wvumountaineers

Yesterday went to class came home truck was parked for about an hour. go back out to go back to class, turn the key all dash, radio, etc light up turn to start and it all goes dark dont get anything anymore. i went under the hood de-corroded the terminals and tapped on the solenoid(fender mounted) bc i heard thats what you can do sometimes, same thing happened but now nothing at all. Battery an Alt look somewhat new and were reading fine the day before on the batt gauge. Any ideas or can someone confirm that it could be the solenoid before i go replacing half my truck hah

Thanks in advance for help!
Cheers!

stolenphot0

have you tried crossing the solenoid with a screw driver to see if it starts that way?

key on, then cross two of the connectors. I'm not sure which ones, I always remember by trial and error.

wvumountaineers

yep i crossed the top two didnt get anything till i tapped on it a few times but it was barely even noticeable, now nothing. granted my battery is probably low from all the tries to start but i would think i should get some kind of lights in the cab, ya know?

stolenphot0

hook your battery up to a charger for a few hours or if you can borrow one swap it out and try that. Solenoids aren't that expensive, so it may be worth while to just change it anyways - then you will at least know you have a good one on there

OtherWeckta

or just try jumping it, that'll tell ya real quick

coal miner 77

The same thing happened to me last week on my 95 F150. On top of the starter there is another solenoid under a heat shield. Take off the shield and you will see a couple of wires, One large wire that comes from the other solenoid on the fender and a small wire that has a crimped on female connector. On mine, that wire had slid almost off and had alot of mud on it. I took it the rest the way off cleaned the connector and where it attaches and squeezed the sides closer to get tighter fit and put all back together. Has worked good ever since no problems at all and I drive this truck to work everyday. Hope this helps!!

wvumountaineers

yeah tried jumping it. i have the 4.9 inline 6 and a big ol' V8 couldnt even get it going lol. ill try what you did coalminer77 and hopefully it works. Thanks!

walter34payton2002

First check your grounds. The harness should have some wires that go to the positive battery cable. Make sure they are connected and not broken. There is a small connector for those same wires. Open the connector and check to see that it is still connecting the wires properly ( I had one break inside and I had to cut it off and connect the wires). After checking grounds and verifying the starter wire is connected, make certain your cables are snug. I really bet it is a loose ground or then the solenoid. This setup is how my 89 is set up and I believe yours is the same. Sorry if it is a different setup.

wvumountaineers

Okay finally had a chance to get under the hood an look really good..
here is where i am at right now:
1. Battery is good
2. Solenoid seems good, sparks when two terminals connected
3. Checked as many grounds as i could find, the one on the starter was loose(thank you WalterPayton)
4. I get one click coming from starter area then nothing and have to disconnect battery to get anything (kind of as if it trips a breaker in a house)
5. Really limited money or else id just go and replace it all lol

My reasoning is pointing towards a bad starter...?? Does that sound about right with yall?

Thanks again!

1994 F150

Mine did the same thing in July, it would just click, battery was good and crossing the solenoid wouldn't do anything. Coal Miner 77's solution was what fixed mine. I took the trigger wire off the starter solenoid, cleaned it and plugged it back on and it starts fine now. This is the small wire on the top of the soleonid on the starter, when you get under and look you will see it has a small plastic rectangular plugin, pull it off then plug it back in and it will probably start for a few times. You have to clean it good for it to keep starting.