the battery I had in it was no good because it initially sat up a while before I decided to try and fix it I borrowed a battery from my dad I have to jump it off to get it to turn over if it sits a day or so and what should my battery volts be? and what exactly do you mean by 12volt bulb clipped in

 

the battery I had in it was no good because it initially sat up a while before I decided to try and fix it I borrowed a battery from my dad I have to jump it off to get it to turn over if it sits a day or so and what should my battery volts be? and what exactly do you mean by 12volt bulb clipped in

 

So if you have to jump it after it sits a day or 2 with a good battery, then it may be the alternator. Or there is a leak in the electrical system, in that case, a shop may need to look at it.

 

Ahh now the plot thickens!
Starting to look like you might have two problems, a questionable battery and maybe an unrelated cigar lighter fuse electrical issue.

If you have to jump the battery to get the engine to turn over the battery is probably shot.

First beg, borrow or buy a digital voltmeter.
If a good battery has been sitting for a while it should measure around 12.6 volts DC or a few tenths of a volt lower at the battery posts not the battery clamps.
Charge the battery over night with a trickle charger or any battery charger to ensure it has a fresh charge.
Next, without engine running, turn on the headlights and heater blower speed to high to create an electrical load on the battery.
Measure the battery voltage again. If the voltage drops considerably below 12.6 volts DC or the headlights start dimming after a minute or so, the battery is shot.
If that looks ok, then the alternator charging voltage needs to be checked but in your case the engine won't start.

If you're not comfortable with the above method, take the battery to an auto parts store like AZ which can load test the battery.

Now onto the cigar mystery.
More questions. Please answer them all if you want to get to the bottom of this.
The fuse box was bought at Ford so we can assume its brand new?
If so the fuse might of been left out for a good reason.

Without going back and reading all your posts, does the cigar lighter work with that fuse pulled?
When you re-install that cigar fuse in the fuse box, does it blow the fuse or is the fuse still good?
Does the engine start or at least turn over when the cigar lighter fuse is pulled?

Did you install the CD player? If so how did you power and ground it?
When the CD player was removed there's a remote chance it left an open ground somewhere or left some stray wiring shorting out.

There should be a fuse diagram detailing what each fuse powers either on the fuse box cover, the owner's manual or on line.

For checking the grounds, that can't be done by just looking at them and saying yep they're there..
They need to be disconnected from the chassis and engine then the terminals and their mating surfaces need to be cleaned shiny with sand paper, a quick wipe with rubbing alcahol to remove any sandpaper grit then re-installed.

 

I kind of wish posters would put a little more description in the title of their thread.

Is that asking too much?

Mike

 

yes the fuse box came from ford brand new. no the cigar lighter does not work with the fuse pulled. the fuse does not blow when it's in. the truck will turn over and start for about 3 seconds before dying with the fuse out but once it dies it wont start again till about 30 minutes but it will still turn over. and as far as the CD player I'm not sure how it was grounded but all the wires that connected to it were removed because I was going to put the factory one back in and I will do a more thorough look at my grounds

 

truck

 

OK let me get this straight.
With the fuse plugged in:
-the cigar lighter works, doesn't blow the fuse
-engine starts for 3 seconds then dies

With fuse pulled:
-engine won't start/turn over and cigar lighter doesn't work?

If thats all correct that leads to another question, the exact reason the fuse box was changed out.
What were the symptoms leading to changing out the box?
How did you determine the fuse box wasn't getting battery voltage?

Have you determined the problem isn't related to a fuel issue? Clogged fuel filter, bad fuel pump, bad fuel, etc.?

You also need to research why there was no fuse in the new box and what else that fuse powers in addition to the cigar lighter.

Here's another thought if the battery turns out toasted loosing its charge quickly under load.
All relays have two voltage/current requirements.
1. The pull-in voltage/current requirement
2. The holding voltage/current requirement

The pull-in voltage/current is the electrical energy needed to energize the the electromagnetic coil to fully pull in the relay's armature with its contacts. .
The holding voltage/current electrical energy needed to keep the armature contacts fully pulled in. The minimum holding current is typically less than the pull-in current.

It could be once the engine starts, a bad battery's voltage will drop quickly enough below the minimum hold-in voltage requirements not only for relays but also other electronic modules including the PCM. The battery might have enough initial charge to start the engine but then its voltage output will drop quickly
But if thats the case it would mean a bad alternator or the alternators voltage output is not reaching the battery posts possibly caused a bad ground, loose/corroded battery clamps, etc. or a bad battery itself is presenting a low enough impedance to pull the alternator's voltage down basically an internally shorted battery.

As i mentioned earlier, the alternator charging voltage measured at the battery posts needs to be checked out once the engine starts.
IMO, you really need to verify the battery is 100% good and the alternator's charging voltage is within spec before diving any deeper into this.
Once the engine starts, the measured voltage at the battery posts not clamps should be in the ball park of 13.5 to 14.7 volts DC.

The basics need to be verified. Performing all the above tests should take no longer than 5 minutes.
If you don't have a voltmeter and know how to use it for troubleshooting this problem, its gonna be all guessing at this point without hard troubleshooting data.

 

no actually the first part is backwards with the fuse in the truck will not start. with the fuse out it will

 

The fuse is completing a circuit it shouldn't have anything to do with. The only thing I can think of they would have in common is possibly whoever wired up the stereo somehow tied into both the ignition wires and/or the cig circuit which would maybe somehow give the pcm some wonky data? Spitballing here.