once in a while when i try n fire up the F250, all i hear is a click and then everthing completely shuts off. then, i go under the hood and wiggle the terminals around, then she fires up. could it just be my terminals or the starter solenoid?

 

my spade terminal on the starter did the same thing, i cleaned it, all is beautiful again.

except for gas prices!

 

Fords are notorious for bad battery cables. I guess its just a poor design. I have to deal with the same thing a few times a month. Nothing can be done aside from changing out the ends on the cables and buying a battery that will accept the new ends.

 

I'd advise buying new cables. They are not that expensive and once you start having trouble with one component, eventually you'll have more. Save yourself headaches later on.

 

thanks a bunch, i'll take care of it and we'll see where it goes from here.

 

How are the grounds?
I had a very simular problem when I was young and it cost me $200 to fix, $100 tow job, $50 tech, and $50 for a new battery. The problem came back a few days later. I found that it wasn't getting a good ground. Yup, thats it. $2 worth of sandpaper & a wire brush fixed my problems and I'm sure helped avoid many more over the years.

Maybe its time to go for the grounds. Disconnect the battery first off. Replace the battery cables if theres any signs of corrosion on them. Clean the neg cable ends to the block, frame, and body. The body is just in front of the battery and once you get the bolt off you'll see it grounds thru a painted area; sand down to bare metal is what I did/do. The engine and frame can be found by following the neg cables down.

Next take the solenoid off and clean the back of it as well as where it mounts to the body. It grounds thru to the body. Once again the fender is painted...

Next disconnect the starter and clean its cable and both surfaces where the block meets/bolts to the starter. The starter gets ground thru the block.

Hook everything back up and try her.
Cheers,
Popa Tim

 

Just a hint. Get some dielectric grease, (available at parts house; some call it battery grease or terminal grease) and coat all connections. Kopr-shield is one brand name. It will prevent corrosion by sealing out moisture.