I went to start my truck the other day and got a click. Tried getting a jump from a buddy and it still just went click. I left the truck at my buddies house and came back the next day to have it fire right up. I took it to Autozone and they hooked up their machine and said the alternator was putting out 14 volts but the battery needed to be charged. I had been out of town for a couple of weeks so maybe the battery dropped some. I put it on a charger all night and then took it back up to Autozone the next day and they said it was still reading as needing a charge. Since the battery was 5 years old I bought a new one (Sears Diehard 890 CCA). I also went through every connection I could find on the top side and cleaned them and then applied dielectric grease. I took the crappy aftermarket positive side terminal and cut, crimped, soldered, shrinkwrapped new lugs and reattached the wires. EVERYTHING was shiny and reattached. I just got this done today and I went out to make a beer run and CLICK. WTF, luckily I turned the key and it started but what could be causing this periodic click? I'm going to crawl under the truck tomorrow to clean whatever contacts I can find on the underside. Is there a way to test solenoids? In the past three years I have replaced the alternator and starter (Autozone stuff). Am I missing something obvious?

 

I used to get the click right after a damp or rainny day. it usually it was bad conections at the Batt. just enough black oxidation did it . But i would look at the starter conections next . if it continues . maybe it is a bad relay on the starter. Good luck

 

I had this same issue I have a thread on it. On the fender pas. Side jump that solenoid with a screwdriver if it starts bad ignition if still one click that solenoid is good and the starter is bad Since you just replaced the batt that can be ruled out. My battery ended up being batt. and some brusehes were sticking in the alt.

 

I cut the two 4awg wires on the positive side and then crimped and soldered new lugs so I'm sure I have good connections at the battery. I cleaned the ground cables till they shined and used a dremel wire brush on the metal. The only thing left to check that I know of is the connections at the starter. If it happens again I will try jumping the solenoid. If my alternator has sticking brushes would it show on the alternator tests they do at the parts store? Reduced voltage output? Thanks for the replies.

 

Check the starter connection first. If that doesn't work have it tested probably bad mine would sometimes start then 5 minutes later not start just like yours it did end up being the starter i replaced it but a week later it wouldn't start just one click the battery was bad replaced that I was good for one day then it wouldn't start so I had the alt. tested at autozone they said it was good so I brought to the guy who rebuilt last October his test showed half the power it should be putting out. Ended up having bad bearings and sticking brushes. I guess it depends who you bring it to one place says its good the other says its bad. When those bearings go bad they are VERY loud like a transmission whine.

 

Sorry for the super long reply lol

 

No worries! All good information. As soon as the better half gets home to watch the kids I will be under the truck checking and cleaning connections. I wonder if checking an alternator out of the truck makes any difference than checking it in the truck. It shouldn't but who knows. I guess I could yank the starter while I'm under there and run it up to be checked.

 

A test of the relay showed zero so I checked the wires at the starter and they may be suspect. The big wire looked corroded and the small wire was really jacked up. The surrounding heat has made the protective sheath of the wire brittle and in places left the bare wire exposed. I wanted to pull the whole harness while the truck was on the lift but its hung on something I can't see from below or above. I disconnected the O2 sensor but I couldn't see anything else holding the harness up. Ideally I would pull the harness and put a new lug on the end of a clean wire and replace the small wire. Since I need my truck tomorrow I cleaned what I could, threw on a heat shrink wrap on the small wire and reattached everything. It started right up but only time will tell if it will keep starting up. I really don't like knowing the condition of the starter wires so I will keep searching for ways to pull that harness out. Thanks for all the replies!

 

On my truck there was 1 or 2 clips on the plastic wheel well holding the starter/alternator harness on. Hopefully that will fix it

 

No, that is not correct. Fender relay on the '92+ trucks does not trigger the starter. The relay mounted on the solenoid on the starter is a direct feed from the battery.

Not a big deal to run a new battery cable on the fender mounted relay on the line side from the battery down to the starter. While you are at it, run a new ground wire setup from the battery, to the block, to the frame, then back again making a triangle. Eliminate the known weak link of the stock ground setup that corrodes in the middle.

Adrianspeeder

 

I will do that. Is there a great benefit in going with 2awg over 4awg? I'm looking for 2awg but I've only found "2 AWG Stranded Black Copper THHN Wire Item #: 72611 | Model #: 20502101" at Lowes and it says not to exceed 194 degrees. I'm not sure if its really suitable for use in truck conditions. It says is good for use around fuels. I'm going to hit a welding supply store tomorrow.

 

4 and 2 won't cut it at all. I use 2/0 (pronounced 2 aught) for my battery circuits. Leave the THHN at homedepot for running that in conduit at your house. Welding cable is a better choice that works fine on a truck. I source my stuff from http://www.powerwerx.com/

Adrianspeeder

 

They sell welding cable at 25' segments for $130! Anyone on the Hampton Roads VA area want to go in on some welding cable???

 

High resistance on either cable can cause your problem. But at the the same time that large solenoid on the firewall could too. It is a heavy duty relay and old school starter solenoid. Make sure the little wire on that on post I is clean and making good contact. if that isn't that relay wont turn on.

 

I went to ARCET Welding Supply in Hampton VA (shameless plug). They were really cool. Bought 15' of #2 for $25. I thought about going larger but the #2 was just a little bit bigger than what I had and the lugs are easy to find for #2. It's raining like crazy right now so I will get to it tomorrow. Thanks for the great info.