Ok my truck ran great yesterday and I haven't noticed any problems as far as the engine is concerned, but I plugged my scanner in and it read p0152 for sensor circuit high voltage Bank no.2 sensor 1. My truck won't so much as even try to start. You turn the key and nothing. Now the accessories and stuff turn on, i.e. the head lamps, dome light, and radio and what not, but I get absolutely no response when I try to start the truck. What the heck is going on. Wouldn't matter so much to me if it weren't still winter up here, because then I would just drive my lightning. Unfortunately we still have another month and a half of winter left up here and I really need my 4x4 to get around. Can anyone offer some insight on what could be wrong?

 

first things first--

Check the cable running to the starter, check your battery cables and your ground. Put a charger on it for a while, see if it needs a charge.

I don't think that particular code has to do with starting issues, but I could be wrong.

If nothing obviously wrong, then tell us what year, what engine, and whether manual or automatic.

 

1.. Completely identify your truck by year, engine, and transmission

2. Do you have PATS (big, black keyhead)? If so, what is the status of the THEFT light when you attempt to start.

3. Do the dash lights dim when you hit START or do they just stay on?

The p0152 code is not going to cause a "no crank" problem.

If you do not have PATS (or have it and it's working correctly) and the dash lights are not dimming, then you have a problem in the starter control circuit. This would include the ignition switch, the clutch interlock if a manual or the NSS if an auto, the starter solenoid, or any of the interconnecting wires.

Steve

 

Sorry I should have given this information to begin with; it's a '99 F-150 5.4L w/ the E4OD automatic transmission. I didn't think that code would cause a problem like this, but I just needed to make sure. The battery connections were fine as were the connections for my superchip as well. About to put a charger on the battery to see if that helps, and will check the wires going to the starter. Hard to do all this when it is 18 degrees outside

 

18*. thats cold. is the battery swelling. it may be frozen.

 

18 is actually a heat wave, winter starts in september and normally ends mid May up here with temperatures lingering well below zero (-50s were all too common this winter). I know for sure that the battery wasn't frozen, but I am glad it's doing this now as opposed to when it was -50. I think I am going to check the starter solenoid and see what happens with that. It just sucks that my truck was running great and then all of a sudden it didn't want to do anything. There was absolutely no warning, and now I hope I can figure this thing out.

 

Its the connection at the starter solenoid the round end connection on the fat red wire, take it off and check it. 18 ain't nothing... lowest it got here this winter was -23...

 

I am having a very similar problem with a 2000 F150, 5.4, 4x4, auto, 40k miles. Ran great till yesterday and then simlpy erfused to start. Just as you described, everyone is normal but starter won't engage. Check all connections, tried disconnecting and reconnecting the battery, jumping, etc., to no avail. Unfortunately it happened while we were at a ski resort so I had to have it towed home for a hefty $$$ charge. Was hoping to find some insight on this forum.

Anyway, if I find the solution I'll post it here and ask that you please do the same. Good luck!

Mike

 

can it be a problem with the neutral saftey switch?
is the truck in park?
try starting in neutral?

...zap!

 

Good idea but no luck. Tried to start in both park and neutral. Also thought it might be the key but had same problem using the spare key.

Any other suggestions?

 

Mike,

Try the questions (#s 2 & 3) above that I posed to the original poster.

They apply to your truck and the answers will guide towards diagnosing the problem.

Steve

 

Steve,

2) Yes, both keys have the big black head (assumed to be for the security chip)

3) When I turn first turn the key to ON, all of the dash lights come on, including the theft light. When I turn the key to start, nothing dims but a few of the dash lights go off, including the theft light. As soon as I turn the key back to ON, the rest of the dash lights come back on, except for the theft light. Seems normal from what I recall - am I mistaken.

Been raining hard here and the truck is outside so I haven't had a chance to look at the starter and solenoid wires but that's where I was planning on starting.

Do you know if AZ can bench test the solenoid and would that be a next step if all the wires appear to be intact?

Mike

 

Just wanted to stop by and say thank you to everyone for there help, because of you guys on this message board my truck is running again. It was in fact a bad starter solenoid, and I am fortunate enough to have an '03 Lightning sitting around that also has the same parts on it. All I did was remove the starter solenoid from my '99 F-150 and replace it with the one on my Lightning and low and behold the problem was solved. Now all I have to do is go out and buy a new starter solenoid for my Lightning and I am good to go. It's kinda nice having a spare F-150 lying around, and besides I can't drive the Lightning for atleast another month and half any way (still way too much snow up here).

THANKS EVERYONE

 

That's good! Glad to see you figured it out! When you say the starter solenoid, are you referring to the one on top of the starter or the one on the firewall near the battery?

Mike

 

I had to replace the one on the firewall. I'm just glad I didn't have to go out and buy parts and then discover I didn't need to buy them in the first place. From what everyone on this board was saying about the starter solenoid I figured that would be the first thing I would check as soon as I had time to, so I pulled the one from my lightning and put it in my other truck and that was that.

puettmike, you might want to try replacing that solenoid on the firewall, because I bet that is your problem too. Is your truck running again?