try to start my truck after driving in hot temps today, It did this two years ago 3 times in one summer, it did it today 3 times in one day!!

So it starts up normal, very fast starting with no dragging I run my errands, park some place shut it off go into a store and come back out and when I turn the key I get 1 solid loud click under the hood and NOTHING ELSE, I can do this multiple times and it will just click once each time I turn the key to start it. Then after a few more attempts then waiting a few minutes all of a sudden it starts right up and sounds perfect!!

my battery just happens to be brand new and my cables are NOT corroded or loose plus it did this two years ago and then went away UNTIL today.

Any thoughts would be VERY appreciated!! THANKS

 

Thats.. inteesting.. this EXACT same thing just happened to my '88 ranger today.. drove it around for a couple hours.. then parked it, went to start it up.. then CLICK.. it isnt a dead battery, the lights work just fine on it... had to pop it in neutral and push it into a different parking spot until I could take a look at it.. too dark out now.

 

probably the starter solonoid. could always give it a few good whacks when its acting up see if that helps. i remember fords used to have the solonoid separate from the starter, im not sure if its still the same now.

 

It still could be cable related. If your wires are not capable of transmitting enough amperage it can cause the solenoid gear to engage but not turn over the starter. I just dealt with this on my truck and it became a problem over night without any changes.

 

It's prolly a sign that the starter is going out. With the hot weather and having been driven, the starter gets some heat in it. Electronics require more juice to operate when hot, and as the starter goes bad, the effect becomes more noticeable. I'd pull the starter and run it up to auto zone or somewhere to get it checked.

 

Yeah, I'll get that checked on here pretty soon... Luckily I have a nappa not more then 4 minutes from my house. Was hoping not to have to do any wrench time on my days off from work.. but heck, its gotta be done on old rigs I suppose

 

The starter gear could be running into the ring gear on the flywheel. If the starter's gear isn't going quick enough and gets stuck, your starter's solenoid can't engage to crank the starter.

 

my first plan is to go out and hit it a couple times with a wrench to see if itll kick on.. you know how the old engines can act up from tiem to time..

 

I am out experimenting now

 

That's exactly what I had to do to mine after having the dreaded "click" problem and it at least got started for now. My Haynes manual says it could either be the solenoid or the starter relay, is there a way which is more likely, given that giving it a whack temporarily fixes it?

 

Solenoid. That whack just knocks it loose so it'll work THIS time.