donie1

Hello everyone. This is my first post; however, I have found so much useful information on here. thanks to every one that takes time out of their day to help.

On to my problem. I have a 89 F150 XLT Lariat 2wd I6 5 speed. This weekend, a friend and I replaced the clutch. Everything went according to plan until we tried to take it for a test ride.

I turn the ignition and there are multiple, rapid fire clicks from the starter solenoid. At first i thought it was the battery, so I charged it with the same result. I removed a battery from an 03 Taurus and still the same. The battery from the truck fired the Taurus right up.

My next thought was the starter solenoid. I replaced it and still the same. I jumped the large post on the solenoid from the battery to the small post with still more clicks. I try to jump between the 2 large posts and there is only sparks.

I used my analog voltmeter to see if there was current running. I am not that familiar with voltmeters so I am not sure if I did it correct. I selected DCV at 10. The needle spiked all the way when I touched the red probe to the large post from the battery and the black probe to the negative post on the battery.

I touched the red probe to the other large post and the black probe to the negative post on the battery. I asked my friend to turn the ignition and the needle moved, but only maybe a quarter of the way.

I traced the wires from the back of the starter and everything looks new and not corroded. Battery terminals are clean and not corroded. The battery cables look good as well.

The truck ran fine with no issues whatsoever. I was able to drive into the garage so we could begin working.

I don't know what else to do.

Any suggestions or tips? Did I use the voltmeter correctly? Could it be the started died during the clutch change?

Thanks for reading.

kd3pc

the starter is no longer engaging the flywheel as it should...likely as a result of changing the clutch out.

The snout of the starter needs to go in far enough for the solenoid to stretch out, and latch...what you are hearing is the starter failing to extend to where the "motor" parts comes in to play and takes over, leaving the actual solenoid to drop out.

I would look closely at the area where the starter is installed, and you will likely find that something is off...were there "shims" - thin strips of metal with bolt holes in them, or does the tail end of the starter seem to be higher or lower than it was.

You should see something misaligned to not snug.

donie1

Thanks for replying.

There were no shims when the starter came off. I don't remember seeing anything out of alignment but I don't remember. I will check tomorrow and report what i find.

Steve83

No. It must be set to a range slightly HIGHER than the expected voltage. Since the truck uses (nominally) 12VDC, the meter range should be 20VDC or higher.

But you'd be MUCH better-off leaving the needle meter on the shelf, and getting a modern autoranging digital multimeter (DMM). They're very affordable, more-accurate than the needle, and safer on modern electronics. Although it's not made any more, this one has a lot of desirable features:


(phone app link)Not likely. I suspect you forgot to reattach the heavy black negative battery cable to the block near the starter. The starter relay clicking rapidly while attempting to crank is typical of high resistance between the starter & battery. Click each of these & read the captions:


(phone app link)


(phone app link)


(phone app link)

Ford starters do not use shims - that's a GM thing.

donie1

Everything was aligned properly when I looked this morning.

I think the grounding is the issue. I'm going to play with that idea and see what happens.

donie1

The ground wire was not hooked up correctly. Once I changed it, it fired right up.