Last night my truck decided not to start. It happen out of the blue, come out from work and turn the key and no click. I have lights and stuff, so the battery is fine, but when i turn the key there is nothin, not even a click. I have a 87 f-150 I6 with an auto tranny. I was reading in my repair manual and they said it might be the starter relay or something. Im only 17 so im not all that advanced with everything but i do replace everything myself on the truck. I did the heater core, water pump and alternator so i would assume i should be able to do this by myself. Is there anything else i should look at or try to do, or does it deffinelty sound like a starter problem? And is this an easy job?

 

starter solenoid.

 

possible dirty connection at the starter and wire.

 

If you're not even getting a click, then the problem is likely nowhere near the starter or the solenoid. Does the dome light flicker when you try to start it and there's no click?

It's probably your neutral start switch. Try jiggling the shift lever next time this happens, or try starting it in neutral. If either allows it to start, replace the neutral safety switch. The other possibility is the ignition switch.

 

ok well its all fixed. I will try to explain what was wrong. On the starter relay. The little wire that runs back to the ignition (i think it goes back to the ignition), it was lose, i took it off, and put it back on and the truck started right up.

Thank you for all your help!

 

Several years ago I had an 88 F150 (5.0) and I put 6 starters in that dang thing. I had a run where I kept getting bad ones and replaced it 4 times in one year. I almost put wing nuts on the power connections so I could change them out faster.
:o

Glad you got it going again.

 

For future reference, it's the starter solenoid (relay) that makes the 'clicking' sound. If you have a no start condition, with not even a 'click', and the battery is good, then you know the problem has to be somwhere between the ignition switch and the post on the solenoid where the signal wire from the ignition switch goes. Makes it much easier to diagnose.