starter issues

[mitchp09]

i have a 2001 ranger edge 4.0 automatic, i bought it about 2 weeks ago and it ran and drove fine but i went to change the corroded terminals and now it wont start. ive checked all the fuses and grounds they are all good, when i turn the ekey nothing happens except for the starter relay clicking, i jumped the starter with a screw driver and it fired right up so i thought it was the solenoid. well i took it down to the parts store and they tested it and said the solenoid and starter were fine and that it works great. so i tested the hot wire down to the starter and it works fine, the ground wire grounds out like its supposed to. The yellow wire that i think goes to the ignition didnt have power to it at all, so i had my friend hold the key over and still nothing, does anybody know if this wire is supposed to have any power when the key is held over??? Everything was fine until i changed the terminals which makes me think something could have shorted out with the ignition, any suggestions??

 

[mitchp09]

btw i have tried other batteries, and exchanged mine for a new one

 

[mitchp09]

any ideas, i really dont have the money to take it to a mechanic

 

[H munster]

Try swapping your relays around. If that doesnt work start looking for a bad cable. They go bad even though they look fine.

 

[--weezl--]

hold on, ok, so your truck was fine, you drove it into the garage, popped the hood, changed ignition terminals, and now it's acting like a dead battery?

when you say you jumped the starter, do you mean the battery positive lead on the solenoid, to the small signal lead on the solenoid? and this allowed the truck to turn over...

if jumping those leads allowed it to start it's the power TO the signal lead, you could do what i did on my f-150 and my 250, run a wire from under your dashboard, to the small post, bolt this on here, or something along those lines, on the dash end, put a momentary switch, i prefer push buttons, connect the other end of this to your fuse box, something with a decent size fuse.

best part of this, it makes it a lot harder to steal your truck, as you can turn the key all you want, and no starter, unless you know about the button, the truck is off...

and as a supplement, the reasons i did this, my f-150, when you turn the key to start, it got kinda stiff, and sometimes worked, you had to wiggle the steering wheel, this problem got worse and worse to the point where it didn't work ever...

my f-250, something dropped off in the back of the ignition, and you turn it to on just like normal, but from there it will turn another 180* with no resistance, and no spring back

 

[mitchp09]

thanks for all the help, i tried swapping relays around and got nothing, i was about to do what weezl suggested and put a push button starter but i began looking under my dash and saw some wires hanging down so i pulled off the panel and the metal plate and there was an aftermarket anti theft system installed that went wacko when i disconnected the battery, i couldnt find a valet switch for it so i ended up cutting it out and hooking the ignition wires back together and now it works great, thanks