Do the headlights and dash lights work? Does the starter solenoid relay click?

 

Be nice to know how many volts are getting to the starter. I had a relay that would only send enough volts if I hooked jumper cables to the won't crank vehicle from a running vehicle. Replaced the relay only and been fine since.

If volts to starter are okay, then you might have a tired starter or perhaps the brushes in the starter are a little stuck and need full power to make it crank.

 

Can't get the lights or anything to work. I know the turn signals work and they did nothing when I just checked.

 

Mine was working fine and wouldn't start suddenly and no lights. Something you can try if you haven't is to take the battery cables off of the battery and use a small wire brush and scrub them until they are shiny removing any residue. Then when you reconnect, ensure the cable is seated all the way down before tightening the bolt. You may have to open the clamp a little. Then tighten the clamp bolts and ensure your cables do not move. Mine started right up after that.

 

I'll have to try that in the morning. Good things is that while fiddling with the battery I realized the chrome trim around the front turn signals were put on upside down by my grandpa who's sight is going haha.

 

Heard a beeping this morning when I went to try and check if the engine would turn over today. Clutch had been pushed in, pulled it out to stop the beeping, then turned the key to On. Dash lights came on and heard clicking, but would not turn over. Turned key off and then tried again, but nothing at all. Left the battery on the charger for an hour while running around town and still nothing when I came home and tried again. Before putting the charger on, I cleaned the battery posts really well. Could it be the starter?

 

I am confused.
There is nothing that 'beeps' in these trucks. At all.
The clutch cannot be left "pushed in", unless there are serious problems in the driveline.
The rest of it indicates battery. Replace the battery.

Cosmo

 

Have you done any tests just using jumper wires instead of worrying about the trucks wiring? Let’s remove variables instead of just jumping around the truck and it’s parts.

 

What sort of battery charger do you have there? If it is a small charger about the size of the battery or smaller (a trickle charger) that wouldn't charge up a battery in an hour. Trickle chargers can take a day or two to charge a battery back to full. They are made more to maintain a battery at a constant charge rather than to really charge one up quickly.

I have two battery chargers that are big enough they both have wheels to move them around. About the size of an old Lincoln stick welder. They can charge at 3 different settings - 2AMP, 20AMP and 60AMP. The 60AMP setting is also used to help assist with starting the vehicle in the case of a battery that can't quite cut the mustard any longer. They also have a built-in battery tester so you can hold a switch down and apply a load to the battery to make sure it has some cranking energy left to deliver.

Not saying you should buy a beast of a charger, just trying to set expectations.

Chad

 

It's a smaller one then for sure. The beeping was more of a long steady beeeeeeeep (probably not a technically correct term) and I've not tried jumping it off yet. Will try that next. Thank you for the patience

 

I think we are trying to visualize what could cause a steady noise when the truck is not running and the clutch is pushed in - and possibly a side curiosity is why you have to pull the clutch back up by hand since it should be spring loaded - so maybe a secondary problem there. Let us know if I've misunderstood something there.

Reason that is curious is because the clutch is (usually) just a mechanical device with no electricity running to any portion of the clutch. I'd assume the steady noise is electrical since with the truck key off and nobody touching the truck I can't think of anything other than electrical that would make noise.

So, a bit curious - they did have both Ford branded and aftermarket add-on headlight buzzer kits - the Ford ones had wires that clipped onto the ignition switch wire and headlight switch wire under the dash and it would buzz if you left the headlights on. Something like that would typically only buzz if the headlights were on though and shouldn't have anything to do with the clutch pedal or mechanism.

For anyone curious the exterior warning lamp buzzer kit was

C6AZ-14931-A r/b C6AZ-14931-C

I only mention this as one remote possibility for an electrical noise.

Chad

 

Perhaps someone installed an anti theft device like a kill switch?

 

DX323 I just read through this thread a couple times and i think we need some answers from you to actually help. I'm also going to assume the tests on your battery an alternator are invalid at this point until you do these tests yourself.

1: Do you have a multimeter? And do you know how to use it? Please see this video - it helped me a lot trying to solve some electrical issues. and this video to check for parasitic drain on the battery
Check the battery while the engine is off and the trickle charger is not hooked up. Post the answer here. Assuming its not ~12.6volts while the engine is off, hook that charger back up and leave it until you see the correct voltage. If it never gets there replace the battery. You might also want to swap in another known good battery from another car/truck you have to see if that makes any difference?

2: Assuming your battery is good, and you give it time to charge (give it 72hrs) test the battery again with the multimeter. What does it read? if its ~12.6 try to start her.

At this point I'm also going to assume you have the battery grounds set up correctly. Battery neg to block, block to frame, cab to block.

3: Hopefully you can get the truck running and idling. Now check the battery with the multimeter again. What does it read?

4: Turn on all the accessories you have (headlights, heater, radio, wipers) and check the battery with the multimeter again. what does it read? At idle it AND at 2500rpm. At idle it will likely be too much for the alternator but the old 1G alts didnt charge much at idle. So this is ok.

If anything in step 3 or 4 read below 13.5 to 14.5 the alternator isn't cutting it. If the volts are good at this point you need to do the parasitic test to see why your battery isnt holding a charge/draining on its own.

5: Pull the negative battery cable, run the multimeter from the post to the disconnected cable, key is not in the vehicle, and post the reading here.

If you can do all this and post the numbers we can help you.

...then we can address your beeping clutch lol

 

Boy do I feel like and idiot. For some reason I said "clutch was pushed in" and meant to say the CHOKE **** was pushed in. Not sure if I wasn't paying attention when posting or autocorrected. Sorry for the misinformation.

 

I think I would start with a new battery at this point and then check the charging system.

But if you want to keep the battery you have try charging it with the cables unhooked.
If the truck has a drain and is killing the battery, you have the cables hooked up and trying to use a small charger you may never be charging the battery because as fast as you put in it is being pulled out.
That is another way to check the battery. Cables removed and after the battery is charged leave the battery unhooked for a bit and take a voltage reading. Now check the battery voltage a day or 2 latter it should be the same if lower replace battery.
Dave ----