87 broncoII wont start Clicking noise

[master hec0]

so today its a blizzard in southern alberta. so i decide to take the 4x4 b2 out it drives fine runs fine starts fine then i go to take it out again 2 hours later. the damn thing wont start and just clicks at me so what would it most likly be?
solenoid,battery,alternator,starter? or bad ground. am i missing anything?
i looked and connections seem to be good i doubt its a battery since it started earlier with no hesitation. just give me some input here

 

[martin]

favorite problem is the ground on the motor. try taking a booster cable and put one end on the battery neg. and the other end on the motor, see if it starts.

 

[trail B2]

What I like to do is turn on the headlights and try to start it if the lights dim way down its not enough juice.Battery connections cables.If the lights stay bright solenoid or starter.

 

[master hec0]

What I like to do is turn on the headlights and try to start it if the lights dim way down its not enough juice.Battery connections cables.If the lights stay bright solenoid or starter.

so i just went out and checked it and now it clicks very slowly and pauses and the lights go quite dim. so now i wonder do batterys just randomly decided that they dont want to work no more out of the blue even when used less then 2 hours earlier? or worse the alternator isnt delivering enough charge oh well i guess i will go hook up the battery to my charger to see if its dead then charge it and see if it holds a charge. maybe just throw an alternator in for fun i got one laying around anyways

 

[Nhaz]

sounds like a bad battery. and yes they can just bugger off randomly. this is usually due to crap build up in the bottom of the battery. you can't maintain them really.

 

[master hec0]

i had an extra "die hard" battery in my garage and it works just fine now.
so far my opinion on energizer is crap. in the last year i have used 4 batteries in this. one had a cracked case and the other 2 were energizers and just did that clicking thing. sure i got one free and the other for 20$ but they weren't even half way to there expiry date. die hard sounds good

 

[Andres629]

Batteries do that in cold weather sometimes. You CCA's may be too low for what you need.

 

[adsm08]

die hards aren't great either. They last about 3, maybe 4 years, then die suddenly. I know they seem a bit costy, but Motorcrafts are great. Best warranty, last forever. I've seen them go 8+ years and no one ever noticed any problem.

 

[adsm08]

Batteries do that in cold weather sometimes. You CCA's may be too low for what you need.

Keep in mind: High CCA batteries die faster when they sit. If you don't drive it a lot, I'd find the lowest rating you can start the truck with and use that.

 

[Andres629]

I ran an Interstate battery on my '92 Ex back in Saskatchewan. Would see -30* C (-21* F ish...) on a regular basis during winter, and I never had to plug it in. Always managed to crank over. Best battery (and truck!) I've owned thus far.

/edit: I guess I just assumed he drove it most of the time. Kind of missed the part where he just needed it for the 4x4.

 

[retep88]

was your BII stored inside where it was warm. If it's been sitting for a while the battery is probably drained, as soon as it got cold, there wasn't enough juice to turn the engine over. Jump it and you should be good.

before you replace the alternator, start the engine and check the battery voltage. if it's around 13/14 volts, your alternator is working fine.

 

[master hec0]

i had just drove it 2 hours prior to it randomly dying. i aint gonna do the alternator. also i will be happy if this die hard lasts me a year. considering i got it for free and it was only a couple months old when i got it a month ago. came out of a 96 concord that i was given for scrap. also it hasn't been stored indoors since 2001. hopefully i will be driving it more in the coming days. im putting in a heater core tomorrow since this one i get barely any heat and i get smoke in the cab and coolant collects on the inside of the windshield lol.