it had a hard impact like 2 weeks ago, i was tryng to find the fuse or switch on the passenger side floor but i couldnt see it. it was running fine the first two times i drove it today

 

I still think it's a heavily discharged battery that needs a long jump start.

I know this may be a stupid suggestion, but could it be possible to disconnect the presumed dead battery, take one of the batteries off the diesel, and hook that up temporarily? Or would this not work?

 

its on school property, i have till 10, i talked to security but they are being lame and saying i have to move it because it is on the upper parade ground(military school, where we march n chit) they call the local tow service, who make bank out of this and they impound cars all the time.

like i said till ten, store close here around 5 btw

 

If it ran fine since the impact, it probably isn't the fuel switch. I can't remember exactly where it is either, just that it is a pain to find.

I agree about the long jump start.

I don't see why taking a battery off the other truck would not work. At least you could move your car (as long as this IS a battery related problem). I really don't know anything when it comes to diesels though. As long as it's a normal battery, with enough cranking amps to turn it over, I don't see a problem, but I am not certain. It's not unimaginable to think it could take over 15 minutes to jump. I've never had it take that long, but who knows. Also, batteries can and do get to the point where they just can't hold a charge at all anymore.

 

Any chance of throwing it into neutral and getting people to help you push it to an area where it won't be towed? Or would it be too far? If so, get the Dodge and some tow straps and get to work. If it really isn't fixable at the moment, this is the only choice I can think of (unless it IS a battery issue and you can get it jumped or trade out a battery). These things seem to always happen at bad times. An hour or two is plenty to time to push/tow a car a decent ways. If you have to get it off the property and the property is huge, you may be running out of time though... I'd get out there and get to moving it!

 

I had a 97 that did that and it ended up being the starter itself. If you climb under your truck, find your starter and bang/hard tap on it with some tool (hammer) not to damage. THen try to start. When my starter was going bad I could do that until the starter completely died. The starter was $250, for a good one, but @ 17 it was alot of money. I know it sounds "Redneck" but it worked a couple of times.

 

well, i hooked it up to a jumper pack, nothing. so i pushed it out. got it to where it wont be towed.

is the starter junk? or is it the seluloid/celluloid? its still just making the click

the battery is like not even a year old, with a new alternator as well

what should i do to get this thing to start

 

i tried the bang method, it did not work, was one of the first things i tried,

as for a redneck fix, i did one today that was really bad...i needed more fluid in my t-case, it has a leak, however, i did not have a funnel to get in that tiny hole above the crossmember, so i got creative. i took a condom...electrical taped it to the oil bottle, cut off the tip, stuck it in there, then poured the fluid in. it actually worked. was a lubricated one though, i dont think that they use the same weight oil hope i dont ruin the oil(i rubbed off the lube)... that was my redneck fix for the week i hope. it was all i had available at the time

 

I'm no mechanic here but I think you are referring to the solenoid. Once again, no mechanic, but I THINK the solenoid is actually part of the starter. If you are certain the battery is good (and it sounds like it should be) and you are certain everything is connected properly then I would think the starter would be the next logical choice. If you can get it off of the truck, take it to a local parts place (when one opens) and have them test it. If it is the starter and the old "beat the $*#! out of it" don't work then it isn't going anywhere until you get it fixed. Can someone with a little more mechanical knowledge than me tell me if I am correct about the solenoid?

Good luck.

 

starter was junk, i pulled it out today, rattled and clunked a lot, re-man at napa $109.00

thanks for the help