Grumpydan

My 1996 F-150 4X4 is giving me fits and cause to swear excessively. It usually starts just fine, runs great. But every once in a while, I get a click, any lights that may be on (such as a dome light) dim, the instrument panel indicator lights go out and nuthin' else happens-- no starting. USUALLY it'll start after a while, and then runs fine. All my electrical connections are clean and tight, the battery is good (12.8 volts), and I just replaced the starter today (easy enough job, but disappointing when there is no improvement. It SEEMS like, if I slam the gear select lever into park kinda hard, it starts, but I don't think this is really affecting anything, since the problem is intermittent. Any ideas? Could this be the starter relay? thanks, guys!

Troy Turple

My 95 5.8 used to do the same. Try replacing your solenoid.

Grumpydan

Thanks, but the new starter came with a new solenoid. Gotta say, it's one of the few things that is easy to remove and replace. Relatively.

memoniz

I think Troy Turple is really saying the relay on the firewall, some people refer to it as a solenoid.

If your sure your connections are clean and tight, it's probably the relay.

Troy Turple

No, I mean solenoid. It is mounted on the passenger fender just behind the battery.
It should have three prongs and lots of wires attached to it.

Grumpydan

Well, Troy and memoniz, there ain't much left to replace. the connections couldn't be cleaner -- I wire brushed 'em all and ensured they were all tight -- and that leaves only the solenoid or relay, whichever it's called, mounted on the fender well. I'll see my local car parts guys this morning and get one. Thanks much for your help.

memoniz

I understand what your saying. Some people refer to the part on the firewall as a solenoid. I read somewhere that it is the starter relay. I call it the relay to keep from confusing people with the solenoid on the starter. I wasn't trying to correct you, just clarify for Grumpydan.

Ford 4x4

check positive and negative battery, it sounds like you may have a bad cable. My 87 did the EXACT same thing until eventually it wouldnt start at all just clicked. The positive cable looked great but I threw on a spare I had and it fired right up and no problems since.

Chris_1

iTrader: (1)

Could be a bad cable - or a bad ground. Without ground the circuit isn't complete. Parts stores sell more batteries and starters because of bad grounds (but the new battery overcomes the weak connection, for a while)
Could also be the ignition switch mounted on the underside of the column, or even the neutral safety switch on the trans.
Those things might be worth a look.

Grumpydan

Thanks, guys. Installed a new relay yesterday and it seems to have made a difference. However, I'm gonna double check that negative cable anyway. Sounds like a reasonable thing to do.