89 f150 4.9 inline 6

My truck acts like it has a dead battery, when I turn the key it slowly cranks, then nothing- no power to the radio or anything. I have checked the battery cables, I have a new battery and starter. This happened after the truck ran a little hotter than normal because of the AC. When I parked and turned the engine off- I put it in reverse gear and let off of the clutch before the engine had totally shut off- this of course caused the truck to buck and shudder a little.

I immediately tried to restart it, and it slowly cranked one or two times, and then all I heard was a ticking noise. I figured maybe I doslodged one of the battery cables, but I checked that and they were all tight. When I got back in to try to start it again, my battery meter showed zero and I had no electricity- not even to the cab light. Like I said I have a new battery and starter.

I have read where this could be an overheated ignition module? Does this sound right? I am afraid that I have seized the engine up. I don't know what a seized engine would act like- please help to alleviate some of my fears- Thanks.

 

Fords seem to have flakey ignition modules...Maybe overheated, maybe overloaded, who knows...They're a pain to get to (at least on broncos) but the part isn't too bad and labor, if you need a mechanic to do it (i did) isn't awful either. If you're worried about your engine, put a large ratchet on your crank and give her a turn...it should move with a good effort. (tranny in neutral, btw) I can't imagine the engine seizing from that.

 

Thanks- I think logically I know the engine is not seized, but it is still a fear- mostly because I just dropped $1700 bucks on a tranny.

Thanks for the input

 

you say your cables are tight. but are they clean? take them off and clean them and check all of the connections to the starter especially all of the grounds to the engine and frame. could also be a bad cable