OK, so I get into my 2002 F-150 supercrew this morning and as I start the truck I hear a not pleasant sound coming from the transmission. As soon as I shift into reverse to back out, the sound stops. It is only apparent in park or neutral, drives just fine with no issues, never happened before. So I am driving on to work and as I pull into the parking lot, I notice I have no lights on the dash (usually a check engine for bad O2sensors and an Anti-lock brake light for a bad speed sensor). Then I realize there is no radio, air, or anything else. No headlights, tailights, no turnsignals, just nothing. I drive back home, sit in the driveway for a minute or two as I ponder what is going on now, and the noise in the transmission stops. I start to turn the key off to shut off the motor, and as soon as I start to turn the key, everything comes on. Radio blaring, windshield wipers wiping, light on the dash, all is on. So I shut off the truck and turn the key to restart and nothing. The dash lights up as you are turning the key, just like it always does, but the truck does not start. No click, no nothing. Like the key isn't doing anything. So now I am dead in the water. Lights and everything work, but no start. Oh, and I think the transmission is stuck in park. Any suggestions before I pay for a tow truck and the fun begins?

 

I would say a bad alternator.