During the winter there were a few "no starts" just a
clicking noise but usually after moving the shifter lever
it started up, so I suspected the neutral start safety switch.
Had a new one put in, good for a while but today no start,
just a click and seems the battery got low enough
to reset the clock on the stereo.
Tried putting the flashers on and just a bussing noise, and
the chime like reminder sound the key is still in the ignition
as you try to leave was dead further indicating a dead battery.
Friend came by with a Narco batt booster thing and hooked it
up. Same thing just a click. He had a hammer and pounded on
the starter
while I tried to start but same thing.
Then he got his hands on the serpentine belt and tried to I
guess turn the crank , had a hard time so he
had to grab something else, and got it to turn a little,
then says try it now...so it starts up fine.
He says the starter is going....cant figure out why. He says
the engine was at TDC, which I guess
means the starter has a tough time turning the eng when its
in that spot? Not sure I understand.
On 5/3/2026 3:09 PM, UFO wrote:
During the winter there were a few "no starts" just a clicking noise but
usually after moving the shifter lever
it started up, so I suspected the neutral start safety switch.
Had a new one put in, good for a while but today no start, just a click
and seems the battery got low enough
to reset the clock on the stereo.
Tried putting the flashers on and just a bussing noise, and the chime
like reminder sound the key is still in the ignition
as you try to leave was dead further indicating a dead battery.
Friend came by with a Narco batt booster thing and hooked it up. Same
thing just a click. He had a hammer and pounded on the starter
while I tried to start but same thing.
Then he got his hands on the serpentine belt and tried to I guess turn
the crank , had a hard time so he
had to grab something else, and got it to turn a little, then says try it >> now...so it starts up fine.
He says the starter is going....cant figure out why. He says the engine
was at TDC, which I guess
means the starter has a tough time turning the eng when its in that spot? >> Not sure I understand.
I'd have a battery load test done to ensure the battery is actually OK.
Then clean up the terminals, battery cable clamps and the rusty end of
your battery ground cable.
Once you've ensured the starter is getting full current, if the problem persists it could be a sticky/worn bendix or possibly worn starter gears.
Some tips here:
https://everydayford.com/how-to-identify-and-fix-ford-starter-motor-problems/
--
Andrew Muzi
am@yellowjersey.org
Open every day since 1 April, 1971
Whats your take on when he turned the eng a little by hand with the belt or >fan pulley?
UFO <techforce@nospam.gmx.com> wrote:
Whats your take on when he turned the eng a little by hand with the belt or >> fan pulley?
Dead spot on the commutator. You'll find out when it happens again.
Sadly our alternator and starter rebuilding shop closed down during Covid. --scott
UFO wrote:
During the winter there were a few "no starts" just a clicking noise but usually after moving the shifter lever
it started up, so I suspected the neutral start safety switch.
Had a new one put in, good for a while but today no start, just a click and seems the battery got low enough
to reset the clock on the stereo.
Tried putting the flashers on and just a bussing noise, and the chime like reminder sound the key is still in the ignition
as you try to leave was dead further indicating a dead battery.
Friend came by with a Narco batt booster thing and hooked it up. Same thing just a click. He had a hammer and pounded on the starter
while I tried to start but same thing.
Then he got his hands on the serpentine belt and tried to I guess turn the crank , had a hard time so he
had to grab something else, and got it to turn a little, then says try it now...so it starts up fine.
He says the starter is going....cant figure out why. He says the engine was at TDC, which I guess
means the starter has a tough time turning the eng when its in that spot?
Not sure I understand.
Your friend may be right that the starter is on its way out, but the
"engine stopped at TDC" explanation doesn't really make sense. A >good starter should be able to crank the engine wherever it stops. Engines stop against compression all the time, and the starter is >designed to handle that.
UFO wrote:
Spoke to him last night to explain more, he says the starter is engaging the flywheel but cant spin it, and thats because
the eng is in a compression stroke, I suppose he means multiple
pistons....he says the starter has a tough time spinning the
flywheel due to the added resistance. Makes sense to me, as this could be
the original 1998 starter in there for almost 30 yrs.
I guess it can explain why the battery lost its power, starter is drawing a decent chunk of amps each time you turn the
key and hear the click. Eventually I didnt even hear the click because the battery went down lower than enough to
do that anymore.
Advance auto tested the battery after we got it going, the readout said good with 13V and that was after I ran the engine
a while to recharge the batt, plus the drive to the place to check it. That night I put my DMM on it and it said 12.7V just sitting
in the parking lot.
When the neutral switch was changed, they ran tests on the battery ,
charging system and starter, passed ok.
I saw my friend under the passenger side with the hammer so I went under there last night for a peek,
the large red wire has some insulation peeled back a little, both nuts have
a lot of rust on them, so that could be
the original starter in there from the Ford factory. Theres 2 bolts, not
sure what size but they seem rusted.
So I dont think they took the starter out for any testing.
I'm thinking of trying to change it myself, this morning was pretty cold for a parking lot fix on the blacktop,
the other shop it was at is trying to pencil me in for this afternoon.
Your friend may be right that the starter is on its way out, but the
"engine stopped at TDC" explanation doesn't really make sense. A >good
starter should be able to crank the engine wherever it stops. Engines stop >> against compression all the time, and the starter is >designed to handle
that.
I guess it can explain why the battery lost its power, starter is drawing >> a
decent chunk of amps each time you turn the
key and hear the click. Eventually I didnt even hear the click because
the
battery went down lower than enough to
do that anymore.
I guess it can explain why the battery lost its power, starter is
drawing a
decent chunk of amps each time you turn the
key and hear the click. Eventually I didnt even hear the click
because the
battery went down lower than enough to
do that anymore.
Well progress for sure.
It died again with same symptoms, I have the new starter with me in the truck
so was gonna do it in a strip mall parking lot, however one wire
terminal is
already on the starter with a note to splce it to the exisgint wire with
the heat shrink
already sleeved over it. I dont have a heagt gun or room to splice so I
went back to
trying to revive the old starter.
Got a breaker bar on the crank nut and moved it a little cw past the compression stroke I assumed
it was on...kept the Noco booster on the batt, but not even a click
anymore.
Hammered the starter, and that seemed to do the trick....but I did put
my fingers on the large
copper stud with the nut and terminal on the starter and moved it a
little before hammering it.
Drove to Sunoco and it died again.
Turned the crank with the breaker bar, nothing. Tapped the starter with
the sledge, nothing.
Twisted that copper stud with the red terminal , I guess thats main DC
to the starter and started up.
I remember seeing my friend with a For Ranchero use the sledg trick till
one day it stopped helping
and he twisted that stud and got it to start.
I think the copper stud directly hits the amrmature like a brush in
there and it gradually moves away
from the armature contacts if I remember right.
So twisting it may have got me some better contact temporarily...as it
died again at the mall.....
Too hot in there to grab it without gloves, but I let it kool down and
it still only clicks. But will try twisting the
stud again.
Other thing I dont get is when it does this , the cabin looses power and
the key in ignition chime sounds like
a relay buzzing with not enough power.
Battery reads 12.3V on my DMM, but its possible maybe the battery
current is lousy. Alternator when running says
its taking 14V, I think usually it should be 15?
So far I always had to have the Noco booster on it to get it to start.
How this starter works:
Starter has a solenoid attached to it.
The ignition switch applies power to the solenoid.
The solenoid then pulls in the steel plunger.
When that happens the plunger, via a lever, moves the starter gear drive into the flywheel gears.
Inside the solenoid is a copper disk or ring that the solenoid pulls / pushes against the large battery wire terminal inside of the solenoid and against the starter motor terminal and activate the starter motor.
The copper parts in the solenoid usually burn or wear out over time preventing the ring from making contact to both terminals.
Other possibilities are:
The large battery wire is corroded or dirty at the solenoid or battery.
The battery is not sufficiently grounded to the engine AND truck body.
Or the solenoid is working ok but the starter armature contacts have worn out or burned.
I would take the starter, drive, and solenoid apart to see exactly which part has gone bad then either replace that part or just replace the entire starter, drive, and solenoid and be done with it.
Clean all the electrical connections while you are at it.
I don't have a heat gun but find that a Bic Lighter works just fine.
Just don't catch anything on fire.
Thanks thats more or less how I thought it works.
So I had Firestone replace the starter and the alternator. I
warned them about the batt
but they said it did not fail on them and like (2) other
places that tested the battery, they
too said it is "ok".
He said the starter and alternator are the originals in
there from 1998 at the factory.
Sounds like they tested the charging system, so I drove it
out of there around the corner and parked it where
I work. I decided to try starting it after turning it off
and of course we are back to the same problem, a click
and loss of power in the cabin.
I took the Noco booster thats suppose to deliver 1000A-a and
maually placed it into the boost mode,
bypassing the relay clicking in it which again says the
battery its attached to is low.
Thought for sure the 1000A extra would make it turn over,
but to my amazement, same thing.
So the battery is out and back on my trickle charger like it
was this morning. Soon as I put it on,
it drew over 5 amps which was probably why the Noco reacted
like it did.
Gonna let it charge overnight so it barely pulls any current
at all, then put it in, start up and drive to
a place that stocks a new battery.
Then back to Firestone to have them double check its
charging....maybe a regulator is bad.
Else the battery can only hold a charge for a few startups,
but I would have thought they let the
engine run to charge the battery and be sure.
How this starter works:
Starter has a solenoid attached to it.
The ignition switch applies power to the solenoid.
The solenoid then pulls in the steel plunger.
When that happens the plunger, via a lever, moves the
starter gear drive into the flywheel gears.
Inside the solenoid is a copper disk or ring that the
solenoid pulls / pushes against the large battery wire
terminal inside of the solenoid and against the starter
motor terminal and activate the starter motor.
The copper parts in the solenoid usually burn or wear out
over time preventing the ring from making contact to both
terminals.
Other possibilities are:
The large battery wire is corroded or dirty at the
solenoid or battery.
The battery is not sufficiently grounded to the engine AND
truck body.
Or the solenoid is working ok but the starter armature
contacts have worn out or burned.
I would take the starter, drive, and solenoid apart to see
exactly which part has gone bad then either replace that
part or just replace the entire starter, drive, and
solenoid and be done with it.
Clean all the electrical connections while you are at it.
I don't have a heat gun but find that a Bic Lighter works
just fine.
Just don't catch anything on fire.
Thanks thats more or less how I thought it works.
So I had Firestone replace the starter and the alternator. I warned them about the batt
but they said it did not fail on them and like (2) other places that
tested the battery, they
too said it is "ok".
He said the starter and alternator are the originals in there from 1998
at the factory.
Sounds like they tested the charging system, so I drove it out of there around the corner and parked it where
I work. I decided to try starting it after turning it off and of course
we are back to the same problem, a click
and loss of power in the cabin.
I took the Noco booster thats suppose to deliver 1000A-a and maually
placed it into the boost mode,
bypassing the relay clicking in it which again says the battery its
attached to is low.
Thought for sure the 1000A extra would make it turn over, but to my amazement, same thing.
So the battery is out and back on my trickle charger like it was this morning. Soon as I put it on,
it drew over 5 amps which was probably why the Noco reacted like it did.
Gonna let it charge overnight so it barely pulls any current at all,
then put it in, start up and drive to
a place that stocks a new battery.
Then back to Firestone to have them double check its charging....maybe a regulator is bad.
Else the battery can only hold a charge for a few startups, but I would
have thought they let the
engine run to charge the battery and be sure.
How this starter works:
Starter has a solenoid attached to it.
The ignition switch applies power to the solenoid.
The solenoid then pulls in the steel plunger.
When that happens the plunger, via a lever, moves the starter gear
drive into the flywheel gears.
Inside the solenoid is a copper disk or ring that the solenoid pulls /
pushes against the large battery wire terminal inside of the solenoid
and against the starter motor terminal and activate the starter motor.
The copper parts in the solenoid usually burn or wear out over time
preventing the ring from making contact to both terminals.
Other possibilities are:
The large battery wire is corroded or dirty at the solenoid or battery.
The battery is not sufficiently grounded to the engine AND truck body.
Or the solenoid is working ok but the starter armature contacts have
worn out or burned.
I would take the starter, drive, and solenoid apart to see exactly
which part has gone bad then either replace that part or just replace
the entire starter, drive, and solenoid and be done with it.
Clean all the electrical connections while you are at it.
I don't have a heat gun but find that a Bic Lighter works just fine.
Just don't catch anything on fire.
I would look at the battery cables and connections, especially the ground ends. Ensure they are all clean and well secured and look for cracks/fraying/corrosion of the cables.
--
Andrew Muzi
am@yellowjersey.org
Open every day since 1 April, 1971
I put an ammeter in series with the + terminal, about half an amp when
you first connect the ammeter,
then it goes to about 160mA....
I have read it should be only a few mA?
160mA is good. I read your post to AMuzi about getting a new battery.--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
It sounds like there were multiple problems at the same time. That
makes it harder to diagnose but you figured it all out regardless.
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