Sorry for the vague thread title but i dont know specifically whats wrong

if some of you read my last post about it not starting and the dash being dead etc well, i changed the eec relay and the fuel pump relay(the fuel pump relay cause my front pump doesnt work--it still doesnt)
i replaced the starter solenoid after seeing nothing happen while trying to bridge the two bolts on the solenoid with a screwdriver.

i did it about 10 times and 2 of the times it started to do the whole "tick" *engine starts* deal that its supposed to do.

what else could it be? it has a recently rebuilt starter, new solenoid, new alternator, new battery that tested fine although it is leaking the corrosive stuff at the top(??) . . what else should i be checking here?

thanks in advance for your help guys

 

check fuel shut off switch behind passenger kick panel.

 

would that cause a dead battery type of symptom? when i turn the key the dash goes dead. when i release it, the dash turns to very very dim. like i said before too, the solenoid doesnt spark or anything let alone start the truck when i bridge it with a screwdriver. its gotta mean there is no current right?-

 

do you have a bad ground?

it sounds like maybe a short.

you have not given enough info yet.

 

let me know what else you need. is there a way to check a bad ground without basically going through every single wire?

what else should i check? how can i help you guys help me lol

 

This type of thing happened to me, and occasionally still happens, not sure exactly what it is, but you may be overworking your battery and alternator, if your running alot of components,or a bad ground, as was said before. sand paper the battery terminals if theres any chance their dirty

 

ok ok . . i am now a firm believer in "check the battery terminals first"

this is the second vehicle that wouldnt start because the battery terminals were simply corroded. probelm is, this battery is 4 months old. and i took it to advance to test it because its leaking. it tested fine. it needed a charger but after the charge it showed up as fine.

i left two washers from the starter solenoid that i replaced and went inside to shower and change to go out. when i went out to the truck to check it one more time, i opened the hood to reconnect the battery cables that i had left off to try and reset the codes in case that was it or something and the two washers were corroded.

they were there for an hour tops. not a day, not a week. an hour tops. it had started to eat through the washers! i would love for the advance idiot to tell me its not leaking. ill have him put his tongue on there for 10 mins and he can tell me again lol

is a battery leaking acid on top normal? he said it happened because of the gases mixing with the air/environment. who is right? this cant be normal . . . if so this will eat the battery whole in another year if after every 4 months it totally corrodes the terminals to the point where the truck wont start.

 

It shouldn't be leaking. A good rule of thumb is ignore anything that comes from someone who works at advance auto, pep boys, autozone, kragen, etc.

 

yeah no joke, problem is, they wont take my battery back and give me another one under warranty cause the machine says its good. i will try another advance i guess. what do i do here? if a battery is leaking, its not "good" i want a new one. its 4 fricking months old. im gonna have to complain to the manager i guess.

 

yeah, well if the only take it if it comes up as a bad battery, make it a bad battery..lol connect the terminals and let it sit outside for an hour, then make them test it haha

anyway, mine does the same thing, I have to clean my battery every month, its about 36 months old, and its a 72 month battery....


BTW my battery is an interstate brand

 

sorry for the double post, but i guess you can't edit in this forum...

anyway, what i did not was cut a hole in a piece of felt and placed one on each terminal, gone for 7 weeks strong with no corrosion on the terminals.

 

im gonna put vaseline on em and put the felt crap. its a crappy advance battery. how do i make it bad exactly?

 

go to another advance and tell them it can't keep a charge for longer than 48 hours.

make sure to take receipt and make sure other customers can hear what you are saying about the battery not lasting too long.

 

Oh, im just saying if you want to make it come up as a bad battery, basically kill it, or tell them "if you guys don't take this back now, im just gonna kill it and bring it to another store", they usually listen.

anyway, I had to kill a battery to get someone to accept it as under warantee.. I walked out to the parking lot with my battery and lay my wrench across both battery terminals, the battery was fried within a few minutes, then the guy took it back, once it really didnt work.

this is a last resort, lol, don't kill your battery if you dont need to, i just did it so my warantee would take effect

 

i always thought that if you layed a wrench or something across both terminals it would like spark or whatever cause you would close the circuit and current would flow through. i guess it happens slower? it wont blow up or something lol?