Hello-
I have a 1997 F-250 light duty with the 5.?L engine. I have recently begun having problems with it not starting. It's not the battery, as I just replaced that. The only telltale sound I get is one click, sounding like its coming from the fuse panel under the hood, right in front of the passenger side. Anybody know what might be causing this? Someone suggested hydrolock, but it only happened once last week, and now again today. Replys are greatly appreciated.

Jeremy

 

Getting fuel pressure? There's a schraeder valve on the passenger side of the engine sticking out of the fuel rail...remove the black plastic cap, and then press the valve in with a screwdriver and keep a paper towel around it so fuel doesnt spray all over.

Also, does the truck eventually start up? How many tries does it take? etc...

 

Your solenoid contacts in your starter are correded over or your B+ terminal on the starter is corroded over. Clean the starter connections and see if that helps. If not, I bet it is your starter.

The sound you are hearing is the pinion hitting the ring gear, but there is no juice going to the starter motor to make it crank.

 

Check the battery cables going to the starter. They are known to corrode. The bolt holding the cable to the starter terminal is made of steel and the two dissimular metals cause the corrosion which wicks up the cable and inhibits full current from reaching the starter. If the cable checks out look at the Starter motor solenoid relay switch on the firewall.

Regards

Jean Marc Chartier

 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't a 97 have a starter relay that is mounted on the fire wall on the passenger side. And I know from past problems they will go bad with the indication of making the noise of closing, but not pass enough current to turn the starter motor.
I would have someone try to start the engine and right after they turn the key and close that relay (while they are still trying to crank the motor) jumper the two large bolts to see if the starter will then turn.
A better way would be to use a volt meter! One side of the relay is battery + all the time and the other is battery + only during cranking( I'm refering to the two large terminals) The voltage on the starter side is going to drop even on a good working vehicle, but not much below 10 volts. If it drops to 3,4,or something like that then it's a bad relay.

t-man