1995 F150. Changed out battery and starter and still won't start. Has to be the relay. Would you buy from Advance Auto ? It's under $25.

 

I think I would have found out why it is not cranking before changing out everything.
Maybe the wire from the relay to the solenoid, it gives a lot of problems.
Does the relay click when you turn the key to start?

 

I wouldn't call it a click. My buddy, who I think is a good mechanic, diagnosed it as a bad starter from just hearing it. Battery was diagnosed as bad and replaced free of charge from Sears. So what else is left ?

 

Jumper across the main posts of the solenoid to eliminate it as the problem. Poor Alternator function can also be a factor overall. Inspect, clean & secure all connections. Condition of pos & neg cables play a huge part in the accelerated decline & eventual catastrophic failure of all the individual componants! If you do replace them, Do yourself a favor & go up a gauge size.

 

Jump the Starter solenoid using a screwdriver and making contact on both threads, if the engine turns/start then you can asume it's the solenoid getting stuck or broken. You can also hit it gently to see if it works (will only work for a while).

 

You could also pull the push on wire off of the relay (the top wire in the photo below) and stick a test light in the wire, if the test light does not light when the key is turned it is not the relay.
You can also put power on this small post the wire came off of and if the engine cranks then you know the relay and cables and all are OK.
Make sure it is not in gear if you have a standard transmission when doing the above.



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OK, my buddy said to try starting in neutral to rule out Neutral safety switch. It DID NOT START. I then went to the starter relay and jumped with a screw driver the 2 contacts with the rubber boot on (skinny bolt and the big bolt closer to cabin). I pretty much got the same result thump or click. I did get a whirl sound a couple times but nothing close to starting and could not generate this consistently. So does this mean relay is bad or something else could still be the problem (I guess cables)?

Starter relay and solenoid are not interchangeable TERMS, are they?

 

That depens on who you are talking to.
The auto part stores seam to think so some times.
Ford had the solenoid on the fender until about 1990 then they moved it to on top of the starter like a GM starter only the starter was now gear reduction like a Dodge. They then replaced the solenoid on the fender with a relay.
At least this is what all the Ford diagrams call them.

A solenoid has a large steel slug that move inside and normal relays do not.
Both can be called relays because they both switch a larger current with a smaller one.
The term solenoid most of the time is given to a item that is used for switching a very large current.

I would say you have a bad wire from the starter relay to the starter solenoid.



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I replaced spade connector with prefab spade connector I had left over from some marine application so that should be good. I would guess IF the relay is acting properly then it would have to be the battery cable. So is the relay working properly ?

 

Hi, I have a simillar problem with my truck: When I turn the key the fuelpumps wont run, but the engine turns. some one before me has conected a cable from the fuel pumps into one of the cables that goes into the wire harness, this wire accidently sliped down on one of the headers, melted and the engine died. so now the pumps wont run, but if I connect a cable from the batterys + pole to the cable that melted the pumps run and i can start the car, if I take out the cable from the battery the truck still runs but sometimes dies. Can this be that a relay went busted when the cable melted on the exhaustheader or what? I have found three relays on the driver side fender, brown, light gray and dark gray. The light grey is for the headlights. is there any other relay that may have busted because the other two realys are clicking when i put power on the "pump cable"?
Thanks for any response. Chris / Sweden
1988 Ford F-150 302 injection automatic 2wd

 

Chris you should start a new Thread as this one has very little to do with your problem.

It it is not wired stock it is very hard for anybody to help someone out.
One of the relays should be green and that is the fuel pump relay. There should not be a relay for the headlights. Another one of the relays should be brown and that is the EEC power relay.

About the best I can do for you is post a diagram of the way it should be wired if it is a gas fuel truck.



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If you're buying a relay I wouldn't buy anything electrical from Advance. Try NAPA or get a Ford one.

I've had the same problem as you, when I try to start my truck I just get a click. I can generally turn the key back and forth a few times and it will crank.

I think the problem has to do with current and/or grounding. I replaced the battery cable ends and the problem got better for a while. I replaced the starter with a NAPA starter and that also fixed the problem, for a while. The NAPA starter did not have that spade connector that the factory starter had (the spade connector was a bad design choice.) Most recently I cleaned off the connections to the starter and that helped. I think it's basically lack of current.

 

I found this thread after doing some searching. Hopefully you guys will still be notified and reply to it. I have been having the same issues but never had them until I replaced the original battery. The next day, silence, nothing when I tried starting the truck. I have checked the new battery and that is not the problem. Before I start replacing or tearing everything out, what should I try first?

 

Cleaning the connections at the battery, but it might be something unrelated.

 

nonick ... since your troubles began after you replaced the battery (and cleaned the battery cable clamps, right ?) i would be checking the pos. and neg. cables themselves. they are known to become deteriorated with age and you may have disturbed what little material was holding it together when you put the new battery in.

cut back some of the insulation on the cable(s) and have a good look at their physical condition.