well im doing some work on my fathers truck. its a 1996 F-150 2wd standard cab long bed. it is an XL truck with the 4.9L Auto. the problem im having is it doesnt start..pretty basic huh? when you turn the key it just clicks....and nothing.....so i tested the bat...its got plenty of voltage...i replaced the starter yesterday and the truck started right up. this morning....dead. click and nothing happens....NOW i was thinking it was the starter solenoid on the fender so i jumped it using a screw driver and still nothing but click.....and ideas??? could this be a bad starter right of the bat??? or could it be something else?

thanks

Very strange indeed. Which posts did you short on the solenoid?

the two big ones on the sides. the one from the batt and the one going to the starter.

Try shorting from the big 3 o'clock pin to the smaller 12 o'clock pin. If there's a rubber boot over the 12 o'clock pin go ahead and remove it, short the posts, and replace the boot.

ok i will try that tomorrow.

Make sure to first try and start it with a key tomorrow. If you get a click with the key again and a start by shorting the solenoid then you've found your problem

I agree with Skan,that's how I test mine.Don't do it too many times though.I'm kinda skeptical on whether or not it works,cause there's been two times i've tried it and had the brand new solenoids freeze up on me.It's probably just crappy solenoids,but idk.

Never buy aftermarket solenoids.But i'm sure we all know that.

There's nothing wrong with shorting the solenoid like that. In fact that is all the internal inductive circuit (switching circuit) is doing in the first place-- when you turn the key it sends +12v to the top pin (the inductive circuit), when 12v hits that pin it closes the circuit between the battery and the starter. By shorting the 3 and 12 o'clock pins you are bypassing the ignition switch and sending +12V to the inductive circuit manually.

Oh okay,that makes sense.Thanks for the explanation.

check your grounds too.....if they look cruddy pull em off and clean the surfaces then bolt em back up.

flareside_thunder said:

check your grounds too.....if they look cruddy pull em off and clean the surfaces then bolt em back up.

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Grounds?We don't need no stinkin grounds.My truck doesn't have the engine to firewall ground,or the engine to frame grounds.I have no problem starting my truck.I think the Electronically trucks are more picky about grounds than the older ones.

Grounds and the cables themselves.

If the cable is all corroded inside, maybe you just bumped it right to make contact when you changed the starter, and then driving around it lost it again.

Would jumping the solenoid bypass the neutral safety switch? Will it start with the tranny in neutral?

john112deere said:

Grounds and the cables themselves.

If the cable is all corroded inside, maybe you just bumped it right to make contact when you changed the starter, and then driving around it lost it again.

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Oooo good call. I actually had the exact same symptoms and it was due to corroded cables/battery terminals. How could I forget

fatherdoug said:

Would jumping the solenoid bypass the neutral safety switch? Will it start with the tranny in neutral?

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Good point.

fatherdoug said:

Would jumping the solenoid bypass the neutral safety switch? Will it start with the tranny in neutral?

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Yes it does. We did it with Ryan's truck on the Pismo trip.

Skandocious said:

Yes it does. We did it with Ryan's truck on the Pismo trip.

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Interesting. I was thinking it was gonna be difficult to hold the clutch in and short the pins at the same time.

Mine has a little wire from the fender solenoid to the starter solenoid. In damp weather it will sometimes give me the same problem. I got long arms so I open the hood reach down and give it a wiggle and I'm off again!!!

ok this weekend i worked on the truck. jumped the leads and stil a click...so that ruled out the solenoid. i then had my father get in the truck while i was under neath moving wires around to see maybe its a slightly loose connection?...turned the key and click....BUT the very loud click was the starter itself. so it wanted to engage but couldn't by the sound of it. so my next thought was maybe a bad ground like a few of you have suggested....i take the ground cable off the starter bolt and clean the crap put of it...BAM started right up a few times. cool its fixed...this morning same thing click click click...SO i take a set of jumper cables and connect one side to the ground bolt on the starter and then the other clamp i connected to the negative post on the battery....bam started right up ....took off the clamp...click..click...reconnected it...started right up every time...so i now have a negative battery cable coming in the morning....im almost positive(PUN intended haha) that this will fix the whole issue...i hope...ill let you all know tomorrow

89frankenford said:

im almost positive(PUN intended haha)

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Hardy har har

Sounds like you're on the right track buddy. Keep us posted.