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Bad Ground Issue, I Think..


Madman54

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Hey guys, Long time Reader, First time poster....

a few months back I was having ground issues with my Neg battery cable, (mostly because it was horribly corroded all the way thru), So I went ahead and replaced it with the oem replacment, did the positive at the same time. since then everything has been excellent...

Then One cold winter day I went out to start my truck, and only recieved a "Click". One of those where you, Turn key on - Full Power... Turn key to start position - Click then what seems to be Half Power....

I've run across this many times in many fords, and it's always been the conection to the battery terminal being weak. The cable I installed had one of the chessy little metal clamp down connectors on it... I remember reading somewhere that those suck... So I assumed that was the issue and went and got a more heavy duty connector from napa.

Heres the Problem... I had power before I swapped the connector.. afterwards to different connectors later, I have nothing at all....

I haven't meter'd anything as I haven't had a meter available, but I have checked and rechecked ALL connections on that cable, Block - Frame - Fender, same thing when using heavy duty Jumper Cables even....

Any tips, Clues, Suggestions? Thanks in advance!

Sorry about droning on for so long..
 


rockwerks

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low battery? I have never trusted the replacement battery connectors, it is way too easy to get a marginal connection
 

Lee_533

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I had the same problem with my truck for a while...easy fix...replace both your ground and power cable to your battery. Also check the connection on your starter, if it is loose then it will arc out and you won't have any power...so check the power cable to make sure there is no cuts in it. As soon as I replaced my cables and tightened everything down I had no problems...hope this helps.
 

Madman54

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Lee Thanks for the tip, Both pos and neg cables are brand new. I didnt think to check the starter connection though. If that were arcing, would it cause me to have no power what so ever? ot even a dome light?
 

rockwerks

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Lee Thanks for the tip, Both pos and neg cables are brand new. I didnt think to check the starter connection though. If that were arcing, would it cause me to have no power what so ever? ot even a dome light?
No that would mean it just would not have power to start. Do you have lights?
 

Madman54

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I had lights before I changed out the terminal connector. after installing the new connector I have Nothing at all
 

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Well no...If you have lights before you try to start it and they don't dim or turn off after you try to start it...then it wouldn't be the starter...But if you have a loose ground on the frame then yes...here's what I did when mine was acting up...If you know where the starter solenoid is take a long screwdriver and arc the terminal that has the battery connection to the one two spaces away...if it starts then it's not a cable issue. Check the screw on the solenoid to make sure it's tight. Any loose wires are bad.
 

Lee_533

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I had lights before I changed out the terminal connector. after installing the new connector I have Nothing at all
Is the battery dead?
 

rockwerks

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I had lights before I changed out the terminal connector. after installing the new connector I have Nothing at all
sounds like a bad connector maybe or you left the key on and drained the battery, try jumping it and see if it helps
 

Madman54

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solenoid is okay. I forgot to mention that before. I am thinking that my main problems are being caused by something I did, or did not do when I replaced my negative cable. I am not sure where I may have gone wrong, all my connections were clean and tight when i put it back together.....

also I should mention, the neg cable for this truck is a special part, you can look it up with autozone part #01436. I tried to replace this cable with a standard cable from checker/napa and nothing else worked right at all...
So could it be since I cut the cheesy little metal end of the cable and replaced it with a better one that I have caused this?

Is there a more effctive way of changing terminal connectors and/or negative cables?
 

Madman54

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battery is not dead. Jumpping it doesn't seem to make any change.
 

Lee_533

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solenoid is okay. I forgot to mention that before. I am thinking that my main problems are being caused by something I did, or did not do when I replaced my negative cable. I am not sure where I may have gone wrong, all my connections were clean and tight when i put it back together.....

also I should mention, the neg cable for this truck is a special part, you can look it up with autozone part #01436. I tried to replace this cable with a standard cable from checker/napa and nothing else worked right at all...
So could it be since I cut the cheesy little metal end of the cable and replaced it with a better one that I have caused this?

Is there a more effctive way of changing terminal connectors and/or negative cables?
Well as long as it's making good connection with the wires then it should be fine...It might be in your computer but I don't see how. hmm...there is a secondary ground on mine that grounds through the fire wall...but what I did with mine is ground the terminal to the bottom of the block. Is there any paint on the area where you grounded to your body/frame?
 

rockwerks

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solenoid is okay. I forgot to mention that before. I am thinking that my main problems are being caused by something I did, or did not do when I replaced my negative cable. I am not sure where I may have gone wrong, all my connections were clean and tight when i put it back together.....


So could it be since I cut the cheesy little metal end of the cable and replaced it with a better one that I have caused this?

Is there a more effctive way of changing terminal connectors and/or negative cables?
replace with the correct part, yep Ive seen it 100 times that the cheesy connector has probably a better connection than any you can install after the fact
 

Madman54

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Stop skipping steps and get it done right the first time.
no paint on the block or frame. I used the original locations for grounding. the was some slight surface dirt/rust on the frame location... but I wire brushed it off pretty good.. and like I said everything has worked more than excellent for 3-4 months, just on cold day it started acting up.
 

Madman54

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My credo
Stop skipping steps and get it done right the first time.
Also, before I changed the connector, you could jump start it, and drive just fine, full power with the subwoofers blasting, but the next time i'd try to start it after that, it would just click and go dead, like you suggested with the starter cable
 

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