OK guys, I haven't been on here in a long time, because, thankfully, I haven't been having too many problems - until now! I'm beating my head on a wall on this one, and I need help. I apologize if this has been covered too many times, but I can't seem to find anything in the search. 01 F350 7.3 auto will not crank. It started out random, just did it to my wife one day as she was leaving for work, hit the key and nothing. She kept hitting the key and it would start clunking, and finally she said she tried rocking the truck, back and forth, side to side and front to back. Finally, it started and kept starting after that, for about another week. Then, it did it to me when I was going to work, same thing, keep hitting the key, rock back and forth, and finally it started. So, naturally, I assume the starter has a dead spot in it, so I replace the starter. First time I hit the key, nothing. Finally did get it to start again, so investigated further. The clunking has gone away, and is now just a solid no crank. Watched some YouTube videos, and narrowed it down to, I thought, neutral safety switch. I just got done replacing that, and still nothing. Same situation, completely dead. I dont know where to turn to next.

Summary - I have good hot batteries, new starter, new neutral safety switch (with alignment marks correct), relays are clicking under the dash when I hit the key, so ignition switch is working (thanks, YouTube), I have tried crossing the solenoid on the fender, too, and get no power to the other side of the solenoid, even though I do have 12V coming in on the battery side. WHY WON'T MY TRUCK START?????? (sound of hair being pulled out )

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

Just a wild guess, but maybe you have a loose or bad ground somewhere, and when you rocked the truck, it set back in place again just enough to work and then later came loose after driving a bit.

 

Your starter solenoid is directly attached to the starter. If you crossed a solenoid on the fender, it goes to something else. I would check you battery cables, do you have 12v at the starter itself?