I hope someone has experienced this situation and can provide a solution! I am beyond frustrated at point.

I have 1998 ford ranger 2.5L 5 speed. Here’s what’s happening.

One day I jumped in it and it wouldn’t crank. I could jump it off though. I replaced the battery and the rest of the day she was fine. Next day same thing. So I went and had the battery charged and replaced the alternator. It Ran fine for 2 days. Hopped in it to start and again nothing. No crank, but battery was charged. So I attempted to jump start it. (Didn’t work) so we I tried to bump start it, it didn’t start but I tried jumping it off again and it fired right up... I assumed maybe the bendix in the starter or the solenoid got stuck and when it attempted to start during the bump it freed up.. Next day, wouldn’t crank. So I replaced the starter. When I hooked up the battery it sparked a bit. Common problem. But still no crank. I thought maybe if the solenoid was stuck then it drained my battery. So tried to jump it off another vehicle and with the cables hooked to the running vehicle i placed the cables to the truck battery and it arched a huge blue spark and kept arching violently every time I attempted to attach the jumpers. I tried to forced them on the battery and it shut the other vehicle off and the jumper cables were red hot smoking and melting. —- Yes, I made sure the battery was in correctly. And that I didn’t cross the jumpers wrong, everything I did was by the book I double and triple checked.. —- I’m at a complete loss of what even to do next. Someone told me to replace the lock cylinder because it was sticking between off/lock and Accessory. So I changed the ignition lock cylinder and the ignition switch module because I’m already that far into it. Still the exact same issue. I’ve replaced my starter relay under the hood and pulled every fuse in that box to test, none of them were bad. Someone had mentioned that where the radio harness was cut out and there are bare ended wires in there that ,could cause the issue as well. But it’s been that way for a year and I haven’t had issues before. I don’t know what to do next but Replacing these parts are breaking me! Haha. I’ve also been told to check to see if a positive wire is grounding out, but where do I start? Can I do this without a multimeter? How can I pinpoint the issue at hand without having to buy another $100 part
Any kind of advice or help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Welcome to the forum

Paragraphs please, your post is hard to read

YES, you need a Volt/Ohm meter to test your vehicle

You should never jump a 1985 or later model vehicle from a running vehicle, just FYI, you can fry your electronics and other vehicles as well

I would imagine your alternator is now toast, and maybe battery, but both should be replaceable under warranty, but some time alternators are not, because people do goof up and fry them, lol

Volt and OHM meters are easy to use, cost about $10-$15, will save you hundreds

If alternator was fried its why you got the big blue arc when try to jump from running vehicle

Unhook battery cable, if it isn't already, it should be unhooked, either cable is fine to unhook
Remove all the wires from alternator, they are LIVE wires so put tape on them so they can's short to ground

Measure battery voltage
12.8v is a new battery
12.5v is a 3 year old battery
12.3v is a 5/6 year old battery and time to shop for battery sales

12.2v or less is a drained or dead battery, you can try recharging for a few hours, then disconnect recharger and wait an hour, now measure voltage and leave meter connected for 5 minutes and check it a few times, if it started at 12.6v and drops down to 12.5volts in a few minutes then battery has an internal short, self draining, replace it

Turn Meter to OHMs, 200 ohms if it has an option, tough the two probes together, should see 0 ohms, that means a Short when testing wires
On alternator, on the back is the stub/nut terminal, thats called B+ , put probe on B+ and other probe on alternators metal case, should NOT be 0 ohms, if so its fried

If not low ohms put probe on B+ wire end, and other probe to metal case 0 ohms would mean that B+ wire is shorted to ground in its harness