I had a battery draw and was unable to get a multi-meter at the time so I kept disconcerting my battery every time i parked it. A few days ago when i hit the starter it would click once, so I replaced the solenoid but that didn't work but now when i connect the battery the fan for my heat turns on with the key out of the ignition and it switched off and it still wont start I am very lost with this and looking for advice. Should I just replace the whole harness or is it a much simpler fix than that.

1979 F-150
351M

 

Step one for me is to always check all the grounds.

 

Disconnect the ignition switch and see if you have the same problem with the blower motor. Possible bad switch.

 

How long did this go on before the single click and new starter relay? Any chance the battery was not being charged while the engine was running as well as having a drain?

Is it possible the battery was dead?
Did you keep your old relay/solenoid? The problem with the new ones is that many of them don't work right, or fail very quickly. So keep your old one handy, and maybe even swap it back in to see if it somehow is tied to your other issue.

That sure sounds like a side issue. But are you certain you put all the wires back on the starter relay the way they came off? Any chance there are some added wires that are not factory?
Got pics?

What switched off? The heater blower motor?
Now that it still won't start, what are the symptoms, if different from before? Does it click once and no starter cranking? No noise at all? Does it crank again, but won't fire up?

No real way for us to know that yet. We haven't even seen pictures or had a description of your existing wiring harness yet.
So how is it's condition? Is it in good shape overall? Wires deteriorating and breaking from old age? Burned, melted or scuffed wires? Lots of PO hacks leaving some things not working?
Because the starting system is so simple in general, it's hardly time to justify a new harness unless the old one is falling apart. But while it's only the starter that's not working, I'd say no, don't change it. Just get it running with the old harness.

But that said, how about some pics of your engine compartment, and specifically a couple of the starter relay area near the battery?

Thanks

Paul

 

Starting from the top of the reply i was dealing with the drain for about a week before it just wouldn't start and i bought the new relay and it didn't fix it so i returned it and put my old one back on which i had replaced about 7 months ago, and the alternator is charging the battery.

No when i tried to start it again and it only clicked once i just had put a fresh newly charged battery in.

All the wires went back on and on the right post but the problem started before i tried replacing the solenoid and not sure about any aftermarket wires ill have some pics below i bought the truck and it has some aftermarket wiring done for the sound system, off road lights and, train horn.

And I worded it badly in the original post but when I put the positive lead on the battery the blower motor instantly turns on and when I take it off it cuts off, its switched off on my dash, and when I try to start it theres a single click and no other noises doesn't turn over at all

Sorry if this is a odd reply first time on the website not used to this but thank you for trying to help
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Starting from the top of the reply i was dealing with the drain for about a week before it just wouldn't start and i bought the new relay and it didn't fix it so i returned it and put my old one back on which i had replaced about 7 months ago, and the alternator is charging the battery.

No when i tried to start it again and it only clicked once i just had put a fresh newly charged battery in.

All the wires went back on and on the right post but the problem started before i tried replacing the solenoid and not sure about any aftermarket wires ill have some pics below i bought the truck and it has some aftermarket wiring done for the sound system, off road lights and, train horn.

And I worded it badly in the original post but when I put the positive lead on the battery the blower motor instantly turns on and when I take it off it cuts off, its switched off on my dash, and when I try to start it theres a single click and no other noises doesn't turn over at all

Sorry if this is a odd reply first time on the website not used to this but thank you for trying to help

 

Thanks for the pics. Definitely looks like the old wires are feeling their age. And it looks too like some of those new fuses are to take the place of some missing in the main panel. Maybe someone had an issue that they could not fix, or the old fuse connections were rusty or broken.
But you could test the drain by removing the blade fuses in the aux panel to see if it disappears. Might be some of the radio stuff.
In fact, that's not a bad practice with fuses that have been installed for a long time anyway. Simply pulling all fuses one at a time and then reinstalling them (and maybe cleaning the contacts if they look questionable) can work wonders on some things.

The two small wires at the starter relay have been replaced. The original ones had 90 degree push-on connectors, whereas yours are ring terminals with nuts holding them in place. Not to mention the wires are either covered or black.
When you get the click, is it with the key turned to ON or only when you turn to START?

You might test the relay anyway, just to rule it out.
With a jumper wire or even just a screwdriver with plastic handle, touch the main battery side to the small "S" terminal next to it. Be sure to have your trans in Park or Neutral, and the brake on, and all that stuff. Including not having anything near the fan!
When you jumper those two terminals the starter should crank like nobody's business. If it does not, then you've narrowed it down to either a battery cable, starter cable, or the starter. Of course, the engine can be frozen too(!) be we're not going there yet. You can find out quickly by turning the engine over by hand though, just in case.

If when you jumper it and the starter cranks, then the fault lies between the ignition switch, neutral-safety switch (or it's jumper if this is a manual trans truck) and starter relay.

None of this will necessarily fix your drain, but we have to start somewhere and find out why the starter is not cranking.

Paul

 

Check for a short in the system you can remove negative cable from the battery .Put a test light between the battery post and the negative cable. if the test light shows light dim or bright you have a short in the system. Then you can pull a fuse one at a time to try an eliminate and trace down issue , also try unhooking the alternator to rule out it as well,,as stated above try jumping out starter solenoid to see about cranking and check grounds for issues

 

When I turn the key to start

Also jumping the starter from the solenoid results in the same click

 

For the blower motor issue, I would trace the power wire from the motor as far as you can in the harness that runs across the engine side of the firewall, then check behind the control panel for any shorts/issues.

My guess on the no start issue is bad starter, cables or bad ground of starter. Are bolts tight? Jumping/bypassing the solenoid should make it spin.

You could pull the starter, clamp it to a work bench and power it with a spare battery. Do this after checking the cables though. No need to pull the starter if you don't have to.

 

Now we're getting somewhere I think.
If that jumper test was from the battery side to the small "S" terminal, then it could still be the relay itself. The test for that (if you have not already) is to jumper between the two large studs on the relay. Basically bypassing the relay altogether.
You can use jumper cables, or if you're clever you can use some kind of too, like insulated handle, large jaw groove-joint pliers (Channel Locks in other words) to connect between the battery and the starter.
The insulated handles are not for electricity since doing this will usually not end up with any kind of a shock to the user. But if you crank the starter the handles might still get hot, so protection just seems a good idea.

If the starter still does not crank the engine, then you have isolated the problem to those four (ok, maybe five?) things:
1. Bad main battery cable.
2. Bad main starter cable.
3. Bad starter motor.
4. Seized engine.
4 1/2. Low voltage on the S wire?

It's easy to test all of those too.
Frozen motor? Try to turn it over by hand.
Bad cables? Just replace them if they're old and questionable. And even if they're not, because they're cheap.
Starter? Take it out and test it.
Low voltage? Easy to read on a meter with someone holding the key in START.

I have personally never seen, or know anyone that has experienced a low voltage condition on the S wire failing to energize the relay fully. But in theory at least if the voltage is low enough, you might be hearing a single click but the current is not strong enough to hold the contacts fully in place.
Frankly, even if it's low on the list of possibilities, I would check voltage anyway. It's easy, and only takes a minute out of testing the other stuff.

Battery cables are an inexpensive upgrade and it's very hard to tell if you have a bad one by looks because it's always deterioration on the inside. Looks like at least some of yours are new, but is that starter cable the only one, or did you replace all of them?
If any are still old, I consider it cheap insurance to buy new ones.
I usually recommend 2ga for our trucks because they're relatively easy to find, relatively cheap, and unlike some member's experiences, I've found even the cheap parts store brands to be very good over time. But plenty of horror stories here about failed new ones too, so we can't totally ignore that by any means.
Looks like the new starter cable could be 2ga or at least 4ga. Is that correct? It's long, so the larger the better, but in these cases anything new is better than old and tired.

And here's where some of those other experiences come into play. If the starter and engine test good you may have gotten a bum cable. I think you can perform a voltage drop test while trying to start, but I never remember how that works, so other more knowledgeable members can run that down.
Don't forget to check voltage at the battery too, when the key is in START and you hear the click. I suppose it's still possible the battery is bad and you're not getting enough amperage to turn the starter.

Crossing fingers....

Paul

 

Thanks for helping me out so much but yes the starter cable is the only cable i have replaced and the battery is brand new one but of my co workers said that i could of shorted the starter when i had to connect and disconnect the battery so much when it had the draw not sure how much of a possibility that is. As for the motor being seized its free, I think i need to replace the starter this one is pretty beat up from the looks of it and im still confused about my blower motor automatically turning on i didn't realize i posted those pictures twice but the first post has a video of it happening if you could check it out.

 

I checked out your video. Not to add to your to do list, but it sure sounds like a tractor starting up when the blower kicks on. Might want to look at that next.

I think your hot to your blower motor is shorted somewhere.

Trace it from the connector by the pass. side cowling to the fuse box and then to the switch.