I have a ‘97 f150 4.6L and my starter just clicks most of the time when I try to start my truck. Some times it takes 3 to as much as 15 tries to get my truck started. I have replaced the solenoid, checked all the connections, made sure the were not loose, tested my started, replaced my battery(i needed one anyways). Still sometimes the starter just clicks. Does anyone have any ideas what else I can try? Possibly the ignition switch? Also I'm not sure if this is a clue to anyone but sometimes when I'm on my 4th or 5th try, my doors will lock and unlock really fast. Any advice would be helpful and appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

try hitting your starter with a hammer at the same time as when someone is turning it over. if the starter frees up then you have a bad starter. that would have been one of the first things i would have checked.

 

When you crank the engine over does it turn fast or slow, cause if it turns over at a good speed then it could be an ignition problem or fuel problem.

If it's slow maybe a bad lead to the starter or ground wire. Their's not much left to check it the starter checkout good, battery/ soleniod is good and the alternator is A OK

Now I did have a problem on my 89 with tilt steering, the ignition rod that runs down to the switch on the colum broke. Everything work except the starter the rod couldn't push the switch far enough to complete the starting circuit so I hot wired it with a button on the dash.

 

Check all the ground wires starting at the battery and trace every one.

Adrianspeeder

 

The grounds, that was my thought as well - the one that that commonly gets compromised is the little one at the bottom of the starter - gets corroded up..

Good Luck

 

it does not turn over at all. All that will happen when i turn the key is it just clicks. no teeth grinding or any turn over.

 

yeah, It's that wire on the bottom that's more exposed to the elements - There's a TSB on it - Look for it in the search bar on top of the page , search "Starter TSB" - I can't right now , if you don't find it I'll have to look later for it..

Good Luck