Background: 92' F-150 5.0 Manual 4x4 in Texas

So I rushed home from work about three weeks ago and forgot to turn my lights off (I'm use to my mustang reminding me). I found out I forgot to turn my lights off when I went to start the truck and it was completely dead. I attempted to jump the battery but it would only turn over, heard a clunk sound and nothing. I figured, i guess the battery is old and completely dead. So I go and buy a brand new battery. Installed the battery and nothing, it doesn't even show I have power. Take the mustang, and attempt to jump the truck. Turns over, but clunk and nothing. The panel shows I have power but it's not turning over. I turn the key to "on" and let it sit for a minute with the dash lit up. Then attempt to start and it starts up. Let it idle for a few minutes, and shut her down to see if she will start back up. Same thing, with no jumper cables it shows no power at all. Place the jumper cables back on and it shows power but is not turning over.

The truck had no problem starting up prior to this and I assumed it was strictly the battery since I left the lights on. Now I have not a clue...

Any help is appreciated


And I have already checked the first few search threads but they didn't seem to answer my specific problem.

 

Sounds like a bad ground connection. Test your cables and clean and tighten both ends.

 

See if you can jump the starter relay. Than measure the volts at every connection and when you see something under 12 you found it.

 

I should rephrase that, If it cranks when you jump the relay the relay may be bad.

 

turns out it was a bad connection to the battery. Thanks for the help!

 

same thing happened to me twice now.....turn key over,dash lights comes on,but wont start.........turn key over again,it starts!.....shut it off,turn key over,dash lights come on,but wont start.......i found the problem

where the wires and terminal meet,the 2 bolts were loose enough to where there wasn't connection.tightened bolts,bingo,problem solved.

bolts come loose after so long from bouncing around,friction too.what can i say,trucks got bad shocks.