78 f150. turn the key and can hear just a click. batterys good. starter seems to be good. could this be the starter solenoid? i figured for 15$ might be a cheap way to start?

 

if your battery is good just manually jump the solenoid to see if it is that or if you have two people and its the starter get one to turn the key and the other to lightly smack the starter with a hammer should tell ya what is faulty

 

use a screwdriver(DON'T TOUCH THE METAL PART!) to connect the left most connection with the 2nd to the left connection(that little nut) and see if it turns the starter. If it does, the solenoid is bad. That's what Nutty 4x4 was talking about.

 

awesome thanks. i was going to say, how do you jump it/test it. thanks guys. does anyone have any idea on where i can find a wiring diagram from the key ignition to the solenoid? im thinking about putting a switch in that wire.

 

How do you know the battery is "good?" You need to check the voltage with a multimeter as a start. It'd be even better if you could observe the battery voltage while the starter circuit closes. Measurements are what matter.

If you hear a click, chances are the solenoid is good too. The click you are hearing is the solenoid closing, which is supposed to happen. Don't waste money on guessing.

This explanation is wrong. When you jump the solenoid with a screwdriver, you're simulating turning the key to START because you're applying +12 volts to the relay coil of the solenoid. If the starter turns, the solenoid does work because the relay is closing. Jumping a screwdriver to the 'S' post of the solenoid is no different than turning the key to START; this test does not take the solenoid out of the equation.

Your truck isn't starting because the battery voltage is too low (unlikely if the solenoid doesn't chatter), starter cable is bad, or the starter itself is bad. All of these can be tested. The only way the starter solenoid could cause this problem is if the magnetic slug inside became separated from the contact switch, at which point you'd hear the click, with no connection. However, that is rare.

 

In all my old trucks this is nearly always a bad connection IF it clicks once and not again on repeated turns of the key. Clean your battery and solenoid connections first (easiest) and if that still doesn't work then clean the starter connection.

If it clicks everytime then I would suspect a bad starter or battery voltage to be low.

 

i know my battery is good bc for one, its 2weeks old-not that 2weeks is short or anything, but its not a long time. and two-when i did get it to start, i did use my voltmeter and the alternators pumping 14 sum to it and before it started my meter read 12.98 i think. this is what i did to start my truck
1-checked the battery with my meter, read good
2-put a jumper from my positive post to the side of the solenoid that goes straight to the starter-probably not the right thing to do (haha) as it just sparked a **** load
3-decided i could try to start it again and it started right up!
so i dont know what i did, but it started
NOW, more in depth in the story--i took my truck to the store last week, 15m to the store, 10m in the store, came out and it just "clicked". dad came and i hooked up jumpers and it started up. but it sat until today and the battery still read good. AND after i put my new motor in(month ago), it doesnt want to keep cranking. the first crank is great, and will keep cranking if it woulndt start. but as soon as i turn the key to stop it(if it didnt start) it "clicks" and tries to turn over but doesnt seem to have the *** enough to do it. and with my old motor, it crank like hell everytime(if needed). I HOPE THIS ISNT CONFUSING haha

 

but along with what you guys are saying, i dont know if its the solenoid or what, thats why im asking. but i think my batterys fine. so what else is there? my starter or my solenoid? tommorow ill clean the connections on my starter and see what that does for me

 

You're right about this not being the right thing to do; because you tried to put up to 200 amps through light-duty wiring. Sparks around a battery is very dangerous.

What specifically do you mean that it tries to crank? Does it crank, just very slowly?

 

i mean a jumper cable from my positive battery to my starter wire.

it gets about a half crank and then stops and then gets maybe a 1/4. its real slow too

 

I'd check the condition of the battery cables and starter cable. You could even try ohming them out with your meter. Because the starter draws an incredibly high amount of current, even minimal resistance can cause enough of a voltage drop to keep the starter from cranking. Ensure that all connections are tight, clean, and free of corrosion. The starter can be removed and tested at a parts store as well.

 

time to rebuild the starter

 

im going to replace the cables, as i think it cant hurt. they look a little worn at the connection to the battery anyways.

 

ohming out a battery cable will tell you nothing- voltage drop, voltage drop, voltage drop!. Sometimes batteries are bad off the shelf. Have this one tested before you waste anymore time. After you know its good try these things.

With an assistant holding the key in the start position verify that you have voltage at the starter side of the solenoid- if yes, the solenoid is good.

To check out the cables:
red meter lead on B+, Black lead on starter terminal while attempting to crank. If your meter shows more than about a volt- you have a bad positive cable or a corrosion problem

now check the ground circuit

red meter lead against bare metal on the block as close to the starter as possible, black lead on - post of battery while attempting to crank the starter. Again if the meter shows more than about a volt, you have a bad - cable or a corrsion problem.

If you find a problem, you can test smaller sections of the circuit the same way. These tests work. I've seen really good techs throw a lot of parts at cars when if they had just done a voltage drop test on the ground side, they would have found that the ground cable was bolts to a painted spot on a remanufactured transaxle (this specific instance was a toyota corolla, but electricity is electricity!).

 

Where do you think voltage drops come from? However, I agree; your idea is better because many commercially available meters can't read down to the levels that can still cause a starting issue. Even tens of milli-ohms is enough to cause too much of a drop because of the starter current's draw, and chance's are his meter won't pick that up. Nice idea.