new starter but it does not start

[RedDeer]

There it is, my 1993 4.0 4x4 ranger is not starting ,took the starter off tested it and it was dead got a new (used ) one and tested it it worked.I put it in place than asked my friend to jumpstart my truck since the battery was dead.There is what happen the starter never turned all I heard was a fast clic clic clic sound near the relay .and my positive pole was really hot afterwards any idea what it is i am sick of bumming rides Thank you

 

[Duane867]

Your battery is too fubar to start the truck. Its so low all the charge from the truck lending the voltage is going to the battery trying to put a charge in it. The clicking sound your hearing is normal if you have a super low battery. Its the starter relay trying to kick over.
Remove the battery cables from your battery, remove battery cables from your friends battery, hook the cables up to his battery while its still in his truck, then hook the other end of the cables up to the positive and negative leads in your truck.
This will save you having to remove his battery to try and start your truck.
If it starts you either have a bad battery or it sat so long your battery drained down.

Be sure to keep the positive lead in your truck off anything metallic though. Just stick a rag under it or something while you crank it up.

 

[RedDeer]

Thank you 867 that was fast and it gave me hope so i guess my battery is forever dead and will never charged again.

 

[Duane867]

Well theres no sense in saying thats the case just yet. You should try to charge it any way or have it tested before you buy a new one. Damn things are expensive any more.

 

[RedDeer]

So I got a brand new battery but the car does not start,in fact everything went wrong with the new battery the negative cable melted off .Any idea what went wrong I really need to get that truck on the road,the starter did not even turned ,any idea would be appreciated ,i dont know a lot about car my next step is to bring it to a shop for a diagnostic

 

[Cadger]

it melted the neg cable? hmm, thats an odd one. the starter may be drawing to much? or perhaps you switched the ground strap to the starter with the batt+? (i've seen it)

but i've never witnessed a neg cable melt off.

 

[RedDeer]

Just to make sure that I did not switch the groung strap with the batt pos how do I know

 

[Cadger]

on my truck, the ground strap goes from the batt- down to the starter mounting bolt/stud and is secured via a nut. not sure if the 93's have that as well.

you could always do a resistance test quickly to see witch is which.

i'm pulling at straws, but just trying tho think of things you may have not thought of...

if the cables are right, do a voltage drop test on the pos side of the starter circuit, if thats all good, do it on the neg side. Resistance builds heat, which could cause the wire to melt, on the other hand high amps can do it aswell.

 

[cody93]

yikes, cable melting off eh? sounds like a bad short to me. i would seriously check all wiring you recently worked on for short outs or incorrect wiring.