Starter issues.

[Falcon333]

Hello, I'm new here. I've frequented this site looking for information before but as of yet I've always been able to find what I needed without creating a profile and posting. So here is my dilemma.

Yesterday evening I started my truck and it made that noise it would make if it were already running.. but it wasn't. It started up after that, I drove it home and parked it.

This morning I turned the ignition and nothing. All of the gauges light up properly. The door dings and the battery gauge reads normal (it's a fairly new battery)

So I did a fast google and replaced the solenoid. I thought (that is an easy fix) but it's a no go. Still does nothing. I own a chiltons but it's at my garage (miles away from my current location) Before I go and get a new starter I figured I'd ask ya'll for some advice. I was thinking it could be a relay or something simple like that- but I can't find a diagram as to where this relay would be or how I could test it. Thoughts?

-thanks in advance for your help.

 

[CajunPwnStar]

Is the starter doing anything now...i.e Any noise when you go to start it, like clicking?

The noise you heard, if describing correctly, is the ring gear teeth grinding. You could have tooth damage or excessive runout of the ring gear.

 

[Andy D]

With truck in park , or neutral , cross the big terminals on the starter. Also, is the battery charged? You will probably have to do this from underneath. If the starter engages and the truck is in gear it will move. Be careful! The best you can do is to buy a volt/ohmmeter. Do the dash lights dim with the key in start? If not it may be a NSS or the clutch switch. The possibilities are huge in an old Ford.

 

[Falcon333]

Is the starter doing anything now...i.e Any noise when you go to start it, like clicking?

The noise you heard, if describing correctly, is the ring gear teeth grinding. You could have tooth damage or excessive runout of the ring gear.

No, there is only silence when I turn the key ignition

 

[Falcon333]

With truck in park , or neutral , cross the big terminals on the starter. Also, is the battery charged? You will probably have to do this from underneath. If the starter engages and the truck is in gear it will move. Be careful! The best you can do is to buy a volt/ohmmeter. Do the dash lights dim with the key in start? If not it may be a NSS or the clutch switch. The possibilities are huge in an old Ford.

The battery is maybe 7 months old. I haven't had any reason to suspect it's not holding a good charge. I can try to do the starter cross terminal thing tomorrow after work. My truck is an automatic.

-thanks for the help guys.

 

[txgocartB3000]

Try starting it in neutral.

Ray

 

[CajunPwnStar]

Like Andy said, try jumping the terminals. Take a heavy gauge wire or maybe a screwdriver and touch the power terminal(it'll be the one coming from the battery). Jump it over to the terminal with the smaller wire. This bypasses the solenoid all together. Someone needs to be in the ruck attempting to start it normall when you make the jump. If good contact is made, the wire or screw driver will "clunk" to the terminals and stick. If you just see a bunch of sparks, you're grounding it.

You can also follow that little wire as it goes to the mag switch or rather the starter relay. Should be on your fender, I believe.

You can also jump the clutch pedal switch, though I'm not sure how to do this on a Ranger, but it's pretty easy on a Freightliner Cascadia lol. Just need a paper clip.


Here's some troubleshooting...

 

[CajunPwnStar]

Here's the starter circuit as well...

 

[jeremysdad]

Try starting it in neutral.

Ray

Try this. And possibly in between gears.

Had a Pinto that would only start in-between neutral and drive...just needed a NSS...go figure!

 

[Falcon333]

WOOOOHOOOOO!!!! IT STARTED IN NEUTRAL!! sooo if I'm understanding this correctly it's safe to say it's the NSS?

-thanks again SOOO much! it's like having a bunch of tiny Ford Ranger mechanics in my pocket!

 

[Falcon333]

When I get off of work here in about an hour and a half I'm going to go to my truck and start figuring this out. I googled a bit and saw that with older vehicles the shifter can get loose which can cause it to not fully set in park. I figure when I get home I'll try to move around the shifter and see if I can get it to start in park. If it does I'll assume it's a loose shifter (this is my thinking) and I'll try to find a way to tighten it. If not I'll purchase the neutral safety switch (NSS) -does this sound about right to ya'll? I just don't want to waste my money on parts I don't need. I already installed a new solenoid for no reason.

 

[jeremysdad]

When I get off of work here in about an hour and a half I'm going to go to my truck and start figuring this out. I googled a bit and saw that with older vehicles the shifter can get loose which can cause it to not fully set in park. I figure when I get home I'll try to move around the shifter and see if I can get it to start in park. If it does I'll assume it's a loose shifter (this is my thinking) and I'll try to find a way to tighten it. If not I'll purchase the neutral safety switch (NSS) -does this sound about right to ya'll? I just don't want to waste my money on parts I don't need. I already installed a new solenoid for no reason.

Some NSS can be adjusted (through rotation), as well. Not sure for yours, but might be worth a look.

Old thread with instructions for testing: http://therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=119245

Ford loves that light blue/pink stripe wire for the nss...72 Pinto was the same color...

 

[txgocartB3000]

Any update?

Before you go buy a NSS try to see if your shifter cable under the steering column is held down tightly.

My truck had the cheap plastic hold down that Ford uses on a lot of vehicles.

Dorman makes a replacement part but I used zip ties and she has been that way since.

Will replace the correct part when and if the zip ties fail.

Ray

here is the link

http://www.therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=53854

 

[Falcon333]

Any update?

Before you go buy a NSS try to see if your shifter cable under the steering column is held down tightly.

My truck had the cheap plastic hold down that Ford uses on a lot of vehicles.

Dorman makes a replacement part but I used zip ties and she has been that way since.

Will replace the correct part when and if the zip ties fail.

Ray

here is the link

http://www.therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=53854

I'm kind of embarrassed (though I don't think I should be. I'm pretty new to this whole "working on cars/trucks thing" When I got home it started in park just fine. In fact it hasn't failed to start since so I'm sure it just didn't fully shift into park to begin with. Thanks for all the help. I'm sure the issue is something like what you're talking about. It's probably something loose but it's not dire yet. I've started it 20 times since then. Just fine.