Guys.. I said TAP the starter, not BEAT THE HECK out of it.

I've worked on cars for over 15 years.. never damaged a starter by doing this... but I've never beath the heck out of them either. If light to moderate tapping doesn't do the trick, then beating it won't either.

As far as starters goes... the NEW type starters have a permanent magnet setup... you can usually identify them by having smaller housings and weigh much less than traditional starters.

 

where is the starter located on a '92 ranger? can i fix it without having to buy a new starter as that would financially be impossible? i can't get a book either, can't go to a library cause truck is only transportation plus don't have a library card or enough change to make copies of the book and can't buy one cause i'm a broke bloke. i've tried to look up a free online manual but i can't seem to find one. i just need detailed instructions if it is possible. i'm not stupid just not mechanically inclined. the only thing i know how to do is install radio's and change battery's. please understand i am trying to get all the help i can. this seems to be the best site out there i can find. please answer my questions if you can and please remember don't be rude.

 

You already have the best advice. Buy the book and go for there. As far as pricing for a new starter and or selnoid that depends on rather you want new or used and what type of junk yards are around your area. I go to a place in St. Louis, MO called You wrench it. Now if you have a similar junk yard that will allow you to go in and take the parts you need off a vehicle they have in there lot then you should be able to get by on under 50 dollars. However if you do this make sure you have a booster pack or battery charger with you so you can test the starter before you buy it and make sure it is good. The way you test the starter is by hooking the booster pack or battery charger to the postive and negative termianals on the starter (respectively) and if the bindex drive (the part of the starter with the gear on it) moves out then the starter is good. I hope that this helps and if you have any other questions about what to do feel free to ask. I am a mechnic and would be happy to help you with this problem.

 

MazdaRanger and JJjansen, The starter thing that I'm talking about is kinda what Mazdaranger referred to. New Starters are a premanent magner setup, where the electromagnets interact with a set of permanents laid out on the casing of the starter. As these magnets can be brittle, they can crack or break if they are beat on. A light tap with a mallet or hammer probably won't shatter them, Mazda's right on the force issue, but I woudn't recommend the procedure on principal. I don't even think the desired affect (eliminating static charge I believe) works on the permanent magnet types.

 

Alright Demonfang, You asked for it and here it is for you. The way to test your components step by step. But first, as myself and others will tell you a basic haynes manual, which if you actually look for one will run you a mere fifteen dollars and can be sent by mail to your home from places like JCwhitney (website) or perhaps chain stores like Advance auto parts (website) or Napa auto parts (website) or even my least favorite chain of stores autozone (website). Check the above websites for a starter for your vehicle, they will give you a price, but first lets look and see if you really need a starter.

Step one: Jiggle the battery cables. I am not kidding here. I can't tell you how many time I've seen somebody throw perfectly good equipment away when all that was wrong was a battery connection. Turn the Key to on, and leave the keys in the truck ignition and the door open. The door bell should ring. If it does not, jiggle the wires. If it does not ring after this, then take the positive battery cable (the one corresponding to the plus sign on the battery) and check it's connection to the battery. Is there any corrosion? Is there any dried up battery acid? If so clean it with baking soda in water and try again. If it still does not ring then you have a dead battery. Replace or charge before seep two.

Step two: obtain a set of jumper cables DO NOT USE ANY OLD WIRE!! there are a lot of amps involved here and we can't be setting anything on fire because you have speaker wire laying around. That said

Step three: Find the positive battery cable. This will be the one with the plus sign on the battery, and will usually be red.

Step four: follow the positive battery cable. Take your had and from the battery run it along the length of the positive cable to see where it goes. The first thing you will come to is the starter selenoid. Then the starter. These may be really close together, but the wire should go from the battery to the selenoid.

Step five: testing the selenoid. There should be two large posts on the object that the large wire from the battery goes to the other post should correspond to a wire that goes to the starter (see next step for starter description). Turn the car's switch to on ( not start, but where the key will rest when you try to start and let go of the key) then crawl under the truck and take a screwdriver and cross these two large posts. If the truck starts, then you have a bad selenoid. WARNING: this is a dangerous step. There will be sparks if the battery is good, and the motor will turn over if the selenoid is bad. This means that any part of you in the way of moving parts of the motor will get hurt, so make sure that you are as out of the way as you can be.

Step six: Testing the starter. If the starter refuses to Jump or even budge the motor on step five then do this, trace the wire from the big post on the selenoid that the battery cable IS NOT connected to to the starter. This should be a big round cylinder about four to six inches in diameter and six to ten inches long. Connect the Jumper cables in step two to where the wire from the selenoid connects, then run this Jumper wire to the Battery and connect to the positive side of the battery and see if the Motor turns over. If it does not and all of your connections were clean and you are sure that you battery is a good one than the starter needs replaced. If the starter does turn the motor over, then you have a bad connection somewhere.

Tell me how it goes, and I apologize in advance if I don't answer back right away, I'm kinda busy right now. I can tell you how to replace a starter, but this can be a little tricky depending on the location of the starter.

 

amish77, very well done in taking any guess work out!

 

why thank you blue, and feel free to suggest anything that I missed, but try not to confuse the lad, I think it's his first time. I remember my first starter that wouldn't fire. I had to go pick up sound equipment and haul it up to a Campus Crusade event in the mountans. Not the time to have a truck that won't start. Ended up being a shotty battery cable and I found it with this method.

 

Amish77, did you remember to get him to look at the battery (negative) ground strap/connection?

 

Autozone's website has free access to Hayne's repair manuals online. Look at their homepage and you'll see the link to it. Nice and free.

 

thank you amish77 for your step by step. i also went to autozone's website to take a look at their repair manuals. could i possibly have a bad starter relay and not a bad starter or solenoid?

 

Oh it's definately possible... on the 3.0 the starter is right behind the oil filter.. on the drivers side of the engine... just crawl underneath the left front tire and look for the oil filter.. and you'll see the starter.

I'm not sure where the other engines are.. I think they are in the same place.

Check the small wire going to the start.. not the large one. This is the solenoid wire... when you turn the key to start this wired is powered up by the relay and it engages the starter solenoid, which in turn engages the starter.

Sometimes the connection of this small wire, being such a small wire, can corrode or vibrate loose from the starter itself... Try jiggling it a little, but not too much as it may break off. Look for corrosion at the connection and if you have test light you can probe it while someone holds the key on start (make sure it's in park or neutral so incase it does crank you don't get run over). If you have power there then the problem is likely in the starter itself or the large starter power wire.

It's rare there's a problem with the large main power wire, and when there is a problem it's usually up at the battery terminal, but anything's possible.

Another possibility is the starter relay... I believe they've pretty much moved this into the underhood fuse box... just remove the cover and they are usually squares, about an inch in diameter... try LIGHTLY tapping these.. might try removing and reinstalling.. sometimes you get a little bit of corrosion causing a bad connection.

Might also try swapping relays around, as you probably have 3 or 4 for different things and they are usually the same exact part, however if you have a bad relay keep in mind whatever the other relay powers up may not work.

Hope this helps.. good luck

 

amish77. . . You're my hero!! Well done. Well done, indeed.

I can only add this:
BEFORE you do any work on this truck, chock the wheels and make sure the truck is either in 'Park' (auto tranny) or 'Neutral' (manual tranny) and get that parking brake on!
(You don't want that truck to start rolling IF it starts for you!)

Other than that. . . amish77 has given you some fantastic advise!!!!!

 

mazda ranger has more on the newer starting stuff demonfang, but I would still go through what I told you before trying his stuff. This will get the big stuff out of the way, and 00blueranger is right. Leave that thing out of gear(see his post) or you will be in a new world of hurt when one of the tests finally gets the thing to fire.

That manual seems like a good investment overall. A 92 truck isn't gonna have just one problem during you're ownership of it unfortunatley.

Good luck and welcome to the club.

 

you mean to tell me not one of you guys thinks theirs a possibility that the alternator might be bad. i had the same thing go wrong and did every thing your telling this person including changing the alternator and after i would get it back home and shut it down and try to restart it -----nothing but click frickin click! i was at witts end and thought maybe i got a bad alternator, well guess what, i did. when you go to the parts store to get the book that every driveway mechanic should own and maybe the cables and that spay stuff i can't think of why not bring the alternator with you just for s--t and giggles! good luck.

 

Wouldn't the engine turn if it was just the alternator? I had a bad alternator last weekend and after I ran my battery dry, I got a new battery and was able to start my truck and drive it the 40 miles to my parents' house, where we replaced the alternator. In the Haynes manual there is a test you can do using a multimeter to see if your alternator works. Well, it's a series of voltage/resistance checks. If you have a multimeter, demonfang, and you've got the online manual, I think it's in chapter 5 (I can double check at lunch b/c my manual is just out in my truck) and the directions break it down pretty well. I'd say do what amish77 recommends first though anyway, since you probably have the tools necessary for that anyway. Good luck and let us know how it goes!