I have a 1997 f250 2wd 7.3.. As it sits now i can walk out to my truck and turn the key and it will either click or start perfectly. Last night I walked out and i turned the key to start it about 30 times and it just made 1 click each time and then randomly i turned they key and it started. Is this just a bad starter solenoid?

 

Could be weak batteries, bad battery cables, corroded ground or terminal.

Huge list of stuff to check over before spending any money.

 

Bet the click you are hearing is the GPR, not the starter relay.
What transmission do you have, standard or auto?

 

my transmission is automatic

 

Next time it does it do this ...

With keys in your pocket, truck in park and emergency brake on jumper the threaded looking terminal on the starter relay (passenger side fender) to the + side of the battery. Engine should turn over and if it does then your starter system is working and problem is elsewhere. Easy test to eliminate lots of stuff.

 

I did that and it still will just click down at the starter each time.

 

AvailableThen u have batt,cables,connection,starter,solenoid, issue.check available voltage at sarter small wire when cranking.need 12v to there to pull in solenoid contacts.then 12 at heavy leads when cranking.one or the other is not there.

 

well heres what happened now.. I cleaned off battery terminals until they looked new and now when i turn the key and when i jump that relay, the starter solenoid sparks.. and i mean alot.

 

Funny you are having this issue. I had this problem on my gas truck throughout 2 years. Only happened maybe once ever 2 months or so then t finally got worse and worse untill it was a few times a week. I originally thought it was the starter, then moved onto the solenoid. Both tested ok, but most crap auto parts stores do not properly bench test starters/solenoids. Replaced both and thought the problem was fixed and 1 month later I had the same issue. I replaced both heavy battery cables and starter cables with oversize 00t gauge cable...noticed they were chafed and had corrosion towards the battery terminals, yet it still didn't fix it.


Finally, the the smallest wire (16guage)that is connected at the top of the starter solenoid was corroded pretty bad I just could not tell. Wire that sends voltage to trip the solenoid when you turn your ignition. This is actually a very common problem among these older ford trucks. Either cut off a couple inches and use new connectors with shrink wrap and dielectric grease, or replace the few feet of wire. I guarantee if you get under there that wire will have internal corrosion.

This fixed my problem and never had issues since.

You may have a solenoid or starter on its way out if you are getting a lot of spark when you start it as well. I have seen this happen on more trucks than I can count where the wire becomes corroded and tricks people into thinking their solenoid or starter is going bad.