loud click but won't start. battery?
 

On these very cold New England mornings of 10-15 degrees, you might expect battery problems, especially with the original 8yo battery. But this is not acting like a low battery. When I turn the key, the dash lights up, you can turn the lights on, but there is no sign that the starter is even attempting to turn. If you throw it back into park enough times and/or just try the key enough times, it will fire up with only 2 seconds of cranking without any low battery whining of any kind typical of a low battery. I've even thrown a battery charger on 50amp start and no difference to the symptoms. What I do hear is a loud click on the upper firewall. I pulled the wire off the starter relay just to check the connection but same result, just try the key enough times with something clicking and eventually just starts right up.
Am I on the right track with the relay? Are these fused in some way?

Where is your security module located? On the 04 and up, it is behind the rear seat on the Super Crew, and the module makes a load clicking noise when the battery is dying. In fact, on mine, the battery went completely dead instantly. No dash lights, no nothing, just the clicking behind the rear seat that sounded somewhat like an electric fuel pump. Just a thought.

Sounds like a connection problem. Check your grounds.

Sorry, I have an '01. Didn't realize it wasn't listed in my post profile anymore. I don't know where my security module is. Do I have one? lol. I can really tell the loud click is coming from up high on the fire wall somewhere. I just didn't have somebody to turn the key while I stood there. Next I'll just run a screw driver across the two terminals. That'll do it :) And I'm not really a junior member, I think I just got "demoted" for not being here for a very long time. I first signed up in mid 2000 to research and buy my '01 4X4 sport in Oct. 2000.
I'll certainly check my battery connections Skater...

If I had an 8 year old battery, I would replace it right away! About all I get out of a battery around here is 3 years.

I"m a gambling man :P
I just "had" to replace my wifes 9yo battery this past summer. sucks. was going for 10.
Still have the original pair of batteries in my 2000 BMW also. Am I just lucky with batteries?

Sounds like it to me! I planned on replacing the battery in my truck after it was 36 months old, just as preventative maintenance as we go everywhere in it, and a lot of time, on the road late at night. I figure it's cheap insurance. I drive across town, it is cranking fine and going great. Come out of a store and nothing but the clicking behind the seat. Would not even jump start. It was 35 months old. :lol: Put a new battery on and it and been perfect since.

I have an 08 supercrew (6 months old) that the dealer replaced a defective battery on this morning. Leaving the lights on a couple of minutes without the engine running would drain the battery. When I would try to start it, all it would do is make that clicking sound.

It just seems odd in my case that it doesn't have that typical slow whiney turning over like a low battery might have. And then, another turn of the key and it instantly cranks over. And it's a single click that I hear each time I turn the key.

Mine never did the slow turn over, never had the gauges go goofy like most do, and the Edge monitor never went blank. Never did a solinoid click. Just dead. Instantly, as if it shorted out inside.

These systems have a lot of drain on them when they are just sitting with everything off. There is a lot still going on in the PCM. I still think it's your battery, and somehow, it is building back a just enough juice to start occasionally. I may be wrong, but that is my vote.

This truck does a lot of sitting. I just had my two year state inspection. In two years I've put 2500 miles on it. And the same 2500 miles the previous two years. And you don't know drain untill you've worked on a 2000 BMW 750iL V12. A pair of batteries in the trunk and this thing has more complicated systems than you could imagine. To any boaters out there, think of it like the starting battery and the house battery. It really uses that much juice. This car tell you which light bulb has burned out. And although not electrically related, how about a water cooled capsule alternator?
I"m going to clean the connections first. And I'm carrying around a jump starter in case :)

Good luck with it. At least you shouldn't get stranded.

That statement really leads me to believe it's a connection problem..........

just wanted to report back that it seems to have been a poor battery terminal connection. cleaned up the negative terminal and havent' had any problems since.
so my 8yo battery lives on. thanks to all.

I had the exact same problem this afternoon, and it too is cold here in Wisconsin; 10 degrees when this happened. It really didn't seem to be a battery issue. In fact, I just installed a new battery this past July and everything checked out just fine this afternoon. Each time I hit the ignition I heard a loud click, which I assumed was the starter engaging, but the engine didn't turn over. It took five quick turns to the start position before the engine turned over and started. It wasn't the typical dead battery or bad connection scenario. I've started the truck twice without issue since then.