Most of the time my Bronco (1996 w/ EFI 351) starts right up. Every once in maybe 3-6 months you only hear a single click when you turn the key. This has happened a few times before and is happening now.

I didn't do it this time (yet) but a couple of times ago I took the starter off and had it tested and it spun right up on the test fixture. I put it back in the truck and it still would just do the click.

The click sounds like it is coming from down at the starter. If I leave the ignition on and go under the hood and jump across the 2 posts on the firewall the starter will just make the single click.

In the past (and hopefully this time), after a couple or four hundred tries or so it will just start like there never was a problem. If you shut it off and try it again it will start right back up and be reliable again. Seems to happen after a weather change?

If the problem is with the solenoid on the firewall, would the starter still make the click?


It sounds similar to problems I've read about in threads such as these 2 but am not finding a resolution.
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...lem-7-3-a.html
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...-to-start.html

Any ideas?

Thanks,
mk

 

My starter relay is fender mounted.
If you jumped across the two big posts on the starter relay with something capable of conducting a high amperage without much resistance, then that is doing just what the starter relay does when it is energized via the ignition switch. In other words, the starter relay is not the problem.

I will also assume that you have already checked or removed and cleaned up battery cable and ground ends, and connections at the starter itself, and the starter isn't hanging by one bolt

Keep a hammer with you, and the next time it happens, crawl under and give the starter a couple whacks on the side of its case. If it will crank with the key turn after doing that, then the starter has a badly worn commutator or intermittent internal starter solenoid contact. Time for a new starter then. The hammer trick can get you out of a tough spot, but it's also a warning to replace starter soon, because with enough wear, the trick will stop working. And nobody likes sliding under a truck on a rainy night

 

I'll agree with what Torky says, keep a hammer with you to test the starter the next time it does it. However, if you have not cleaned the batter cables/post and connections at the starter VERY well I would do that first before anything.

I used to have an issue where my would do the same thing. One loud click when trying to start. I seemed to have power to everything but it wouldn't start. So I checked my battery cables and cleaned the terminals and it started but the problem seemed to come back not that long later. Well I ended up not cleaning the terminals well enough because I eventually gave them a really thorough wire brushing and cleaning and made sure the cables were all tightly connected, along my starter connections, and the problem went away and I haven't had it since. The starter takes a lot of juice to turn, so if the connections aren't perfectly clean (they may not look dirty or bad but clean them again anyways), you could have some problems.

 

Don't smack your starter! There is nothing wrong with it! If it runs when tested, the problem is somewhere else!

Before I get into too many suggestions, I have a question or two first.

1. How humid has it been where you live?

2. Have to taken a resistance reading on the positive battery cable?

If the answer to the first is "very humid" and/or the answer to the second is "no" then I recommend disconnecting the positive battery cable at the starter AND the battery and taking a resistance reading. This is a piece of at least 6 AWG cable and should have near-zero resistance. Anything above about 4-6 ohms means the cable has corroded from the inside and needs to be replaced. This can cause hard-start/no-start especially under humid conditions. Beyond this measure, the following is an issue that I chased for nearly 6 months before finally finding a reasonable solution.

There IS a secondary relay on the starter. A small red wire with a 1/4" female spade connector attaches to the aft side of the relay down on the starter. The stupid thing is that this spade terminal is NOT insulated so it picks up all the crud that gets thrown at it. Disconnect, clean and reconnect this terminal and see if the problem ceases. If so, cut the non-insulated female spade terminal off and put a fully insulated one in its place. be sure to fill the insulated terminal with dielectric grease before reconnecting it as well.

 

Thanks for the reply!

I'm in NE Texas and we've had several fronts come through lately that have bounced the humidity around a bit. 82% this morning. Not sure what it was yesterday.

I replaced the positive and negative cables about 8 months ago. The positive side had become severely corroded. I was chasing what turned out to be simply a bad battery at the time.


I think I also replaced this little spade connector 8 months ago (but probably not with an insulated connector). If memory serves, it was hanging by a thread or broke off when I was replacing the positive cable. I'll check it. I'll then go ahead and clean the battery terminals but I don't have high hopes.

 

Thanks. I was thinking the same but needed some confirmation.

Well it wasn't hanging by 1 bolt last year but it's worth a check this time. I'm thinking it's not cable connections either but I'll clean them anyway.

I had to leave it at work yesterday. I may get to work this morning and it starts right up which will leave me still not knowing what the problem is. If it still just clicks I'll pull the starter off and have it tested again. If it works off the truck but still fails on the truck I may use the hammer all over the truck.

 

It is certainly worth a try. I have my doubts... but then again if I knew what I was doing I wouldn't need help so I do appreciate the suggestion. As I think about it, I don't recall trying to clean the terminal posts on the starter itself when I replaced the cables a while back. Thanks.

 

With luck, the hammer trick DOES WORK. If the problem was a badly worn commutator, the starter's armature can stop with its brushes on a "bad spot" on the commutator. That can result in no current flow, but much more common is a high-resistance spot, which can result in the starter making a quick sound on power application, but can't always hear it from above with outside sounds. A high-resistance spot heats immediately, increasing the resistance, and can leave burn marks or pits on the commutator. This is a common problem with well-worn mechanically-commutated DC motors, and AC motors that are series-wound, though the AC motors can arc and start more readily due to their higher application voltage.

Hitting the starter's case with a hammer can put enough vibration into the motor's armature to move it a little bit, where it may make a decent low-resistance contact between brush and commutator bar. Then it will crank... that time.

Pulling the starter motor out and having it tested with a problem like this is just the luck of the draw. If it was very intermittant (problem not happening often) in the vehicle, it probably won't exhibit the problem on the tester, either.

 

The short answer is that I replaced the starter and all is working again.

I tried tapping the case but maybe I didn't tap hard enough or long enough. At any rate that didn't work for me.

I ended up pulling the starter off and having it tested like I had done on a previous instance of this symptom. Before they tested it, the guy at the store noticed that the copper threaded stud that the positive power cable connects to was missing a nut that should go between the solenoid and the cable. You could wiggle the threaded copper post. The starter passed but it would generate a spark at the solenoid. Bendix didn't sound too great but it did work.

I guess a reason the starter would work in the fixture but not on the truck is that they just clip the positive cable to the threaded stud versus the stud getting pulled by the tension of the nut.

I wonder if it would have worked if I had just added the missing nut (not the nut that holds the cable onto the solenoid, but the nut that goes in between the solenoid and the cable.). Or if the damage had already been done and that I was destined to keep hitting the flat spot every now and then. But anyway, the new starter sounds a lot stronger than the old one has in a long time.

 

Glad you were able to fix it without too much work. It's w-a-a-a-y too hot to be working on vehicles here now! Maybe in November...

 

It's just my luck. 1 week after replacing the starter, out goes a radius arm bushing.

 

Attaching a link to a picture and a short out of focus video.
loose stud on starter solenoid - a set on Flickr

 

Sounds like you have the strarter problem fixed but if it should return it is your neutral safety switch. My '69 F250 does this same thing and I was frustrated by it until a buddy told me to try it in neutral or move the gearshifter back and forth.

 

Thanks. I did have that problem a while back too when the torques head screws under the dash became loose. I was having to find neutral to start the truck. I don't think it was making the click down at the starter though. But you can be sure I'll try that too if it happens again. Thanks again.

 

I also have a '96 EB Bronco (with 260,000 miles) and recently have had some electrical issues. First off, I haven't had the money - $65 - $75 - to have a shop run the test for codes and/or the diagnostic test, but I'm going to.

My "Check Engine" light has started to come on lately but I can clear it for a while by taking the battery cables off. I also have the "air bag" light come on for a few restarts and then it goes away. On the 29th (birthday!) the truck wouldn't crank when I was leaving the grocery store - no lights, no radio, no key-in warning bell and it just would operate the door locks. Battery connections were tight but I noticed the battery was over three years old. Sucked it up and walked down to the battery store and picked up a new battery. Engine fired up with the new battery and the truck ran great and I was happy for 3 days - now the "Check Engine" light is on again!

Damn!

Does anyone know where I could find an OEM set of battery cables? Parts for the '96 are really rare.