1990 F-150, 302, will not start.

On Tuesday evening, we had very damp conditions. It had been raining or damp for several days. Gas prices had made

their weekly jump, so I started the truck and went to the station that hadn't increased prices. Truck started great,

ran great 1 mile to the station. Filled up both tanks, jumped in to start and head home. The check engine line, rear

antilock lights came on. Turned the key to start. Nothing. No crank, no click. Just more of short clunk sound and

the check engine light went out.

I pushed the truck away from the gas pump and got it out of the way. Tried again, no change. My son brought jumper

cables. Hooked up the cables from a 4.0 Ranger with a very large battery. No change. I tried to jump the solenoid

with a screwdriver over the two posts. No change.

Towed the truck around the corner to the Home Depot lot and they were willing to let me park it there for a few days.

Yesterday I changed the distributor cap and rotor. They were worn but the truck was running great before this problem.

The battery cables are warn and should be replaced, but I'm not sure that they or the solenoid are the cause of the not start problem.

Suggestions on what type of failure I'm having?

I'm probably going to tow the truck back to the house for the 1 mile but if there are a couple of parts I can change in the parking lot, I'll do that.

 

for what you describe i would first look at battery cables/terminals. Even if you jump if you have a bad connection you're not gonna crank. My 01 used to do exactly as you describe regularly about every3 months once i had to replace the original junk tin metal battery terminals, mostly when wet outside. that's when the corrosion is worst.

 

Check your engine grounds.. electricity needs a complete circuit.

 

By that, do you mean the locations for the negative battery cable?

I am going to put new cables on it, but we are expecting 3-5 inches of a wintry mix this evening.

Sorry, but the electrical connections and grounds, I'm not familiar with. If there are a series of locations that I can check, please direct.

Thx.

 

Scottie - WOW!!! Thats a nice stable of trucks you got going there!!! Thats one of the most beautiful pictures I have ever seen...and they are all so clean!!!

Hunt4fun - it does sound like a rotted batt cable...I would suggest clamps on the terminals as well as cables and see where that takes you...or even just clean the connection I bet its corroded...a little coca-cola will bubble and clean that corrosion right off. OR...find a good ground and test the opposite end of the power cable (side opposite the battery) with a volt meter...should be atleast 12v if not you know your problem lies in the batt/terminal/cable somewhere...

 

or like conanski said...check your engine grounds...should be a metal braided wire....coming off the motor to the frame...if im correct i think theres one on the intake manifold going back to the firewall??? there maybe more??? maybe one on the block going to frame??? not sure??? the ford gurus will pop in sooner or later and correct me...they look like the braided body grounds that are all over the truck.

 

Braided body grounds. I know exactly what you mean. Now I know what I'm looking for! Thanks!! I'll check all of those and change out the cables.

I'd sure like to get it fixed up quick. Can't wait to get this thing out in the snow. I just had the front axles rebuilt and a new differential put in from a 93 bronco. The truck now has limited slip in front and back.

Hunt4Fun

 

I appreciate your comment! They aren't perfect, but they suit me fine! I am currently in the market for a 87-91 project to complete my series. Then i will have a truck from each body style from 73 al the way to 07. I have an 01 F150 not pictured also.

 

Update on the problem.

I stopped on the way home from work to look at the truck. I cleaned the cables and posts. The engine work light mounted on the hood continued to burn bright.

Turned the key and the check engine light, battery icon, and rear anti-lock lights came on. Turned the key to start and clunk. No change there.

Took the positive cable off to be sure I get the right one. Wanted to pull the battery and bring it home, but didn't have the tool to get the battery holder loose. I'll get the battery tomorrow so that I can put a charger on it and then have it tested.

It still sounds like changing the cables in the next step.

Hunt4Fun

 

Did you check the MOTOR grounds while you were there??? or test the voltage???

 

most trucks negative cable bolts directly to the engine block, you should be able to tell if it's a decent connection, and even if the truck doesn't start you should be able to get some sort of juice to the starter if this all works.

 

Cody,

No I did have time to get to the motor grounds before it got dark on me. And the voltmeter was at home.

I'm going to tow it home this evening and put it in the garage tomorrow so that I can change the cable and look around for all of the grounds.

I'm planning to take the cables off of the battery, put the charger on it while I change out the cables and then reconnect everything. I have a spare battery that I can use if needed.

More update later.