Hi,1994 Ford Ranger 2.3L, 4cyl. Won't crank, makes clicking noise, done a lot to it already.

[Rough Road]

New starter, new relay, new battery, and new wiring where it was sketchy.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Any time I had a problem starting an engine, and there was clicking but no turning over, it was a bad connection. Usually ground but could be positive wire too.
Or weak battery.

 

[Rough Road]

Thanks, I'm going over it again to be sure. I replaced everything and all the sketchy wiring. The battery is new and checks out perfect, I've had a trickle charge on it to keep it full, also, the terminals are new and contacts are soldered and crushed and heat shrunk for good measure. The relay is new I scratched the inner fender clean for good ground and cleaned those terminals like new. The starter is new and the wiring around it is as well. I was trying to crank it originally because it was running so badly when this all started, so I've just been throwing parts at it and it hasn't made any difference, no matter what I have done. I guess the ignition switch would be my next guess. By the way, I can cross out the starter while someone presses the clutch and turns the key and it will crank???

 

[RonD]

+1 ^^^
New battery doesn't matter if old battery cables are dirty, clean them up, inside the ends, use a wire bottle brush or sharp knife to scrap the inside clean, then re-install

Battery FIRST, always

Starter relay on the inner fender needs a good ground, usually thru its metal frame bolted to the metal inner fender, assuming inner fender is grounded to battery negative, lol

This relay is what makes the "click" noise when you turn key to start
On the relay there is one or two small posts
The one marked with an "S" should have a red/blue wire on it
Remove this wire from the relay
(2nd small post is not used in a 1994, if there is one)

MAKE SURE TRANS IS IN NEUTRAL OR PARK
KEY OFF(in your pocket)
PARKING BRAKE SET

Use a jumper wire from Battery positive to the "S" post, it should "click"
AND Starter should start to turn engine over
If that happens the Relay to starter wiring is OK, your problem is red/blue wire to ignition switch in cab

If relay "clicks" but starter motor doesn't work then wires from Relay to starter motor are the problem(or new starter is bad)

Just a heads up
"New" used to mean "tested and working"
"New" now means "YOU TEST IT, we will replace it if it doesn't work"
So grain of salt on ALL "new" parts
"new" is the very very last resort you should do, lol, just one more thing to test

 

[Rough Road]

Thanks, I did everything you said already but I did it again today after I got out of the hospital. I can start the engine turning over by shorting between the post on the starter when someone is turning the key or crossing out the relay. Could this be an ignition switch issue? Or does both the old and the new starter have a bad solenoid? Thanks.

 

[Blmpkn]

Oooh... those cammed battery terminals are sweet lol.

 

[RonD]

If starter motor works when you jump 12volts to "S" post on starter relay then wiring from starter relay to start motor is OK
(do NOT jump larger posts on starter relays, that's not a test, lol, "S"post is what needs to be tested)

If starter motor doesn't activate with key turned to START then the red/blue wire on "S" post is not working
It has a Neutral switch between ignition switch and starter relay, 95% of the time thats the issue

On a 1994 manual trans Ranger the neutral switch is the Clutch Pedal switch
Its on the clutch pedals pushrod, has a 6 wire connector but not all slots are used in some years
Unplug this connector
At one end will be 2 wires, both red/blue or one red/blue and one pink maybe, but they are last 2 wires at one end
Put a jumper wire between these two wires
Turn key to START
If starter activates then the switch is the problem
People do splice these two wires together, but that does remove the "can't start in gear" safety

If starter doesn't activate then ignition switch may be the issue
You can test the red/blue wire at the clutch switch connector to see if it has 12volts with key turned to START, if not then ignition switch is the issue, can be wire issue as well

 

[Rough Road]

Oooh... those cammed battery terminals are sweet lol.

Yeah, lol, I can't wait to hear the lope it'll have when I finally get it to turn over!

 

[Rough Road]

If starter motor works when you jump 12volts to "S" post on starter relay then wiring from starter relay to start motor is OK
(do NOT jump larger posts on starter relays, that's not a test, lol, "S"post is what needs to be tested)

If starter motor doesn't activate with key turned to START then the red/blue wire on "S" post is not working
It has a Neutral switch between ignition switch and starter relay, 95% of the time thats the issue

On a 1994 manual trans Ranger the neutral switch is the Clutch Pedal switch
Its on the clutch pedals pushrod, has a 6 wire connector but not all slots are used in some years
Unplug this connector
At one end will be 2 wires, both red/blue or one red/blue and one pink maybe, but they are last 2 wires at one end
Put a jumper wire between these two wires
Turn key to START
If starter activates then the switch is the problem
People do splice these two wires together, but that does remove the "can't start in gear" safety

If starter doesn't activate then ignition switch may be the issue
You can test the red/blue wire at the clutch switch connector to see if it has 12volts with key turned to START, if not then ignition switch is the issue, can be wire issue as well

Thanks a lot, man, I have been wondering where to go past the relay and the wiring, as far as I can tell that all is solid. This all started because when the wife was driving it, it would backfire amazingly loudly. When she got home with it I started troubleshooting the issue. I had a fuel and oil filter with oil already so I started there not expecting much and I was right. It would only do that under load. Then it started idling something awful. As I was trying to start it to test on it the starting system failed. You know the rest of the story. I am now wondering if it all is related somehow.

 

[StephenF]

If you are now having multiple issue I would check the ECM/PCM ground. Just saw a F-150 that would start a ground had rusted out. When I saw rusted out, I mean the bolt still had a piece of the body with it.

 

[bottomdollarjack]

I had no crank problems, tried everything, the bought a new brain cranked right up no problems since

 

[Rough Road]

Thanks, @bottomdollarjack, I will look into that. I kinda put this on the back burner because life happened, but I'm about to try another shot at it. I have a device/tool that will help me figure out where the power is and isn't making contact so it will help me get further into the issue and maybe have something intelligent to say on my next post. I tried every single suggestion on this post multiple times just to be sure I didn't mess anything up. To recap I replaced and tested the battery, starter relay, starter, wiring, ignition switch, key switch, and battery post connectors, and checked all grounds. I appreciate everyone who has commented on this thread to help and always appreciate anything further anyone has to add. Also, just to be clear the engine doesn't turn over just clicks, I'm not sure how the brain box stops this and allows the engine to spin, but to run when I finally get it to crank the brain box may help with that issue though.