Tonight, after driving home, I tried to start the truck. I got a loud electrical clicking noise from inside the engine compartment. The truck would not turn over. It is not the same noise as I have heard with starter problems. It seems to be coming from the little box beside the battery. I don't have a manual , so I can't figure it out. I am not totally lost under the hood, but am certainly no mechanic. What do you think it is?

Thanks in Advance.

 

The box is called an ignition solenoid. It is pretty easy to check to see if it is working. You will see three different leads comming from it. One goes to the battery, one to the ignition, and one to the starter. The easy way to diagnose this is to take a mulitmeter and touch one lead to the battery lead from the solenoid and the other to the wire leading to the starter. Have someone try to start the truck. If you get power there then the problem is your starter. If you get no power it could be several other things.

Check that first and if needed i'll help you through the other checks....

 

Hi Bret,
You seem to have your Ford stuff down. My truck got stuck at work last night it wouldn't start I still have power to the lights. However when I turn the key I get nothing no lights etc... It has been getting harder to get it into park. Is there a work around so that I can get my truck started I button on the tranny I can bypass with my 1988 ford F150 with auto tranny.
Thanks,
Jason

>The box is called an ignition solenoid. It is pretty easy
>to check to see if it is working. You will see three
>different leads comming from it. One goes to the battery,
>one to the ignition, and one to the starter. The easy way
>to diagnose this is to take a mulitmeter and touch one lead
>to the battery lead from the solenoid and the other to the
>wire leading to the starter. Have someone try to start the
>truck. If you get power there then the problem is your
>starter. If you get no power it could be several other
>things.
>
>Check that first and if needed i'll help you through the
>other checks....

 

The shift column prevents the truck from being started in anything other that park or neutral. Try to start your rig in neutral. With your symptoms I would suggest your problem to be:

1. Ignition Solenoid : This could still be your problem

2. Ignition Switch : The switch is located at the end of the steering column and is activated by a rod which connects to your ignition key. The switch is adjustible and they are known to either go bad or be out of adjustment. They adjust by sliding up and down the shift column.

3. Starter : Could also be your problem

4. Battery : Battery terminals which are corroded can cause the same symptoms that you are talking about. A cheap way to fix is to take a terminal cleaner and clean both the battery posts and the battery leads. Then mix some baking soda with water and wet down the connections. This will keep it from corroding as quickly

The only other way to start your rig from gear is to bypass the ignition solenoid. I do not recommend doing this with the truck in gear since it could take off on you. It can work to diagnose the solenoid though. There is a special tool to use to do this but I assume that you do not wish to pay 20 or so buck for it.

I have been known, in very hard times, to jump the solenoid with a screwdriver. It will throw a little spark out but like I said I have done it only when I needed too. If a screwdriver is touched to the lead that goes from the battery on the solenoid to the lead that goes to the starter lead the starter will activate.

Again I have only done this when I knew that my solenoid was toast and I was stranded!

 

jumping the solinoid wont hurt it. that is how i bump my engine over for compression checks and fuel pressure and so on and so on.. as far as what you can do for getting your truck to start it is a park neutral safety switch try starting in neutral with the key. if you headlights go out you have too large of a drain on you power.. you need to check into that asap.

 

[updated:LAST EDITED ON 25-Feb-02 AT 10:55 AM (EST)]Thanks I'll give these solutions a try and let you guys know what worked. You guys rock thanks again,

J

 

Hello the solution was:
I tightened the connections on the starter and cleaned off the battery connectors with a wire brush and used a utility knife and scraped the inside of the battery terminals (They didn't look bad bud had a gray film I think the goop valvoline put on em did it i got the truck a year ago and cleaned the terminals then Buffalo NY winters are nasty). Not sure which the fix was but I left the key turned on and when I reconnected the battery terminals I could hear the power turn on under the hood. Started just fine after that I guess the lights don't take near as much power to run as the ignition does they were bright too.

Thanks again guys,

J

 

Well it dosn't hurt it but it does throw out some sparks and you can easily weld your screwdriver to the posts if you not careful.

Glad it worked!!!!!