I was running around today making a series of stops. Then when I was on my way home, I stopped at a stop sign. But when I proceeded to go, I noticed the truck was acting weird. It sounded different. I looked at the instrument cluster and noticed that the transmission temp gauge wasn't reading anything, and the transmission shift indicator wasn't showing I was in any gear. I limped ithe home (about a mile) and parked it in my driveway. I put it in park and shut the truck off. But when I went to try starting the truck again, it wouldn't do anything. It won't try to turn over at all and the temp gauge still isn't reading anything. Any help or suggestions?

 

Any mods or is it bone stock? Repair history recent? When you got it home did it go thru all gears in limp or just sit in 1 gear.

Trans fluid level....etc

More info brother.

Denny

 

bone stock, bought new in 2007. Just turned 55,000 miles today. Just replaced transmission filter and fluid in july. Replaced u-joints in June, oil changed a couple months ago. It was shifting fine all day today. Seemed like when it went out on me I was stuck in first gear. But I didn't really notice as I had noisy kids in the back seat. But all it does now it just nothing. No crank at all. Just hear what sounds like the starting trying to engage. A faint click when I turn the key. Transmission fluid level seemed ok. Of course I am checking it with the truck off now.

 

Gear shift brackets loosen. I can't say it will be that, but it's pretty easy to check. Will it start in neutral?

 

Kinda stepping back a bit but..........for all the impressive gauges we have on this truck.....I'm not seeing a voltage gauge. I'm leaning heavily toward your alternator went south on you.

Do you have a volt meter. If so probe your batteries and see what they read. If they are dead nuts, therein lies your problem.

Denny

 

they read 15v. I am going to pull them and get them load tested. But you are the 2nd person to lean towards battery/alternator.

 

will not start in any gear. It won't even crank.

 

Disconnect the batts for 10 min. Negs only. Reconnect and see what you see. If your reading that high of voltage, spin up should be no problem. I'm poking a finger at overcharge and overwhelmed. Never saw a battery with that high of static voltage.

I'm putting this out there and will surely get whelped, but just as we need a minimal voltage, an overrun can cause issues we've discussed.

Denny

 

if I do as you stated, after I reconnect them are you expecting that the truck should start? Not sure if I am following you. I disconnected the batteries (2 of them) and cleaned the terminals, but not sure if it was 10 minutes. I disconnected them and will leave them off overnight. I checked the voltage again, with only the positives connected, and got 14v.

 

So I left the negative battery terminals disconnected overnight, and I just hooked them all back up. Truck started with no problem, and gear shift indicator showing as normal. What does that mean?

 

It means we fixed it and don't have a damn clue what we did.....lol

However, when the truck sits for that period with no residual power. It's pretty much like unplugging your tv and having to re enter all your channels. The tv still turns on but has dementia and needs to be retaught because everything went back to default factory settings.

Lets keep it close to home for a few drives and see if this rears it's head again.

If you have a laptop, you might want to download "forscan" free and buy a cheap 20 bucks ELM adapter for your aldl. This way you can scan for codes and take it with you plugged in for real time readings on most everything to point to a conclusion.

It's a nice program, easy to learn, and there are a lot of tutorials from members in the 7.3 forum to help you thru the curve if you have one.

Highest regards,

Denny

 

lol, thanks. I am going to drive it to advanced auto in town to test the batteries/alternator. The batteries are the factory ones that came with the truck in 2007. I borrowed my brother-in-laws scanner, but haven't hooked it up yet. I'll keep it with me just in case. I still might bring it to the dealer to get it checked out. I'm just happy it started.

*UPDATE* batteries and alternator check out fine at advanced auto. Went over to local mechanic and talked with them, but the guy I needed to speak with was out. Set up an appointment to talk with the mechanic and get it checked tomorrow. The truck has started fine the last 5-7 times.

 

Looking for insight, I don't have a clue. Never got a wrench or a code eh?

Denny

 

Your e-brake is off right!!!

 

I don't either. Lol. I hooked up the scanner, but no codes. No the wrench light never came on, yes the ebrake was released. Still running and starting ok. Being that the batteries are almost 10 years old, I am going to look at replacing them. Just in case there is an issue with them intermittently.