when trying to start, the solenoid clicks and all power is gone. I take plus battery cable off and replace and electric is back. what is resetting? no ballast resister I can find. have replaced solenoid,starter,ignition switch,checked , removed, cleaned and replaced all big cables, and some smaller that looked bad. alternator?

 

Steve, what is your battery voltage. I got stuck in the same trap a few weeks ago. I worked on it for two days, and my girlfriend came outside and said it sounds like a dead battery. She was right. Don't overlook the obvious. Just my two cents worth.

 

Steve: Check the inside of the battery clamps, and the outside of the battery posts for pitting. If there is any, you have a problem with not getting a good PHYSICAL connection. This translates into an electrical connection problem.
Pitting is caused by sparking across gaps between the posts and the clamps. The sparking produces lead oxide, which insulates rather than conducts electricity, preventing you from getting juice.
Once you move the cables around, you re-establish a connection of sorts, but the process inevitably repeats itself.
The fix is to thoroughly clean the posts and the inside of the clamps, or replace the battery and the clamps if necessary.
The prevention is to ensure your clamps are clean tight and free of acid.
Post back on the cause and cure!

 

checked battery,aok

 

Try replacing the solenoid.

 

Also check for a good chassis ground. This is a must. Clean the terminals and battery post with a wire brush type post cleaner.

 

thanks for hints gang, but read this. the electric starter path is ok, problem is when the solonoid cuts in, it trips something??? that shuts down ALL the electric systems and thus stops everything. I have tried isolating the starter, as long as it is not getting the current, everything is ok. and remember the starter is new. when you remove and replace battery cable, the electric is back....???

 

Had the same problem with my Tauras. Put a volt meter on the battery before you try to crank it. When to power dies, see if the battery has voltage. In my case, there was an internal short in the battery. When I cranked it, the voltage dropped to 0. Afterwords, the voltage came back up.

 

I think camprspecial is probably on to something. Also check the positvie connection to the solenoid as that where the power to the rest of the vehicle is usually taken

 

A budy of mine & I were scrathing our heads one day trying to get his jeep to start. Long story short, he had an alarm (aftermarket installed by previous owner) that would trip if it wasn't unarmed correctly...we ended up bump starting it. Just an idea, most of probably don't have alarms on our rigs..I don't.

 

I had two batteries fail on me recently with similar symptoms. I had ~lights, but when I hit the starter... -nothing.

 

good news, truck is running again, bad news , we will never know why. went out this morning and it quit cutting off, maybe it just needed water, it rained here for the first time ina month. I swear I did not touch a thing, tried ther internal battery short, seemed like a winner to me, but it didn't short anything.... thanks for all the advice.