you don't have one you can do the same with a screw driver. Just remove the small wire that connects to the stud on the solenoid and jump from the terminal where the battery connects to the stud where the small wire connects with a screwdriver and it should crank. If not then the solenoid is bad or the connections to the solenoid is bad. If it does then look at the ignition switch and wiring. New solenoids can be bad. All they do is complete the circuit from the battery to the starter and you said that a straight wire from the battery to the starter works. That elliminates the battery and starter/starterdrive.

 

so you think it's the starter solenoid?

 

Same problem, 86 F150, new starter, new relay. What about the two wires connecting to the battery cable post on the relay which have fusible links? I have tried the other suggestions. The juice goes to the relay, with successive starting attempts making the positive battery cable hot enough to melt the insulation. Have yet to get the new starter to crank. Tried 75amp jolt from battery charger on battery treminals, same result - get groaning sound from relay, no crank.

The truck rolls with a clutch pop start and runs like a champ. Right now I'm not parked on a hill.

 

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Your problem may not be in the starting system at all. It is possible that the engine is frozen up for some reason. I had a VW once that froze up after I shut it off because it had carbon on top of a piston. Try turning then engine over manually. If it will turn over, your problem has to be in the solenoid, starter, or battery. Just because the battery has been "charged" doesn't mean that it is a good battery. I would swap out the battery before I bought any new parts.

 

I would not just swap the battery, but rather take it in for testing. The fact that jumping(effectively bypassing the solenoid) starts the truck would indicate the battery is fine. I'd bet on the solenoid myself. I too, have had a few bads ones brand new out of the box. Well worth keeping a spare or two on hand. I generally change mine every 2 yrs, regardless of the old one working or not. The old one ends up in the tool chest or glove box if it still works as an "In case".