Truck won't start, need help

[bduke23]

Not sure where to post this as I am unsure what is wrong. Went out to the truck to start it and go to school, and it would not start. I thought maybe my battery had died, because it got very cold here last night. I hooked up my booster battery pack, lights and everything came on, but truck still would not start.

Here's what I know:
1)The ignition cylinder has always been a little "sloppy". Today, sometimes when I turned it to the on and start position my dash and check lights would come on very faintly, almost as if there was a bad connection. However, if I tried again I would get a good connection and everything would light up as normal. But, when I then turned it to start, everything completely died.
2) The starter made no noises during any of this. No clicking, grinding, nothing. And it has worked 100% fine all the time, never had any problems with it.
3)I have never had problems starting the truck before. It has always turned over, no matter what the temperature, and always fired up first try.

I'm not too sure where to start on this. Like I said, I have never had problems at all, never had CEL's either. It ran fine as I drove it all yesterday, till I parked it last night. Then this morning, absolutely nothing. I do not have much time to look into it right now, because I have to get to school still and then to work right after, looks like I will be bussing it for a while.

Could it be the ignition cylinder? Solenoid? Starter? What else can I check and how? This is my only vehicle and I need it daily, some help on this would be great.

 

[spin]

I doubt yours is this problem, but it might be. Mine wouldn't start and it was becase the connection at the solenoid was corroded. I unplugged the wire, cleaned the connection, and put some dielectric grease on it. All is good now.

Mine would click, but not start.

 

[CHKNFKR]

First i'd try jumping it off another vehicle, those booster packs don't always cut it. No dice after that, check the starter relay, then the solenoid.

 

[bduke23]

Its a 100 amp charger/booster, and I have used it to start my truck before in the cold with no issues. Plus the truck is nosed into my driveway, and I don't have another vehicle to boost it . I think its an electrical problem or conncetion somewhere. Where is the starter relay? Anyway I can test it, or do I just have to change it right out?

 

[Mark_88]

Did you check the tension on the alternator belt? My lights would come on like that just before my belt broke or if it was loose...

Could also be the alternator itself...or, like you said, a loose connection...

I recently found a wiring harness that was really decrepit and had to bypass it...it was the one for my lights/horn et al, and the power wire to the battery for the ignition was holding on by one thread...it would not start if the temp got below -10* C...until I fixed those wires (and turned down the fuel mixture a bit, but that's because it's carbed)...

 

[bduke23]

Its a brand new belt. I didn't check it, but I don't think thats the problem. Like I said, all gauges and everything has always been completely normal. Is there a way that I can jump the solenoid and bypass it, to see if it starts then? If still nothing happens, then I can start looking farther down the line at maybe the starter cable or starter itself.

 

[p38fln]

When's the last time you changed that battery? I believe its behaving a lot more like a bad battery than anything else - especially since you started the process with a dead battery.

Those battery pack boosters stink, whatever their amperage - they might give you that amperage for 10 or 15 seconds, and a dead battery will suck it all up before it gets to the starter. Get a good battery charger and heavy duty extension cord and let it charge for about an hour then try again.

 

[bduke23]

I can try letting it charge tonight, see if there is any difference in the morning. I have no idea as to the age or condition of the battery as it was in the truck when I bought it. I do know it corrodes the terminals like crazy tho, and is a little smaller than what I would like. I want to replace it eventually, but I am a university student so money is very tight.

 

[p38fln]

Definitely, get that thing charged up as soon as you can - just noticed you're in saskatchewan. If you dont get it charged up, it will probably freeze and burst tonight and then there's no saving it.

 

[LIMA BEAN]

Sounds like a loose/corroded connection is causing the no start and low battery condition.

 

[bduke23]

Yep I am going to put the charger on it as soon as I get home. Had I been thinking I would have left it on before I took off on foot for the bus. I would really like it to just be something loose or corroded... thing is I do not have a lot of electrical experience. Should I just start going from the battery down the line, disconnecting and cleaning everything, then putting it back together? I'm not even really sure of all the parts and pieces that make the circuit either.

 

[LIMA BEAN]

Yea clean the pos/neg on the battery the the pos should go to the start relay, clean both connections there and then from the relay it goes to the starter. Make sure to clean the little wire on the relay too its the "S" terminal from your ignition switch. Check your ground/neg where it connects to the frame also.

 

[TheTopher]

Its a 100 amp charger/booster, and I have used it to start my truck before in the cold with no issues. Plus the truck is nosed into my driveway, and I don't have another vehicle to boost it . I think its an electrical problem or conncetion somewhere. Where is the starter relay? Anyway I can test it, or do I just have to change it right out?

100 amps will give you enough power to charge the battery. But nowhere near enough to actually start it. It's a called booster for a reason, it "boosts" the battery. So if your battery is just a little low and it's now 100amps short of starting the truck, the booster gives it enough boost to get it done. It does not have enough power to start the engine on it's own.



My car starter is a 950 amp model, so unless you have something laying around that's rated at the same CCA as your truck's battery, you need to get your battery charged up or better yet, use a known good battery.

 

[bduke23]

Got it fixed! It was just the dead battery. Bought the biggest one I could fit in the tray, and she fired right up. After looking closer at the old one it definately had frozen, the sides were all bulged out and it my charger wouldn't even recognize that it was hooked up to a battery.

 

[TheTopher]

Got it fixed! It was just the dead battery. Bought the biggest one I could fit in the tray, and she fired right up. After looking closer at the old one it definately had frozen, the sides were all bulged out and it my charger wouldn't even recognize that it was hooked up to a battery.