Hey everyone! I am new here so I appologize if this issue was covered somewhere else.

A couple of days ago a friend from work sold me a 1995 Ranger 4.0 V6 with a manual transmission. When I bought it he told me it needed a starter and a battery. He used it to drive to work, but bought a new truck and parked the ranger and let it sit. It was sitting for about two years when I bought it. I trailered the truck back to my house and when I was pulling out the old battery, I noticed the plastic housing on the starter relay was cracked. I took a trip to the parts shop and bought the battery, starter relay, and starter. I installed the parts and tried to start it. I pushed in the clutch, and turned the key and nothing happened. No dashlights came on, no guages moved. I got to thinking, and turned the switch for the headlights. No lights. No dome lights, No under hood light.It was like there was no battery connected. So I left the key in the on position and used a screwdriver to bridge the posts on the starter relay. When I did this, the engine started, the lights came on ( headlights, interior dome light, and the underhood light). As soon as I removed the screwdriver from the relay posts, everything went dead again. I checked all the fuses in the cab and the ones in the fuse box under the hood and as far as I can tell, they are all good. I went over the underhood wiring to check for shorts thinking that a critter might have chewed on something since it was sitting for so long. I dont know if I am missing something, or if I did something wrong....... I also replaced the fuel pump and cleaned out the tank since it had been sitting for two years. What do ya'll think?

 

If this is wired the same as my 87, the positive battery cable and 3 or fuse links should be connected together at the starter relay. Sounds like you might have them connected to the starter side of the relay by mistake

 

Check your grounds . And the condition of the cables.

 

Here you go, wire your relay like this and you should be good to go.

 

By the way it's nice to see that you know the difference between the starter relay & a starter solenoid.

The black/BK wire in the diagram connects the starter relay to the starter solenoid which is part of the starter.