On my way to a Superbowl party, I stopped by my office. When I came out, my truck would not start – I turned the key and nothing…no cranking, clicking, etc. I was not experiencing any prior warning signs of a weak battery or starter. The battery seems fine, it puts out power and the green indicator is green.

I opened the door and checked the fuses – I noticed the clock showed 12:00 and the lights were dim, the theft dash light was blinking and I could here a constant clicking even when the key was out of the ignition, but the door was open.

When help arrived, I hooked up the jumper cables, the lights got brighter and the clicking stopped. I turned the key and it cranked, but would not start. Took the cables off and the same clicking, dead key scenario. We decided to leave it and my wife tried to lock the doors and the auto door switch would not lock the doors - weird.

My guess is that it is a bad solenoid, but am not sure. I did not have any tools with me, so I could not bypass the solenoid with a screwdriver, but will do it tonight.

Any thoughts or suggestions are much appreciated.

The truck is a 2000 F-150 XLT, 5.4.