2.3L ('83-'97) 1995 No crank, No start, only click

[salguod]

My 1995 Ranger 2.3L 5-speed will not start. I replaced the starter and it briefly solved the problem but it has returned.

When I replaced the starter I cut and spliced with heat shrink the last ~6" of the small wire going to the starter, as instructed with the starter.

Before the starter replacement and leading up to this failure I would get clicking and then it would crank and start. Now, when I turn the key I get a single click or clunk and that's it.

Battery measures 12.3 volts across the terminals. Jump starting with a jump pack did not help.

Both battery cable terminals have been replaced be the previous owner with crimp on terminals. I pulled each apart, cleaned them and reassembled them but there is no change. There's also an added ground cable that bolts to the firewall (see attachment).

My thinking is that I'm not getting enough current to the starter and I need to replace both battery cables, however it looks like at least the positive cable is not available. It looks like a specific cable with a large lead to the starter, I assume, and a smaller lead that does to a rubber block with two terminals on a fender mounted device that I'm not familiar with (see attachement). Looking more closely, it seems that the wire from the battery only connects to the bottom terminal of this device (relay?). If I want to replace this cable, can I run a 4 ga. cable from the battery to the starter and a secondary, smaller wire from the battery to this device? Rock auto seems to have the proper negative cable (https://bit.ly/2Oal9Hv), which I hope will replace both the negative cables in my truck. Does it look like the right cable?

Thanks for your help.

 

[RonD]

The inner fender mounted unit is the 12v Power distribution for the whole vehicle and also a starter relay

Ford used to use a starter motor with just a solenoid on top and no relay, then they changed it to combo unit on the starter motor
But during the transition years it also had the starter relay on the inner fender

So the larger positive battery cable runs directly to the starter motor, it needs to supply 60-70 amps all at once
The smaller positive cable runs to the fender mounted starter relay post that will have alternator's 12v wire and engine fuse box 12v wire, so the power distribution point for the whole vehicle
The other larger post on this relay will just have 1 wire that runs to starter motors smaller wire that you spliced, this is to activate the starter motor

This fender mounted relay will have a smaller post and wire from ignition switch, this is what activates this relay, which inturn activates the starter motor's relay
So a double relay setup until Ford changed over the engine wiring harness to activate the one relay on the starter motor

Make SURE transmission is in Park or Neutral(manual), key OFF!!!!

Now you can manually activate starter motor to make sure "new" starter and its relay are working
On the fender mounted relay(pictured) are the two larger posts
Use a short jumper wire to connect them, starter motor should activate when they are connected
If not and you do not hear a "click" from the relay on the starter motor, then new unit is bad, it happens, or that small wire you spliced is bad so starter's relay is not getting the 12volts on its small wire

 

[JMF661]

The generic cables at an autozone or wherever can work, just have to pick out the right ones, lengths, connections.

It seems like you may have a bad connection, maybe a bad ground. The positive and negative battery leads are not too difficult to replace. You end up just have to cut a bunch of factory tape to separate the battery leads from other wires. Zip ties work pretty well to secure the wires back.

Above RonD is probably most correct in testing out that ignition distributor. Maybe a good place to start rather than throwing more parts at it.

 

[scotts90ranger]

I hate those stupid quick splice ends, they are horrible and don't handle much of any amps... If replacing any of those STUPID sheet metal ends leave one end as a ring and use that, on my '97 I'm using one of those cheap ends just as a terminal clamp, I left the nut on the end of the wire and bolted that to one of the bolt holes, works great... On my '00 Explorer someone put one of those ends on it and I soldered the end together with a pencil torch and I think flipped the sheet metal clamp over to get more force, not ideal but it's worked.

You have a bad connection somewhere, I would take everything in that circuit apart, clean out any corrosion and see what that does, there's a lot of points for corrosion in that setup. Personally I would be tempted to undo those ends, get some appropriate ring terminals for the battery cables and solder them on then get boat post converters with studs... but new cables would be ideal.

 

[salguod]

I'm going to replace the cables. It looks like I need to remove the old so I can take them to the parts store and make sure I get the right ones.

 

[Locotomb]

Its the starter relay.

@RonD I think they didn't hear you the first time. So I figured they might hear me maybe.


@ Salguod Don't waste your time and money on a bunch of cables and stuff. Get a relay and be done with it. These go out way too often. I've only had to replace one starter in 25 years, but have replaced at least 5 relays in that time. It's that little box in line on your inner-fender.

 

[salguod]

The Ranger is a backup vehicle, so I haven't done anything with it yet. My plan was to jump the relay first, but I honestly forgot about it until you posted. Thanks @Locotomb for the nudge.

So I want out and jumped it with a screwdriver and the starter fired each time. So, bad relay, right?

However, I then got in the truck and hit the key several times and the starter fired just fine each time. Do the relays fail intermittently?

It's only $18 at Autozone and hould be easy to replace, I may just do it.

This may be unrelated, but the new starter has a repeating metalic knock to it when it runs. Could that be related?

 

[scotts90ranger]

When the relay on the starter gets less than 7 volts it will disengage, if the relay on the starter is bad it will give insufficient voltage to the starter and do that. The starter relay kicks the starter gear out when it engages so it will be a "thunk", if the voltage drops below what will engage the starter it will disengage, which would be from the fender mounted relay. That is a definitely reasonable starting point.