omightydurn
New Member
- Joined
- Aug 22, 2022
- Messages
- 3
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 1
- Location
- Wichita, KS
- Vehicle Year
- 1989
- Make / Model
- Ford Ranger
- Transmission
- Manual
I'll list, in order, the symptoms I noticed, and the steps I've taken thus far in attempting to fix the problem.
- Truck starts: This is almost certainly an alternator issue right? The battery finally just got too low to keep going without the alternator charging it so the next morning I'm dead in the water? (The employee at O'Reiley's said it had like 12v on the battery when he tested it, but I don't know enough to know if that is a lot or what to expect with that answer, or if it is even right) However I did use the battery charger so I would still but unsure why I did not see any change in behavior, especially with the radio and AC control after charging it if it was JUST an alternator issue.
-Truck doesn't start: This is where I start not knowing what else to do. I've considered the clutch safety switch, and the neutral safety switch but I have no idea to how to check these or diagnose them. Is my starter potentially bad itself, and if so why do I still not have radio or AC control? Is the ignition switch in the steering column bad?
Any advice or contribution to my case would be highly appreciated.
- Attempted to start my truck in the morning. I turn the key and I get nothing, not a sound. The starter does not try to roll over or anything.
- I check the radio and it works for now but all my settings had been reset.
- Blow motor for AC does NOT work although it normally does.
- I don't have an multimeter or battery tester of my own so I remove it and take it to O'Reiley's to be tested.
- Battery tests good (according to them at least).
- I reinstall my battery and attempted to jump across the solenoid to verify whether or not I'm able to get the truck started independent of the internal ignition system.
- I get no noise or interactivity at all with the starter solenoid.
- I replace it.
- Jumping across the solenoid now gives me a grinding/clicking noise but still does not start the truck (my truck is in neutral at this time).
- I now do not have radio/ac controls
- On the chance that for some reason the battery being good is in fact dead (for reasons I'd have to figure out as there is no obvious power draw on the battery 'unless my alternator has gone bad and hasn't been charging my battery') I charge it with a Schumaker Battery charger that plugs into a home outlet.
- I keep the battery on the charge setting (2 - 6v) until the charged/maintain indicator lights up (this surprisingly does not take a long time, 2 hours perhaps)
- I reinstall the battery, same list of symptoms, grinding/clicking noise on the starter solenoid, no action from turning the key in the ignition, no radio, no ac control.
- I check the exterior fuse box in the power distribution relay and the 60 amp ignition fuse is intact. I check all the others to be safe and each fuse is good.
- I haven't checked the interior fuse box yet so this could explain radio and AC control but not ignition, at least not according to the interior fuse chart.
- Truck starts: This is almost certainly an alternator issue right? The battery finally just got too low to keep going without the alternator charging it so the next morning I'm dead in the water? (The employee at O'Reiley's said it had like 12v on the battery when he tested it, but I don't know enough to know if that is a lot or what to expect with that answer, or if it is even right) However I did use the battery charger so I would still but unsure why I did not see any change in behavior, especially with the radio and AC control after charging it if it was JUST an alternator issue.
-Truck doesn't start: This is where I start not knowing what else to do. I've considered the clutch safety switch, and the neutral safety switch but I have no idea to how to check these or diagnose them. Is my starter potentially bad itself, and if so why do I still not have radio or AC control? Is the ignition switch in the steering column bad?
Any advice or contribution to my case would be highly appreciated.