This seems to be a popular problem among Rangers, and from what I'm seeing, not all are the same. My gut says it's the starter, but it hasn't been the most consistent issue so I wanted to get some feedback before I go through THAT whole process.

96, XLT, 2.3L I4, 5 speed, 140K or so miles. I can't think of any other pertinent info right now.

The truck had been running perfectly fine as of last Friday. I parked it at a friend's place on Friday night, and went back Saturday morning to get it.

Saturday Morning, put the key in the ignition aaaaand *click*. Nothing. One click, no turns, done. I was able to get a friend to come down and give me a jump, which it took after some convincing. It drove the rest of the day with no problems. Started and parked it 3 or 4 times, from 15 minutes to an hour or so more sitting. Every trip was significant in how long it ran. It came to life every time, although everything sounded weak when it was turning over. Came home, parked it for the night.

Sunday morning, I started it again. The starter still sounded weak, but it fired. Ran it a bit between a bunch of errands, and had no problems. Parked it again. About twenty five minutes later, I went to start it and nothing. Got it to take a jump again, but again had to really coerce it to take the jump. Ran that errand, took it to AutoZone for them to test the battery, which they said had a full charge and 13V. Brought it home and, again, parked it for the night.

Monday morning I went to start it and we were back to the single click and nothing. Didn't have time to fight it or anyone available to jump it, so let it sit. Figured the battery was shot and couldn't hold a charge worth a ****. Monday night, went and got a brand new battery (This One), put it in. *Click* Car still wouldn't take a jump. Double checked all my connections and what not, and from a surface level they all seem to be good. I was able to shimmy under the truck and look, didn't see any bad wires or anything.

Tuesday night, tried replacing the clutch safety switch/position indicator. Still nothing.

Tonight I checked my fuses and relays in the distribution box and everything seemed to be good.

I haven't been able to get the thing in the air to really look underneath it, but assuming all my contacts are good, is there anything I'm missing here or is this just a shot starter?

Thanks

 

I had a similar issue with my 96. I'd go out to start it and id turn the key, get one click, then everything would go dark. No lights, no chimes, nothing.
I would have to disconnect the battery for 15 seconds, let everything reset, then plug it back in and it would work. The problem ended up being the
physical connection. I had the terminals for the battery on and off working on stuff and they weren't making good contact. Cleaned them all off and
made sure everything was tight and it fixed the problem.

Starters need a lot of amps to get the engine cranking. Your battery might be fine but if the wires can't move enough juice to the starter then you'll
get those weird sporadic starting issues.

I'd make sure stuff is clean and making good contact before buying a new started.