i posted yesterday about the wiring for the starter...i am pretty sure i got it right. turns out, my starter was bad (not surprising b/c it had been sitting for 4 years). i bought a referbished starter with a lifetime warrenty for 100 bucks...anyway, i reinstalled the new starter, wired it all up, and put a new neg bat. cable in. i need to replace the pos cable but will do it later on (everything is still getting power). now when i turn the key, all i get is a loud click...does not turn over. the engine is not seized up. if i put a wrench on it i can manually turn it. when i turn over the engine with the key, the radio turns off and resets itself. the headlights also turn off completely until i turn the key back. what are your thoughts??? i am stuck. thanks.
chris

 

bad battery connection.

 

Most likely.

May be a bad battery or cable or engine ground. Maybe the solenoid contacts.

 

Mine does this all the time, especially in the cold. In my case the solenoid gets stuck and cat operate correctly. The tried and true method of beating on it with anything with a little bit of weight usually does the trick. hope you get it started.

 

Check the battery voltage, take it to a parts supplier and have it checked under load.
Clean all terminals, wire brush the negative ground connection on the frame to the starter.

 

new battery. new neg ground cable. i do need to replace the pos. do you think the pos could be the problem? ahhhh i have an idea. the neg first runs down to the frame then to the starter, yes? if the spot that touches the frame is not grounding well, do you think that could do it?
chris

 

Did you replace the starter solenoid or check it????? As long as the negative battery lead has a good ground on the starter, the bad ground on the frame should not matter in starting (engine turnover), it will matter in other things. If you have a jumper cable CAREFULLY !!!!! jump from one side of the starter solenoid to the other. This will cause the starter to turn eliminating the solenoid and all the ignition wiring. BE CAREFUL , MAKE SURE THE TRUCK IS IN NEUTRAL!!!!!!!!! AND THE KEY IS OFF!!!!!!!Don't leave the jumper on long, just enough to see if the engine turns over. USE ONLY A JUMPER CABLE not a wire. You can use plier handles if you don't mind sparks. This will tell you if the STARTER and BATTERY and BATTERY CABLES are good and if the solenoid is weak or bad. REPLACE THE PLUS CABLES if you have any doubt, it won't hurt to have new cables anyway.

stractor

 

Absolutely! You need to have clean solid connections on both ends of all the heavy battery cables INCLUDING the engine to chassis ground. Pos to solenoid, solenoid to starter, battery neg to chassis or block, AND block to chassis. They ALL have to be clean, tight connections to complete the starter circuit.

 

alrighty...here is where we are at on this. with everything connected correctly, all i get is a click (the gear thingy in the starter shooting out). it doesn't spin. starter is good and we know this for sure because we left everything connected and pulled the starter off the engine/tranny. with the starter off and everything connected, we turn the key and the starter gear shoots to the end and spins. therefore, something else is wrong. we thought about it and have come to 3 options:

1) since the engine is so new, it is tight and needs to spin a bit before the starter can take over.
2) the starter is not the correct one and is hitting the flywheel (flywheel, right?) instead of meshing the gears together.
3) the tranny is not connected to the engine correctly and is binding up.

i am 99% sure it is not option 3 because i connected the tranny to the engine before i dropped it in and WAS able to turn it over by hand. what do you all think is wrong? any thing else i should consider? any help is greatly appreciated. this truck is starting to get to me. haha. thanks.
chris

p.s. when i get under the truck now and spin the engine over by hand, it is very tight (i do have the spark plugs in). it is supposed to be very hard to turn by hand right?

 

Yes, when the plugs are in it, it should be tough to turn...good compression.

 

Sounds like bad starter solenoid, also ensure there is a ground strap from the engine to the Chassis/front clip.

good luck

 

what???????

do you think you are superman?

 

haha if only i were superman...basically what i am asking is if my 3 options are the only 3 reasons why it wouldn't turn over with a working starter. are these 3 possible problems reasonable or should i be checking something else.

Chuck84, thanks for the advice...the starting system is working...the engine just isn't turning over.

thanks,
chris

 

Chuck84 might have it right.
The contacts in the solenoid may be burned so even though it is closing and getting voltage to the starter the contacts may be burned so that they can't deliver the necessary amperage.

Quick test first though, take a jumper cable straight from the battery positive to the starter side of the solenoid. If it cranks, change the solenoid.

 

alright, here is where i am at after 4 hours of unsuccessful work. i pulled the starter out but left everything connected. it does shoot the gear out and does spin it. i put the starter back in place and held it there instead of bolting it back up. i had my brother turn the key. i could feel the starter shoot the gear out and try to spin it and i could also feel it grab the flywheel. after this, 3 people told me to get under the truck and crank it by hand. i did this a bunch and did ease its turning ability (the superman came out in me). we hooked up a battery charger to the battery and put it on boost to make sure i had enough juice in the battery...still the same results. grounds are good. i am going to get a solenoid here in about an hour or so. the only other part that possible could use replacement is the positive cables (i am still getting power so i don't think it would matter). this is where i stand. whats wrong? any ideas? this truck is very close to beating me.
chris