My 94 F150 won't start today during our blizzard. Just a single click and no power with each try. Battery is ok but even tried jumping it. My guess is that I have a weak ground/ground cable.

I spent extra time making sure the battery terminals and solenoid connections were clean this fall in order to head off this very situation. I've never been impressed with the puny factory battery cables and especially the super-long negative cable. My plan is to replace it with a heavier gauge, shorter cable--grounded to the front of the motor. I've not tried jumping the solenoid to start the truck yet, but will do that first.

Does anyone know why it would need to be so long anyway? ...or have any ideas/suggestions. Thanks!

 

did you check spade connector on the starter?

 

I cleaned up (wire-brushed) all those connections at the starter this fall as well. I didn't check them today though.

 

When I had this problem on my 87 Ranger & it fired right up when I added a jumper from negative battery post to engine block, I knew to change the cable.

 

I just dealt with this exact same problem. No start when it got cold. Read the thread:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/8...ast-night.html

Quick gave me the same advice and upon searching you will find that the spade connector is the culprit most of the time. It just didn't happen to be with my truck.

Bottom line is that it could be a number of things so what you do is rule them out in order of how easy they are to rule out. So here is how I would do it if I had to do it all over again. I would have saved myself countless hours.

1. Clean all connections (you say you already did this)
2. you get the click so your relay is probably OK. I wouldn't go out and get a new one just yet.
3. Use jumper cables to bypass (augment) battery cables. Drop one end of the cables down next to the engine to the starter and clip them on where the cables clip on. Clip the other ends to the battery. If the truck starts then you know at least one of your cables is bad (my positive cable was corroded where it went into the terminal.) If no start then its probably not cables. If it's a cable, disconnect one of the jumper ends at the battery and try to restart again. If it starts then it wasn't the cable on that side you disconnected. Disconnect the other just to make sure.
4. Clean/replace spade connector. I just cut off the OE part and crimped on another. I covered it in black heat shrink first. This takes all of 5-10 minutes.
5. Refurbish/replace starter. I did this as step 2. Bought a rebuild kit for $30 at Checker and spent at least an hour doing the rebuild. If I'd have done step 2 before this step, I'd have saved myself a ton of time. No biggie though, now I have a new spade terminal and rebuilt starter (The rear bushing was shot anyway.)

That's about all I've got so good luck knock yourself out. That jumper cable idea was a great trick. I wish I'd have thought of it.

 

Thank you for the help guys. Those are great tips.
I did get her started tonight after jumping from the neg. post to the engine block. It fired up IMMEDIATELY once I had a good connection....faster than I've ever witnessed before. I'm going to spend more time on this soon. I won't be surprised to find more than one bum cable.

 

Using a jumper cable that way is a great trick isn't it. I wonder why I can never think of the easy things myself.

Sounds like you need a negative cable. What I found in my red cable was that the corrosion from the terminal made it down into the cable insulation quite a ways. I cut off 4-5 inches and there was still gunk down there. I'm guessing the problem was where the cable is soldered into the terminal. When I finally replace it I'm gonna check it real good at the connecting point and I bet it's real corroded in there. I bet the cold probably contracted things enough that the connection isn't much good anymore. It's probably the same with your negarive cable.