97 f150 FWD 5.4 125K

Need help as my starter won't crank when I turn the key. Have searched the forums and tried the following:

1. cleaned all connections at battery, starter, & motor relay at firewall. All cables(original) appear to be fine and are now clean at connections.

2. the firewall relay "clicks" when you turn the key.

3. tried a "+jump" to the small terminal on relay and the relay clicked.(key on... tranny in neutral)

4. tried a jump accross large relay terminals and nothing happened..(key on tranny in neutral)

is my next step the new starter? or something else before I pull the trigger for the starter.

 

decided to take out the starter (that was real fun...) and take it to autozone for a bench test. The post..bolt..stud... that the cable attaches to was very loose. Not sure if I ruined it taking off the nut or what. anyway A-zone said they couldn't test it because of the loose bolt and that the starter is junk.

I put in the new one and everything works fine now so it must have been the starter in the first place. Not sure what was wrong but don't have time to figure it out or really care to.

On the positive note we in Massachusetts have a sales tax holiday today so I saved about $7.00 there.