Well today "started" off ok....i jumped in the truck and went to the store (20 minutes away) i shut the truck off and went into the store, when i came back out the truck wouldn't start. I turned the key over and held it and heard one single click from the passenger side. i waited a couple of minutes and tried it again...same thing single click each time i turned the key over...after asking a couple of customers going in and out of the store i was able to get some help for a bum start which was a little embarrising
After i got it home i shut the truck off and tried to restart it...nothing.
I gave it a boost with my other car (thinking maybe it was the battery) and still nothing...just a single click.
I took the cables off....waited 10 minutes for a friend to come by and help listen for the click...and when i tried it she started right away. I then turned it off and restarted it several times after and all was good.
I went to NAPA and picked up a rebuilt starter ($267.00) and was planning to install it tommorrow....any feedback from the forum would be greatly appreciated! Thank you in advance.

Jim

 

Well although it could very well be the starter........... I would almost think it was the starter relay/solenoid......if it is old the contacts inside get pitted and do not always make good contact....so not enough current is sent to the starter to turn it over..... if it breaks again try jumping the large terminals on the relay with a jumper cable and see it the starter turns........ if it does my bet is the relay........ a heck of a lot cheaper than a starter :-)

 

Would i have to remove the starter to replace the relay or can i do it still mounted?

 

$267??? wow, they saw you coming!!

last week i got a rebuilt starter from napa for the same truck for $62, tax included.

 

Yeah i guess that's the difference between US dollars and CA dollars...they told me i would get back $55 for the core...i checked around a couple of places and all about the same price..$212.00

 

About 3 times over the course of the last few weeks, I've gotten in my 94 and when the key hit the start position there was a chilling pause of 1 to 3 seconds before the starter spun as opposed to its usual "instant" spin.

Since the starter is either a new or rebuilt unit courtesy the prev owner, and after reading numerous posts here I settled for both cable assemblys (+ & -) & relay. I sourced all 3 plus a belt idler (severly cupped), all motorcraft from one of our sponsors DirectFordParts. All for a paltry $115. On top of that I decided to upgrade to an optima battery.

Now if I can get over pulled back muscle & get under the hood, I think I will have taken care of any starting issues in this area for another 150k miles.

Those few seconds of silence are deafining when you're away from home.

good luck.

Edit: The relay is on the fender attached to the hot side of the batt.

 

Ok the relay is on the inside of the fender and the soleniod is mounted on the starter? The clicking i heard was coming from underneath the passengers side floor...figuring it might be coming from the starter...i'm gonna have to wait for it to happen again or just go ahead and change the starter...the starter looks like it's been in there for quite some time and has changed to that ugly rust covered color.

Jim

 

hmmm. the one i did was on a 93..just a thought, but the 94 has a trigger wire on the starter, rite??
if so, it very well could be that the trigger wire is corroded, and that is what is causing your problems, not the starter.

 

Is the trigger wire that short braided one connected from the soleniod to the starter? If so i'll check that too...thanks for the info.

Jim

 

nope. it's a little wire that goes to a small connector on the solenoid separate of the large battery type cable.

i think it is a push on connector. everybody is always talking about how it rots off and then the truck will not start. then they put a new crimp connector on and take the new starter back.

just the fact that you said that after you took the cables off the battery, then put them back on and it started tells me your starter is probably still good and that you have a connection problem instead.

 

Yes there is a male connector (push on type) on the soleniod...i'll check that before i remove the starter...thanks for the help!

Jim

 

The '94 has the same cable assembly that my '92 has. If it's the OE battery cable, chances are, you've run up on the same problem I had with mine. Turn the key, very loud click (starter relay on fender well AND solenoid on starter) but no starter action. I did the starter, I did the battery, still no worky. As Scndsin said, that silence is deafening when you're away from home, especially when you just paid $85 for a sooper dooper battery. So, I get it home, go get a reman starter, sure enough, it's got a new pig-tail on it and a butt splice to replace the original slide-on connector. Put it in, and STILL no worky. I was foaming at the mouth then, after spending nearly $200 between the battery, starter, and a new relay. Turns out, one lead coming from the battery clamp (the one that goes directly to the starter) had failed inside the OE battery clamp. There was no sign of corrosion or heating on the clamp or the cable. I went and bought a $2 battery clamp at Advance, BINGO, problem solved. I had about 135,000 miles on the factory cables and starter, so I don't guess I can complain too much. The factory starter was actually still working, but had gotten a bit sluggish. This, I suspect, is what caused the failure inside the battery clamp. I still had power to the relay, and to the 'trigger' wire going to the solenoid, so yeah, the relay and solenoid were both picking up. I didn't have power to the large terminal on the starter, though, and that was the problem. Having removed the cables and re-installed them, you quite possibly moved them around enough they have something of a temporary connection again. It WILL burn out again, and probably not give you any indication that it has. Next time it won't start, crawl under the truck with a volt-meter, and check the large terminal to ground. If you have voltage, have someone try to start it while you have the meter on it. 10:1 odds are, you'll see the voltage cave in, and the starter won't turn.

If the truck has high mileage, it may not be a bad idea to go ahead and change the starter anyway. When you do, REPLACE the OE bolts too. They're pretty soft, and have 12 point heads. More than likely, at least one of them will round off and have to be removed with vise grips. I put grade 8 bolts in mine when I replaced my starter. I'll twist the bell housing off the engine before I round the heads on those. Coat the threads with some kind of thread sealer too. Remember, you're putting a steel bolt into an aluminum housing. Dissimilar metals tend to corrode and sieze, especially steel bolts in aluminum.

One little safety tip too. DO NOT ATTEMPT to change that starter with the battery cables connected. You're begging for disaster if you do. Ever seen one explode? I have, looking straight at it from 30 feet away. My ears rang for the rest of the day. I was far enough away I didn't get the acid on me or anything but it got my attention about battery safety. Even if it doesn't explode, you have 300 - 600 amps waiting to be released, depending on the battery. It can, it WILL make a very large hole in something when it arcs.