Help- Cant get a new engine to fire.

[frankg]

Long time reader, first time poster

I just rebuilt my son's 95 ranger 2.3 motor and 5 speed. Went to fire it and only got the relay click. I bought a brand new battery and verified the charge, bench tested the starter, re-checked all the connections and re did the battery terminals and tried jumping the relay.
CLICK
Nothing. We rechecked all the connections, got dash lights and turned the key.
CLICK.
Wits end. Any and all suggestions accepted.

 

[Earl43P]

Can you turn the engine with the crank bolt?
Did you reconnect all the grounds? B- to frame to block, head to wiper motor bolt (or firewall).

Take the starter to an AP store and have it tested.
Buy new + and - battery cables if it tests good.

Do the dash lights stay out when you get the click?
Do you have to disconnect the battery to get the dash lights back and to click again?

Inquiring minds want to know more.
Have you tried to push it and pop the clutch in 2nd gear? I'd turn the crank bolt first....

 

[frankg]

thanks for replying

Can you turn the engine with the crank bolt?
Yes, we were able to turn the engine when we were replacing the timing belt.

Did you reconnect all the grounds? B- to frame to block, head to wiper motor bolt (or firewall).
Going to have to verify that... I don't think the head to the firewall was reconnected.

Take the starter to an AP store and have it tested.
Yep, it was fine.

Buy new + and - battery cables if it tests good.
No, but did clean up the wires and terminals. Will do this.

Do the dash lights stay out when you get the click?
Yes

Do you have to disconnect the battery to get the dash lights back and to click again?
No

Have you tried to push it and pop the clutch in 2nd gear? I'd turn the crank bolt first....
No, I thought of it but wanted to leave that as a last resort.

 

[tomw]

"Jumping the relay" ... means exactly what? If you jumped from the + (battery side of the relay) to the small relay terminal, and it clicked, ho hum.
If you used jumper cables and jumpered from the battery side to the starter side of the relay, you'd get a huge spark, and it will make you jump back...
I would replace the relay, or take it apart (drill the ends of the rivets off) and inspect the internal contacts. They are likely all rough and blackened. The contacts will work better if cleaned and ground back to smooth surface by file or abrasive paper. You can flip the movable contact to provide a new surfact. Bolt back together with 4 nuts & bolts.
tom

 

[frankg]

Thanks Tom. I jumped the relay after reading online that it would allow us to see if it was the ignition. The truck was running when we started working on it, but the son has one of those "I dont need a key to start" trucks and uses the cylinder ears without the key. I bought a new cylinder, but didnt want to add anything else to the mix without checking causes. I'm thinking ground strap as Earl suggested, just waiting for work to end so I can check.

 

[RonD]

Manual trans Rangers have a Clutch safety switch(NSS-Neutral Safety Switch), it is on the push rod on the clutch pedal.
The clutch pedal must be pushed in all the way to Close this switch, once Closed the power from the ignition/key switch will pass to the starter relay/solenoid which activates the starter motor.
This is the "S" connection on the starter relay/solenoid, the smaller wire.

If you apply 12volts to the "S" post on the Relay, starter motor will activate.......REGARDLESS of clutch being in or out and REGARDLESS of trans being IN GEAR.......so be careful

In the early '90s the clutch switch wiring was Pink IN and Pink OUT, "S" wire at the relay was Red/Green stripe, so Pink OUT is spliced to Red/Green wire

 

[Mikel89us]

Does the starter have a solenoid on it too? I believe it should that year, and if so, use a test light on the small wire, get inside, push the clutch in, try to start it, and see if the light turns on. That will well you if you have power to the solenoid on the starter, if not, trace back from there.

 

[tomw]

frankg, how did you jump the relay? Small connector to B+ or using jumper cables between the in B+ and the out B+ leading to the starter? The former gets you a click. The latter will get you a spark and cranking if the starter motor & solenoid are functional.
As noted above, does this starter have a cylindrical solenoid mounted on top of the starter motor itself? If so, check those connections, or use a test light to see if you get power to the connectors (large & small) when you turn the ignition to START.
tom

 

[frankg]

All,

Thanks for your great input. It was the block to body ground. Cranked up right after finding the strap in the parts pile and connecting. Now I have to figure out all the weird little noises that popped up, move things around and we should be good to go.

 

[RonD]

Great that you found the problem, but that should have been it, lol.

Battery ground cable should on the engine block, often on one of the starter mounting bolts, this is because starter motor and alternator use/pass the highest amps.
Block/head to body/firewall ground strap is for gauges and computer.

Assuming you have a starter mounted relay/solenoid the body ground shouldn't have been an issue in getting engine to turn over, unless the battery ground cable has been attached to the frame/body by mistake, which should be changed as that will effect battery charging.

If you have a fender mounted starter relay then yes that strap could have been the issue, since it is grounded to the body/inner fender.