Shorted sticking Starter Relay?

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When you try to start you get a click, everything dims like you have a dead battery (Radio presets/clock clear - headlights really dim). Sometimes after turning the key off then on, everything works, other times stays like something is sucking all the current for a little while then recovers.

This spring when it did it, I just left it and later had to jump start. Afterwards the battery wouldn't take a charge, so new battery. Today, It recovered once then stuck. When removing neg cable from battery, something was really sucking the battery down.

My question is, could the starter relay solenoid be shorting to ground and sticking? Sometimes releasing and other times just staying shorted until the battery goes dead. Didn't happen until I replaced the starter awhile back.

BTW it's a 1987 2.3L

 

[Dave R]

If your problems started when you replaced the starter, I'd lean towards a bad starter.

 

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Starter Solenoid

Pretty sure it is the relay. Since it seemed to keep stuck for awhile even after turning the key off. By the time I'd get out to check with my DMM it would release. So just did a quick shotgun and Replaced it with a spare aftermarket Glow Plug relay I had for my 97 F250. Looks the same, except metric nuts.

Seems to fix the problem, time will tell.

Thanks

 

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Final Diagnosis

Shotgun repair sometimes doesn't work. Wasn't starter relay, reman starter wasn't it and new battery wasn't it. Turned out to be a spot in the alternator that had a compete short. About a 10° point in the alternator rotation that was a dead short. You wouldn't see any effect while running, but if it stopped in that certain spot it would suck enough current that you couldn't even crank.