no start, no crank, battery and starter check good....
 

I have a 1996 f150 4x4 4.9 manual that won't start. I went over seas for about 5 months so the truck sat in my drive way the whole time and wasn't started. I disconnected the battery (which was pretty new) before I left.

I got home and reconnected and went to start it and all I got was one click and nothing. Everything electrical works and the truck used to start perfectly fine before I left. I checked the voltage on the battery and its at 12.5v, and I took the starter off and had it checked at auto zone and it checks perfect too. I tried jump starting it from both one of those portable jump starters and another car and same result. I cleaned the battery terminals and the battery posts but still no joy. I want to check to see if the starter is getting enough juice when I go to start it but I'm not sure what to look for on the volt meter. The only other thing I can think of is to replace the battery terminals and possibly the wire from battery to the starter. Anybody got any advice? Thanks

Lift the hood and look on the pass side inner fender for the starter relay, follow a pos wire from the battery to find it. Jump the two large terminals on it with a wrench or similar. If the starter runs the relay may be bad or the clutch safety interlock switch may be bad.

Check all of the ground connections and your battery cables for bulges all the way end to end... All of them... 5 months is long enough to give corrosion time to ruin a cable, and if it's under the insulation it will be hard to see.

Wiggle the spade connector on the starter solenoid. The starter solenoid is located down on top of the starter.
If it starts then cut the spade off and about one inch of wire and crimp on a new spade connector.

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g9...deTerminal.gif

/

so i replaced the negative battery cables (they were in bad shape) and cleaned the positive cables real good (they weren't that bad to begin with) but I still have the same problem. Everything electrical works, go to start, one click and nothing.

I did discover through that i don't need to put the key in to be able to turn the ignition, would this point to a bad ignition switch maybe? Basically I can turn the ignition, have everything electrical working, and try to start the car with no key, which I'm pretty sure wasn't possible before I left. I thinking maybe this has something to do with the problem.

That really has nothing to do with the ignition switch, it indicates the lock cylinder is worn out.

You STILL have a bad connection somewhere... Were there any lumps/bulges in any of the cables you didn't replace? If so it could be corrosion under the insulation.. Just becausee they look good don't mean they are. Electricity does not travel on looks, it travels on good cables/wires..

BTW 12.8vdc is a fully charged battery, 12.5vdc is only a 50% charge but you should get more than a click when tryin to start. Best to start with a fully charged battery. At this point you might want to check the voltage drop of the different cables under load.
To test attach one probe to the cable on the starter and the other to the positive terminal on the battery. When you try to start the truck there should be no more than 1 volt showing on the meter. If there is more than 1 volt there is some point of resistance in the circuit which could be the relay on the fender, battery/starter cables. Don't overlook a bad ground connection. Both of my 94 and 95 had a bad ground connection from the batt to ground.
regards
rikard

13.0 to 13.2 is actually a fully charged battery, but 12.8 is still enough to crank. hold a meter across the battery terminals, have someone turn the key to start and see if the reading drops below 11 volts or less, if it does you have a bad battery, ie good voltage but can't handle the amp draw. If it doeasn't drop you have a bad solenoid or maybe an ignition switch. Jump the solenoid terminals and see if it starts, that will rule it out, just remember to have the key on and it in park or neutral and emerg, brake on.

Just because autozone said the starter was good, doesnt mean they are right.

Get under there and have someone try and turn the key over and over as you smack the starter with a hammer. Or use a portable boost box on it.

I know someone suggested it before but did you bridge the solenoid on the passenger fender with a screwdriver and try to start it that way? Just bridge the two terminals on the solenoid together and magically it should start.

well i tried jumping the starter relay on the passenger side fender again while jumping it from another car and this time it started right up. So i guess the relay is bad, which is cool since its a quick fix. Thanks for the help yall.

That's one of the first things I check in a no start condition. At least now you will know for future reference.