Girlfriend came home from work last Friday. No problems. Expy wasn't driven or attempted to be cranked until Monday morning. Well, it didn't. Turn the key on, bells and whistles like normal and go to start and "Click or clunk.." Battery showing 12.37v. Good. Tried to jump, just in case bad cell, "Click, clunk". Give up, wait until today to tackle problem.

Today...Removed old starter, it looks rough and considering the expy has 190,000 miles, it even has the Ford part number on it, still...Checked it out, Failed 3 tests, twice. Got new starter, oh and while I had the old one out, I tackled that terrible location of the passenger side O2 sensor..WOW!!! What a PITA! Got all new O2 sensor's installed and the new starter. Go to crank, same as before...Now I'm completely confused. I do all checks for voltage at Fender mounted relay down to the starter itself. Have voltage everywhere.

I'm still rather new to Expy's, but I love my ol' Ford trucks, anyone point me in the right direction. I fell like I have wasted .... well I lost all day to the excitement and haven't slept since 4p.m. Tuesday. It's 6:54p.m. Wednesday now...6:55.

Thanks for looking and for any help!

 

Have you tried to turn the engine by hand?

 

You said battery has 12.37 volts. Was that checked when you went to crank? Have you cleaned the posts and cable?

 

i had the same problem on a 1998 chevy k1500 battery reading 12.7v so figured most be starter through a new a starter in go to start click no start tried jumping it no luck. ended up being the battery good voltage but the amperage was bad.

try a battery that you now is good condition

 

Re-check the positive connection on the starter and check the housing around it for cracks.

The positive connection bolt on these starters (at least on my 2000XP) is held in a plastic housing. Inside, the solenoid simply presses up against a metal bar that this bolt is connected to. If you over-tighten it, the housing can crack, the bolt moves and pulls the bar out of alignment, and lose contact with the solenoid. I once had to change the starter twice because of this.

 

Having voltage isn't enough.
Gotta have sufficient current, also.

Follow the positive battery cable down toward the starter.
Look for a weak spot where it passes near the exhaust manifold.

Also, if you have a volt meter, put the positive lead of the meter on the "B" terminal (NOT the "S"olenoid terminal and NOT the "M"otor terminal) of the starter and the negative lead of the meter to a good ground. You should read battery voltage at this point.

Now have someone turn the ignition switch to "crank" and see what the meter reads while attempting to crank. It should maintain at least 9.5 volts.

I'm assuming that your battery plus a jumper battery has sufficient voltage and current. But if that positive battery cable has a rotten spot, it may only have a few strands of copper still making contact within the rotten spot. When you test the end of the cable with your meter, those few strands of copper will allow your meter to see battery voltage. But when you turn the key to crank, those few strands of copper can't pass enough current to spin the starter. It may only be able to pass enough current to get a "clunk" out of the starter and it is then maxed out.

(We just ran into this issue a few months ago on an Expy that had headers installed - if you need a new positive cable, bring money to the dealer - it is a complete assembly and includes two fusible links!)

Not saying that this is your problem, but let us know how you make out.

 

Thanks everyone for all the replies...This is why I'm glad the internet is around. After taking a long extended "needed" break from working on this, I rechecked all my connections. When I removed the positive battery cable, I didn't properly get the heavier gauge cable tight enough on the post. I just happen to have the g/f turn the key while I heard it "clunk", and I saw the arc at the lug on the positive cable. Even when checking all the terminals, even down to the starter, that little looseness caused all my headache and my fatigue had kept me from thinking straight.

Thanks again for the help everyone!

 

The battery post connections are certainly fussy. Sometimes you can just set them over the posts and crank up to test, other times they won't conduct even when tight. Good clean tight connection sometimes even won't work. That's time for new cables if the battery charges fully.