My son has a 1992 Ranger. He was having starting problems, so had the battery checked at the local parts store. Battery checked out fine. So he pulled the starter and replaced it. When he finished, he attempted to start the engine. As he turned the key the dash lights all came on as usual. He turned to the start position and there was a click sound. The starter did not turn. The lights went out.
Now, there is nothing working electrical. No dash, no lights, no headlights, no radio, no nothing.
I checked the battery with a meter and it reads 12.6v across the poles.
I checked the fuses in the engine compartment and all looks good.
Any ideas?
Appreciate your help!

 

Welcome to the forum

1992 was in the transition years when Ford moving the starter relay to the starter motor, instead of it being on the inner fender
Starter relay on the inner fender was often called the Starter Solenoid, thats not what it is but "freeze plugs" are not for freezing either, lol.

Battery positive terminal should have 2 cables, one going to the starter relay Post(see below) and the other runs directly to the starter motor, it connects to the larger post on the starter solenoid(on top of the motor itself), it should be the only cable on this larger post, because there are two larger posts, don't use the one with cable to starter motor attached.

On the fender mounted starter relay are two larger posts and one smaller post
One of the larger posts will have Battery Positive cable connected, and it will also have several other wires connected with it on that post, this is the Main power distribution for the vehicle
Engine fuse box has a wire there as does alternator, all 12v power for the whole truck is here
These all need good clean connections, so remove and clean each if they look dirty

The other larger post on this fender mounted relay should have 1 Black wire, only the one, and it will run down to the starter motor, it connects to the smaller post on starter motor solenoid, "S" post
This black wire activates the relay inside the starter motor when it has 12v

Back to fender mounted relay, it has a smaller post, also an "S" post, label on it, this is connected to a red/blue strip wire that comes from Neutral safety switch, when you turn key to START, ignition switch sends 12v to Neutral switch, if in neutral that 12v goes thru red/blue wire and activates fender relay which closes and sends 12v down the black wire to activate that relay and starter motor turns on
Yes, double relays during this transition, over the next few years the red/blue wire was extended and hooked directly to the starter motors built in relay

Battery Negative also needs a good connection or no power can flow, having 12volts doesn't mean anything unless there is 0volts(ground) so voltage can flow thru devices making them work
Batteries larger negative cable was usually connected to engine block(motor mount bolt) or on a starter motor's bolt, since starter motor has biggest amp draw
Make sure it has a good connection to engine

Battery terminals in general need to be cleaned every few years as they get a build up of corrosion caused by battery gases generated when battery is being recharged by alternator, this is why battery terminals were moved to the sides of the battery's in later years

 

Thank you for your detailed explanation. I learned a lot from it.
So, I started from the beginning and thoroughly cleaned the battery posts and the connections and hooked it back together again and...everything works!
Sometimes the simplest thing works.
Thank you!

 

Good work

Thanks for the update and the fix