Originally Posted by
zombie_killer
On my 95 5.0 the starter solenoid is under the hood mounted up high on the passenger side fender, real easy to spot.
here is a generic picture of the solenoid.
Willing to bet yours is in the same place. Real easy to diagnose, turn your key to the run position, make sure tranny is NOT in gear, and short the two large terminals on the solenoid together. If your truck starts up, then your starter is fine and you likely need a new solenoid.
Just don't let the shower of spark scare you. It's normal when you do that.
use a screw driver to make a metal to metal connection between the two posts.
If it starts - as zombie says- that means the solenoid is probably junk.
When you swap it out - be very careful about matching all the wires to the right posts on the new one.
You'd be wise to disconnect your battery when you do it too - to avoid more sparks when you're not expecting them...
Side note - solenoids often go bad because you don't have good batter cables - or connections are bad. it draws more current through the solenoid, and they burn out inside much faster. So always worth checking them too.