It's dead Jim!

[cbxer55]

Drove my 98 last on Saturday, all was fine. Started and stopped it three times no problemo. Yesterday, went to take it to work, CLICK! Hmmm. Battery? Checked it and found it a tad low. Four and a half years old and not a top-of-the-line battery. Bought a new one, charged it over night on a battery tender. Put it in the truck today, CLICK. Now it's totally dead. No lights on the dash, nothing.

Starter solenoid? Fairly certain it is the culprti. Truck is 25 years old and still has the original starter and solenoid.

If so, how difficult is it to replace? Have to remove the starter? Done it before on other vehicles, just been a long while since the last time.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

Hows the terminals and cables?

 

[ericbphoto]

I’d check connections before I start replacing parts

 

[cbxer55]

Hows the terminals and cables?

New and clean. Replaced them a few months ago because they were looking pretty fugly.

Bad terminals are going to make a loud CLICK and kill everything?

 

[2ndSS]

sounds like a bad ground, "Bad terminals are going to make a loud CLICK and kill everything? " yes!

 

[cbxer55]

Where do I find said grounds?

Just assumed it was the solenoid because it's happened to me on other vehicles. And mechanically inclined friends here tell me that is exactly what the problem is.

But I'll check the grounds, if I know where to find them.

Bad ground happened overnight? One day everything is fine. The next it's dead. WOW!!

 

[rusty ol ranger]

Usually if it clicks the solenoid is working.

A click then nothing is a bad/loose terminal or cable...

A bad starter is similar but you wouldnt lose your dash lights and shit

 

[cbxer55]

I'm at work til midnight. I'll look into those things tomorrow.

 

[RonD]

Try head lights first
No or dim headlights mean bad battery connection positive or negative cable either end of the cable
Most likely the "other end" of the cable because old battery did the same thing

And yes, that really is how things happen, works fine one day and does not work the next day....................at least for the things I see
Some things might give you a warning sign, but just some things, lol

 

[bilbo]

This happened to me and it was a bad battery cable connection. The two wires that were still hanging on went bzzzt when I tried to start it. Thought it was the solenoid too but after jiggling everything under the hood I tried to start it again and noticed the dash lit up, until I hit the starter and it all went dead again. I noticed the evidence of arcing and ended up dousing the connectors with washer juice and it started then.

 

[Josh B]

The battery ground is the first thing I check, just trace it and clean it with a little wire brush, maybe a grease rag too if it's greasy, most times they ground at the starter

They're generally underneath and not highly visible, and sometimes bad about getting crudded up under there

 

[cbxer55]

Thanks guys. I'll check all those. The connections at the battery are fine, like I said, I redid them a few months ago. So it must be the other end. I do use the applicable connection protection glop when I do terminals. Maybe Iused too much?

 

[RonD]

Di-electric grease is used on multi-wire connectors because it DOES NOT conduct eletricity, so it won't short out adjacent wires, so you don't want it on the metal bits that DO NEED to conduct electricity
You can secure a clean metal to metal connection and then put di-electric grease on/over it to prevent rust and/or corrosion
But never between the connections

 

[cbxer55]

That's what I meant Ron. I put it over the connections after I reattached them to the posts. Possibly, maybe some might have gotten onto the posts the last time I took them off. I'll clean them up real good with isopropyl alcohol and reattach them tomorrow. Check around with a digital volt gauge at various places.

 

[RonD]

Voltage gauge's draw no amps at all, so if you see any voltage drop there is a bad connection

i.e. new battery is say 12.9volts, key off
Every place you test should be 12.9v
You see 12.6v it means there is a problem, unless you turned on the key