Should the starter have power to it even with the key off? Will elaborate after a yes/no answer.


Pete

 

It depends on what type of starter.

The old Ford style starter with one large wire going from the solenoid on the fender to the starter-no this type will not have power.

The newer style Ford starters and the GM type(and many others) that have the large wire coming down to the starter, and a smaller wire or wires going to the starter-90% of the time, yes they will have power all the time.

 

Thanks, Franklin. What I've got is a '97 E150 4.6. It's the oldest of 4 company vans, and it left one of the guys stranded at a gas pump yesterday. He says it had been acting up over the last week or so, not wanting to start, just getting that rapid clicking like the old solenoids used to do. Relay checks good, batery's hot,and I'm getting <12.5> volts to the starter with no key, so I guess the cables are OK. BUT, there is very little power going into the cab (barely enough to pop the power locks, not enough for the power windows, and the dash lights are barely visible when you turn the key on. Tried cranking with a voltmeter on the starter, and the power drops like a rock (2.5--3 v.). I'm starting to think ignition switch in column, or would a fried starter keep power from getting to the cab?

Pete

 

That's the way to check it, with a load on the circuit. That other 12.5v reading you got won't tell you much.

Now you know you do not have power at the starter when you try to crank it, move back up the large power wire to next point(battery +?) and put your meter there and try to crank it again. If the power drops way down there, you know the problem is still upstream. If you are at the battery, put the meter on the battery post and try it again. If the voltage on the meter drops again, you ,may have a bad battery. Before you chuck the battery, you can move your negative meter lead around and probe from the block to the neg cable to the neg post on the battery.

I hope you understand how this works, because then you can figure out pretty quickly whats wrong with it. For example, if you have the neg lead of the meter on the battery post, and the pos lead of the meter on the + post, and the voltage drops when you try to start it, then you do have a bad battery. Just make sure you are on the actual post of the battery. If you are probing on the cable terminal or the bolt on the terminal, if there is a bad connection underneath to the battery, it will give you a bad reading.