I have a 91 7.3L idi. 4x4. it's got 2 big ole' Autocraft batteries in it. it has been cold here lately and usually this bad boy fires right up no problem no issues. but today was bad. cold rain and winds, in the 30's. and my truck won't start. It fired right up this morning, no problems at all. I let it warm up for about 5-10min. go to the gym. im in the gym for about an hour. I leave, fires right up. no problems. I go get some subway. im in subway for about 10min. i come out, and... click click click something is wrong here. It has done this to me once before, i popped the hood, messed with the battery cables a little ( some are a little loose ) and it fired right up. but this time, I mess with the battery cables a little. just turning them a little and what not, I try every way possible. and no luck. They arne't VERY loose or anything, 2 are actually very tight, 1 is pretty damn tight, and 1 is a little loose. I mess with it in the rain for about 20min and no luck, the couple clicks eventually stops. and when you turn the key over you dont hear nothin. I wait about 30min for help. hook the booster cables up to it. and the "Wait to start" light got brighter than it was before, and it sounded like it was attempting to turn slowly, but still nothing. So I got out the good ole chain since it's a 5 speed and pull started it, fired right up. I got it home and turn it off, waited about 10min and went out there and once again when I turn the key over nothing happens at all not even any noise or click. start light is dim too so no juice from the battery i assume. I'm not very mechanically inclined but I know a little. Just wondering what maybe you guys think about what the problem could be? bad battery or betteries? note to remember: it has only done this to me a few times. tomorrow I could go out there and it could fire right up? or, it could do nothing.

 

What did your batteries read when truck was off and then when truck is running? If you didn't test them yet, get a multimeter and test them. When the truck is off they should read around 12.60 and when truck is on they should read around 14.60. Make sure you get all connections tight and secure, too. Batteries work work if there is not suitable contact.

 

Even though they're "tight" you shouldn't be able to turn the cables on the battery posts by hand either. I'm with snapon, you'll have to check you battery voltage. How old are the batteries? Are they the same age? They should be replaced in pairs. You could have one bad battery that's pulling the other down.

 

Agreed. It may be worth your time to unhook one of the batteries before metering them out... that way you can know that each of the batteries is or isn't reading 12.6VDC. Then sort out the cables/terminal for sure before going any further. Then ensure you are charging at 14VDC or so when running. If not you may have a charging (alternator) problem.

Be sure to update here when you get those terminals sorted out!

 

Remove, clean and reinstall all four battery clamps.

 

check you connection at starter also. Mine did the clicking thing and cleaning that helped that too.

 

When my truck clicked, I replaced the starter and everything worked perfect. Looking back, it might have just been a dirty connection.

 

I appreciate all of your replies. Once the weather clears i will try out some of these resolutions. I'am thinking it might be the dirty/bad connection to the starter. I also need to clean and reinstall those battery post clamps to ensure a secure connection. I will try to check the voltage on the batteries as well. feel better about this now. thank you.