Hey guys, between the high gas prices<!-- / message --><!-- BEGIN TEMPLATE: ad_showthread_firstpost_sig --><!-- END TEMPLATE: ad_showthread_firstpost_sig --><!-- controls --> and the winter, i'm just now getting my truck back up and running. When i turn the key, all i get is a mighty click. i went out and bought new batteries (850 cold crank amps) charged em up and installed em, to no avail. just a click. So out comes my multi meter, with the batteries hooked up and the car off, i'm reading a healthy 12.64 volts, at the starter i read a not so bad 12.4 (touch the passenger side starter lead, then grounding to the truck.) just a click, tried shorting the solenoid, and the starter it self, just a click. when i try to start the truck, the voltage at the batteries drops from 12.6 to ~12.3, no lower, however when the glow plugs are heating, my voltage drops all the way down to 11.3 and climbs to 11.7 before they complete their cycle. Here's the other thing, the lights are extremely dim, and the windshield wipers move like molasses. at the headlight socket im getting 12.3v. i'm at a loss, it seems like there is a short somewhere, however its not killing my batteries, they are holding a fine charge. On the volt meter in the truck it shows just under 11 volts, while the plugs are heating it shows around 9 volts. any help at all would be just great, the snow is melting and i got to see how far i can make it up the mountain.

 

Bad connection you are getting voltage but no amps.

 

is the motor free and sping

 

No it will not sping the motor.

 

star milt is right, it wont spin the engine, however the engine is free, we had another truck hooked up to it (with the new batteries installed) and holding the starter on it turned over real slow one time. i did however bang on the starter. with a rock. because i rock. and it made no difference. which is odd because when my computer breaks, i hit it with a rock and it fixes everything.

starmilt, is there a good place to get schematics for this thing so i can trace some wires and see where to look for bad connections? that or is there a known list of places to investigate when an issue like this arises?

 

I'm thinking your bad connection is going to be the cables. or the cables have some corrosion inside causing to much resistance. A bad starter would pull the batteries more.

Rocks will not work on these fords it takes hammers Joe has a different size for different parts. lol

 

sounds like corrosion Inside the terminals... pull them off and scrub the inside with a batt terminal brush... should help a lot

 

Check the voltage drop of the batery cables and of the starter.

 

What happens if you cross the solenoid on the fender?

 

bad ground.

-Enjoy
fh : )_~

 

What many people do not understand is the corrosion is inside the battery clamps where it can not be seen.

Between the wire conductors and the clamp, not between the clamp and battery post where you can clean it.

The only way I know is test the voltage at the battery positive while trying to crank the engine, then test the battery voltage at the starter end of the cable while trying to start it.

Close to the same reading, the cable is OK.
Big difference in readings, get new cables.

All power for everything in both directions goes through the passenger side positive battery terminal.
Wires from the drivers side battery, starter and alternator all join in that clamp.

 

so i;ve gone and and cleaned all the terminals + terminal connectors. there was a lot of corrosion indeed, all is pretty good now, with no change. all readings are still the same. tracing all the wires around everywhere, everything else looks fairly decent, the only thing that looks less than par are the groudn connections to the engine, they are tight as hell, they are just covered in oil/grease/dirt. those will have to wait for morning to get at.

what im wondering, is my wires themselves have cracks in them, and what copper that is exposed its quite green, so im thinking just buying some new terminals tomorrow should do the trick, what effect would this have overall? would putting coke on these exposed parts serve any benefit?

 

This clamp in question, i took it apart and cleaned it (as with the others) but this one in particular has me rasing an eyebrow, after trying to crank, the lead going from this clamp to the solenoid gets hot, thats a sign of too much resistance isn't it? my question is if this is the case, could this resistance be caused farther down the line?

 

i cant remember which post it is, but it is one that is active right now on the front page. Someone was haveing problems with the cables and took apart where the cables join up. the outside was clean and looked good, the inside was horrible and burnt. Daves suggestion of replacing the cables may be your best bet.

 

especialy if you have cracks in the insulation with green stuff growing in there. Volt drop the cable like Dave descriped it and it will tell you weather or not its good.