I was driving my truck around doing Christmas shopping last month and went out for one final errand and when I got in the truck to start it up all I heard was the solenoid clicking when i tried to crank it. It wouldn't turn over.

I got a tow home and have been fiddling with it since but still haven't fixed it. Any ideas?

Here's what I know:

• Had the battery tested and it's good.
• Replaced the starter (it was on warranty ) and had them test it before I put it on the truck.
• Replaced the solenoid.
• Replaced the positive battery wire from battery to solenoid.
• I have continuity in the negative battery wire from the battery to ground.
• I have continuity from the starter in the wire from solenoid to the starter.
• I tried putting the truck in neutral (have an AOD trans) and still just hear the solenoid clicking. It still won't turn over.

I'm at wits end and thankfully have another vehicle to drive but really need to get the truck going again.

 

My father had the same issue on his '85 with 302. Bought a new factory type starter from NAPA and it wouldn't turn it over either. I bought him a PMGR starter from DB Electrical and that fixed it.

 

Just having "connectivity" from the battery to ground and from the solenoid to the starter doesn't mean you don't have bad connections. I've seen plenty of instances when the connection was good enough to run the lights but bad enough that the starter wouldn't turn. And a digital volt meter pulls essentially nothing in the way of current so will not test the connection via the ohms scale.

The way to test the connections is by placing the DVM in the voltage mode and placing the leads across the connection. The huge current draw of the starter can easily pull a few tenths of volts across a connection, so put your meter on the 20 volt scale. Then use a jumper from the battery to the small terminal on the solenoid to simulate Start, or have someone turn the key to Start. If the connection is good you will see essentially no voltage drop across it. But if you see much you've found the problem.

Do that on all your connections and all your cables. And across the solenoid. If the starter really is good then one of those connections, cables, or the solenoid is bad.

 

Another quick and dirty way to check this out; Take a decent jumper cable(just one side of a pair) and clip one end to the battery negative, and clip the other end to a good bare metal spot on the engine. If it tries to crank, then you know your negative battery cable has a problem.

You can also jump from the battery to the solenoid and check that one.

Gary is right, you can't check continuity on these large cables. It's like a garden hose with a kink in it. With the nozzle off or open very little, you will get water. Open the nozzle wide open to get a lot of flow(like trying to use the starter motor) and the stream of water goes to nothing. The meter needs very little current to give you a good reading.

 

Many times I get way to far into the thinking/guessing of what the problem could be, when all along it was a just a bad ground or wire. It's what I like to check 1st now before I spend money on parts that 'might' be the problem. As for your case, I would use a wire I know to be good as a jumper, check my negative ground, and/or make a new ground directly back to the battery as already mentioned above.

 

BTW, when you replaced the positive cable, what did you use? A new cable, used cable?

 

As Dave suggested, try jumping the negative to an area of bare metal. I was having a similar problem with one of our farm trucks and it turned out that the clamp was shot. Replaced the clamp and haven't had the clicking problem since.

 

I used this method to test my ground cable and the change in voltage was significant. After replacing what looks like the original ground cable I can get the motor to turn over finally but it won't start.

It's been sitting for a month could the gas have gone bad? Or am I not finished testing and fixing things yet?

 

You probably aren't done fixing things. But, it sounds like you fixed the cranking problem. So let's peel the onion a bit more. Have you checked for spark? And, is your truck EFI or carb'd? If carb then you should pull the air cleaner and check to see that you have gas squirting in when you open the throttle.