Hello all,

I have a 2000 Ford Ranger, 3.0V6, Automatic 134,000 miles

My son drove it too the store, it was running fine. He went to leave the store and it wont crank. I try to start it and i get 1 click coming from the starter.

Immediate action try to jump start it. (Plus battery is only 3 weeks old) Tried with 2 vehicles no luck! I am getting 12.10 Volts at the battery. Next course of action i checked all cables leading away from the battery, everything looks good. Next i replaced the Starter /Solenoid combo, no luck!. Tonight i tried jumping the starter from below, no luck same single click. Next i replaced the ignition switch under the dash. Nope this didnt fix it. I also checked the Inertia switch, no luck. I dont think its the neutral safety switch because when its in park or neutral it 1 clicks, if i switch it too any drive gear or reverse, NO CLICK. I have also checked the voltage at the starter and i get 12.11 volts with the key in the on position. I also tried both chipped keys that came with the truck brand new.
With the key in the on position the theft light goes out after 3 seconds if this matters.

Does anyone have any more suggestions?? It would be a great Christmas present if anyone could help me out.

Thanks and sorry about the long thread but i wanted to be as detailed as possible.

Arin

 

I have also checked all fuses interior and exterior, along with swapping relays????????

 

At this point I'd check and see if you can manually turn the crankshaft via a socket on the front pulley.

 

Many people get hung up on only checking for 12 volts + using the battery - for a ground reference.They often forget to check the ground connections for continuity.
You may have 12v + to the starter but a faulty ground to the engine block.
Some on here have found the cables to be corroded apart inside the insulation just at the terminal lugs that can't be seen until you strip it back.

 

Todays course of action will be: 1) run a negative cable from battery to the block and try to crank. If this gets me no where i will 2) pull all spark plugs and try to crank it too see if it is indeed locked somewhere.

Thanks for all the help its greatly appreciated!

Arin

 

As far as pulling the plugs, I wouldn't bother in this case. I'd just try to slowly turn the crankshaft about a quarter to half of a turn to ensure the engine isn't locked up.

As for checking the ground circuit, you can do this with a voltmeter as follows:

Set the voltmeter to 12 Volt scale. Connect the voltmeters Positive lead to a good bare metal spot on the engine (or preferably at the starter in this case). Connect the Negative lead to to the batteries Neg terminal. With a helper, have them try to crank the engine while observing the voltmeter.

Any reading of more than .2 volts (that's tenths of a volt) would indicate high resistance in the circuit and would merit further checking. Note, if your using an older analog meter and did not notice any reading, switch to a lower scale and repeat the test.

This test is a called a volt drop test. The reason for using this test rather than setting the meter to continuity (Ohms) is this tests the circuit under an electrical load.

For example, if you only had a few good strands of battery cable still making a good connection, say due to internal corrosion, you would still read continuity. However, the electrical resistance under load would be to high to allow sufficient current flow to turn the starter.

To isolate the problem, if any is noted, you'd simply move the Positive lead to the engine block, then to the ground strap, then piercing the Negative cable about midway, etc. back to the battery neg cable clamp. At some point the voltage would drop to less than .2 volts, indicating you past the problem area.
.

 

Passage kick panel = check if the fuel cut off switch is on. look in your owner man for location.
At the positive teminal should be 2 wires, the thinner wire is possible corr'd.
FYI
=brian