Hey guys,

I have a 1988 F250, 2WD, Reg Cab, LBox, 5.8, Auto, No OD, XLT Lariet. 145,000 miles.

I got the truck last winter for almost nothing. I replaced the front tank, fuel pumps, filters, and had a tune up and it runs pretty good.

A couple months ago, it wouldn't start but after a lot of cranking, i got it to catch and turn over a couple times before making a banging sound and shaking the truck. After that, dead in the water. Dealer said the starter froze and took the already corroded battery cables with it. So, they replaced the starter and cables.

Last weekend, I went to use it and when turning the key, something under the hood just clicks quickly. Not just a single click. Volt gauge reads about 13. I popped the hood and stuck a wrench across the solenoid and it fired right up.

This weekend, I picked up a new solenoid and put it in. No change. Just the fast clicking again. My big charger happened to be right next to me. I hooked it up to the battery (only about 18 months old) on the 10AMP setting and turned the key. Fired right up.

I've done some digging around on here and elsewhere on the net, and I keep seeing that it could be a bad battery (but why would it start jumping the solenoid?) or bad battery cables or ground cables (but why would it start by jumping solenoid or adding a charger?).

Sorry it's a long post.

Thanks in advance!

 

Make sure the starter solenoid bolt holes are clean and the solenoid is well bolted down. Thats how the solenoid grounds. I even usually strip a bit of paint off the firewall where the bump on the back of the solenoid makes contact as added insurance.

 

Thanks for the quick reply! That will be at the top of my list of things to try tomorrow, as my truck is outside where it is cold and dark, and I am inside where it is warm.

When I hooked it up to the charger, the hood work light got brighter and the volt gauge jumped a few notches. It started just fine from the cab then. Would this happen if the solenoid was not grounded?

Certainly not to disrespect your reply, just thinking out loud.

 

I would expect lights to brighten as you're introducing new electricity into the system when you connected the charger. This isn't impacted one way or another by the solenoid. The fact that your truck turned right over when you jumped the solenoid is what makes me suspsicious of the ground.