1983 Ranger starting issue

[RangerFabWorks]

either the battery is shot, or the starter is hung up.

 

[jdubau55]

Would a rolling start help unstick it?

 

[Mark_88]

Roll starting (jump starting, as we used to call it) will only turn the engine and cause it to start as if the starter was turning the flywheel...

So, no...it won't turn the starter...but if you try rapping on the top part of the starter (not the bigger body, but the little thing on top....that is where the plunger is detonated to cause much booming...(as my friend in the ESP class describes it)...

To jump the solenoid, you need to put a screw driver between the two posts on the solenoid...but be careful...too much heat on the centre plastic will cause it to crack...but at least they're fairly inexpensive to replace...

Oh...there should be a small boot on one of the terminals...make sure that is tight...it has caused my starter to fail...but did not affect the lights...so you've probably got a combination of poor ground and dirty terminals...

Tighten the ground wire that goes from the battery to the starter...that is most likely your problem right there...

 

[jdubau55]

By top part do you mean while installed hit it on the top like from the hood side???

Or do you mean like the end that points toward the front of the truck opposite of the geared end???

 

[jdubau55]

Got home and gave the starter a few whacks from different angles. Nothing.

Hooked it up to my car to make sure it had plenty of juice. Nothing.

All I hear is like a grinding/scraping/scratching sound when I try to turn it over. Sometimes nothing. Its def coming from the engine bay and I feel like its coming from around where the starter is.

 

[dangerranger83]

It might be the starter.....I have one for an 87. If they are the same Ill sell it to you cheap. Its only 3 years old.

 

[jdubau55]

After running a search on Advance Auto the same part # starter came up for both the '83 and '87. So I am assuming they are they same. I will ask my fiances dad what he wants to do with it.

 

[Larry02451]

It sounds like a bad starter to me but you might check the connections on the starter solenoid and starter. Also now that you cleaned the battery terminals you might try the jumper cables again. The battery may be weak if it had a bad connection for some time.