I went to start my truck (99 F250SD 4WD) the other day and it would not crank over. There was a very loud thump from the starter motor... seemed much louder than a normal solenoid click.


Battery was fully charged and connections were fine. I put the truck in 5th gear and tried rocking it a bit. Not easy! Mark I made on fan belt did move about an inch, so engine didn't appear to be locked/seized.


As it was the original starter, I decided to change it. What a pain getting it out.. rusted away electrical retaining nuts and that top bolt is all done by feel (as I didn't bother trying from the wheel well... next time I will). So... almost 2 hours later I had the starter out. I checked it using jumper cables from my wife's car. Would not rotate. Went directly to heavy exposed terminal going into motor; nothing other than a little light sparking.


Off I went to the auto-parts store and got a new one. Didn't really take all that long to install, however there was one difference (and did you know CARQUEST now warranties their starters for life?), and that was the ignition key wire ("S" wire) no longer connects directly to the solenoid. It came with a short length of wire already installed with a warning not to remove it. Had a crimp connector at the free end and the instructions said to cut off the old ring-terminal, strip the wire back and crimp to make the connection.


I wanted to try it before I crimped it in case there was a problem so I didn't cut off the ring terminal yet, and merely slipped it over the solenoid stud end... just sort of on there loose.


Tried to start the truck and same thing. Quite a loud clunk and no movement.


Next I did something dumb... did two things at once.... I rocked the truck again and I used a clothespin to make sure the "S" wire was firmly connected to the solenoid.


And it started.... cranked over fine. In fact, it cranked faster than the old starter, so the old one was probably dying even if I did replace it needlessly.


And here's the question.... did the new starter not work right away because the "S" wire was loosely connected, or did rocking the truck to rotate the engine a little bit more fix the problem?


Anyway, it's started fine every time since, although I havn't really used it much since then.


I must admit, I'm suspicious and I don't want another no-start situation, especially if I'm way back a woods road and it's getting dark.


Any thoughts?


Thank-you.