Strange problem, is my battery going bad, starter or solinoid?

[OilPatch197]

^For all the spell Nazis, that is solenoid. :\

This is a strange one. 1987 Ford Ranger-2.0 L 5spd

Once in a while I will go out after work and try to start my truck, and it just goes "click" try again and it runs just fine.

Well since we got about 3" of sleet on our drive(uphill) I just backed my truck up halfway to unload the bed. so the front was pointing 30 degrees downhill, after a few hours I tried to start it... "click click click click click" over and over. The starter was not engaging the flywheel.

So I did the obvious, shined up the connectors, tap starter, checked solenoid. Still got the "click click click".

I have had this problem before, and it was the battery(I know these trucks well) So I proceeded to charge the battery on a 10 amp charge, and noticed the charger gauge was pegged to the right.(battery shorted or a fault)

So I tried the 2 amp charge, then I said "what the hell" and turned it onto the 50 amp car start setting. Now when I tried to start it this time, the starter turned very slowly, then I tried another time, and it started right up!

...and now it's working ever since, battery is holding charge.(today at least, it started this morning)

Now I ponder the question, this battery is five years old(or older) as far as I can tell, can this "randomness" of starting issues, can my battery be shorted?

Last summer I did top-off the battery with acid, that is the only maintenance that has been done on this battery.(I did not check the Ph)

 

[Sunk]

I've had this problem before. You may be able to clean and or/tighten the connection on the solenoid, but I eventually had to replace mine. It would do it occasionally, usually at really annoying times.

 

[snake]

Check the battery cables too- they can corode underneath the insulation.

Usually one click is the soleniod- but it could be just starved for power.

 

[bbbb51]

I would bet on batttery cables having a bad connection . Remove em clean and replace em.

 

[OilPatch197]

Okay I'll double check the solenoid area, but the "click click click" was actually the starter trying to engage the flywheel.

Since I was on a hill I "bumped" the engine to make sure it was not a bad spot in the flywheel.

 

[Jim Oaks]

I use to have starting problems where I needed constant jumps.

Turned out to be the starter.

 

[martin]

It is possible to have a bad connection inside the battery, I've seen it a number of times. If you connect a voltmeter directly to the battery it will give you an idea of where you are losing the voltage. If the battery is maintaining at least 12.5 volts you can move the voltmeter connections slowly away from the battery until you find the joint that is causing the problem.

 

[feellnfroggy]

My clicks were corrosion between the cables and terminals, even when they were tight I still had to remove and clean them. As far as battery maintenace goes, whenever I add fluid to a battery I add one aspirin to each cylinder of the battery. It does something to the water and it holds a better charge.

 

[OilPatch197]

Great Ideals everyone, I'll probe the wires, especially the ground wire.(it's that silly one that has the center connector that attaches to the frame.) I got a spare solenoid, so I might was well replace that.

Found this on the internets:

chapter.
The last battery test is the “cranking
voltage test.” This test puts the battery
under load turning the starter and measures
the change in voltage. It, too, is
done with the engine disabled, so that it
cannot start.
Set the voltage range to a range
that includes 12 volts or select the
autoranging feature. Plug the red DMM
lead into the V port and attach the lead
to the positive battery terminal. Attach
the black lead to the negative battery
terminal.
Now, have an assistant crank the
engine for 15 seconds. Observe the voltage
reading during the last three of those
seconds. As the engine cranks, the voltage
reading will go down. If, in the last three
seconds of the test, the reading is 9.6 V or
higher, then the battery has sufficient
cranking voltage. A reading of 9.5 V or
belowmeans that either there is resistance
in the battery cables or that the battery
does not have enough cranking capacity.

I'll repost on Sunday. any other ideals?

 

[Roadkill]

My $.02 in here as well after dealing with a similar problem on the '03 Ex.

Alternator was bad. Not charging properly (bad regulator). This caused the battery to be killed due to it being drawn down too low too many times. So now after a new alternator and putting one of my spare Optima red tops in. Runs like a charm again. Alternator showing proper charge to the battery and the rest of the system.

Just another idea that hasn't been mentioned.

 

[Explorin94]

Do you have a small gage ground wire running from the battery to the body of the truck? If you have that the solenoid is grounding making it "click". That wire is too little for the amperage of the starter for it to work correctly. Look at that wire and see if it has been melting. If it has you have one of two possible problems. 1. Your large gage ground wire is dirty at the block or 2. your negative cable is just plain junk and wore out. I would do the later of the two and just replace it. If it does it again take your jumper cables and make another ground from the battery to the block. See if that cures your problem.

 

[OilPatch197]

Do you have a small gage ground wire running from the battery to the body of the truck? If you have that the solenoid is grounding making it "click". That wire is too little for the amperage of the starter for it to work correctly. Look at that wire and see if it has been melting. If it has you have one of two possible problems. 1. Your large gage ground wire is dirty at the block or 2. your negative cable is just plain junk and wore out. I would do the later of the two and just replace it. If it does it again take your jumper cables and make another ground from the battery to the block. See if that cures your problem.

Hey, BTW the ground cable when I got the truck was damaged by the battery terminal, so I just sniped it off and ran a ground from the battery to the engine, and left the old ground wire that connected the battery(not now) to the frame and then to the engine intact.
So the ground has that little ground wire, then it goes straight to the engine block, and then it is grounded to the frame by the old cable.

...and the insulation does look melted down at the engine connection(exhaust manifold heat?)

[edit] there was green goo underneath the bolt at the engine ground point, looks like antifreeze was leaking and got the area wet, also noted a crack in the insulation of a ground wire, the wire was not corroded, the copper was just dull.

Do I need to replace this one wire with cracked insulation, there is no green corrosion on the wire, will it be okay to tape it up?

 

[Explorin94]

Go buy yourself a new ground cable. If the new one doesn't have the small gage wire from the post to the body put it on. I don't like to battery cables that you have to clamp the wires to(replacement clamps). They don't last that long and only give about 40% contact patch and also creates hot spots/crack in the insulation which destroys the wire (turns it green). Sounds like you found your problem. I wouldn't tape it if you don't have to. The tape doesn't alway hold and holds water/moisture.