• Welcome to The Truck Stop! We see you haven't REGISTERED yet.

    Your truck knowledge is missing!
    • Registration is FREE , all we need is your birthday and email. (We don't share ANY data with ANYONE)
    • We have tons of knowledge here for your diesel truck!
    • Post your own topics and reply to existing threads to help others out!
    • NO ADS! The site is fully functional and ad free!
    CLICK HERE TO REGISTER!

    Problems registering? Click here to contact us!

    Already registered, but need a PASSWORD RESET? CLICK HERE TO RESET YOUR PASSWORD!

No Crank But I Got Power

Woody35

Woody35

Active Member
Messages
1,021
Reaction score
6
Location
Chi-Town Suburbs
so i havent started the truck for four days and today i decided i would take it to work. turn the key all the lights work. i hear the glowplugs and the lift pump. Radio works and so does interior lights. i wait for the wts light go out and i turn the key. nothing just a click. i tried to turn it over about ten times but everytime i get the click. the dash says i got 10 volts. all the eletrical connections are good by the battery.

right now its pouring rain so im not crawling under the truck since its on the driveway to check connections to the starter. but you guys got any ideas. i just got this truck nine months ago so i have no idea how old stuff is down there and who did the work.

i will say though that last 2 months as my injectors and glowplugs have gotten worse the starter has made that whining noise like a turbo as cranking time has increased. which means the clutch in the starter is getting bad. I know matt had something wrong with has ign module. could it be that?
 
Woody, if you've only got 10 volts, that's not enough to crank it over. Could be a bad battery (likely) but I'd also check all the connections at them. 1 bad battery is as bad as 2 bad ones. Trip to Farm & Fleet or Wally World in order?
 
Woody35 said:
so i havent started the truck for four days and today i decided i would take it to work. turn the key all the lights work. i hear the glowplugs and the lift pump. Radio works and so does interior lights. i wait for the wts light go out and i turn the key. nothing just a click. i tried to turn it over about ten times but everytime i get the click. the dash says i got 10 volts. all the eletrical connections are good by the battery.

right now its pouring rain so im not crawling under the truck since its on the driveway to check connections to the starter. but you guys got any ideas. i just got this truck nine months ago so i have no idea how old stuff is down there and who did the work.

i will say though that last 2 months as my injectors and glowplugs have gotten worse the starter has made that whining noise like a turbo as cranking time has increased. which means the clutch in the starter is getting bad. I know matt had something wrong with has ign module. could it be that?
Click to expand...

Does it sound like a solonoid click, or the daytime running lights clicking off? DRL click in mine sounded to come from the left of steering column. The starter solonoid click will come from the right and be alot louder. Put the ebrake on to disable DRL's and see if click goes away.

I still suspect my solonoid lead needs attention but havn't gotten around to it.

When my ign module went a few years back, i could get it to work by cycling the key on and off a few times.

Just so you know, if you drop the starter to examine wires, easiest to take off Pass tire and innner peep flap. Then you have access to the brace which holds it on as well as the 2 obvoius bolts from underneath.

When I went to remove the small turn on lead, my bolt snapped making the starter useless to me. So take that with caution.

Also BEFORE you loosen starter and laying on your back, remove power lead from the pass battery so it has room to drop. Also good idea to keep some crates or blocks or something to rest the starter on if you need time to work the wires so your not stuck holding the thing on your back by yourself with no place to rest it.
 
Also, shift it down and back in park, or try it in neutral just to make sure the gear selector is seated fully in park.
 
i mistyped i got more than 10 volts. i know i have enough juice to turn it over because the gauge has been lower before in the winter and ive seen it turn fine. its definetly a soleniod click because its louder than the glowplugs buzzing when it clicks. with the hood open its pretty loud too. FYI i checked all the fuses and there good. i checked its in park. since my starter was going bad do you guys suggest i just get a whole new starter.

Ac Delco is selling them for 200 bucks and autozone is selling for 260. my uncle is a parts guy at autozone so he gives me a discount but i still think ac delco is cheaper. btw the starter soleniod comes with a new starter doesnt it.
 
Whoa... don't go buying batteries yet.

Are your connections stock?

By that I mean, do you have the GM side-post connections, and are they the original cables? If so, you desperately need to think about the battery-post MOD in the 6.5 reference section, especially for the battery on the passenger side (the one with 2 cables connected to the positive post). For now, undo that connection (completely) and clean it thoroughly with wire brush and baking-soda/water. There is a little copper donut in between the 2 cables that must be spotless. Put it all back together dry and clean and try again.

Bad battery connections are a very common issue... the battery-post mod is found here... look under "Battery Connections" and click the link.
 
Good point Jifaire, my starter wire battery feed was rotted off at the starter on my last starter Replace job, I got the new starter, and saw that when I dropped the old, but as mentinoed earlier I snapped the solonoid bolt, so I just tossed in the new starter, When all it was was the batt to starter connection.
 
my batteries are fine. everything works perfectly except the starter. glowplugs are buzzing, i can hear the lift pump. the radio volume works fine, the lights work. the wiper blades also work. its not a battery problem. i just wanted to clear the air on that. but i will go cleaning. i got a terminal brush here somehwere. just got to go find it. ill do that side terminal mod this weekend
 
Hope it works out for you Woody! I can't remember the number of times I've thought big $ repairs were in order only to find a bad battery connection (or more typically ground). Right up to 3 weeks ago on one of my tractors. I was all ready to spend a bundle at JD when I found a bad ground connection on the battery cable... Problem over!
 
ill be cleaning all the grounds and connections on saturday. i really dont want to spend 200 bucks on a starter. so btfarm you going to be at the pumpkin festival in sycamore in a few weeks
 
Try Jumping it from a running rig with 14V going to your trucks batteries.

If still goes click, likely the solenoid has taken the trip south !!

This does happen from time to time.

If the rig starts with a jump, get the batteries load tested. You can have one battery with a failed cell that has pulled the power levels down to a point that the starter can't hack anything but yet the lights and such will all work.

Of Course check all the connections, the side terminal Gizmos can get crapped up.

Be sure the grounds are all good too and at the block.

Now here is an issue that can grab ya by da butt
The starter feeds off the RH battery, the main power feed to the chassis and such is off the LH battery.

The Alternator feeds the LH battery and then the crossover cable connects to the RH battery.

If the ++ cable crossover gets dirty and or the ground on the RH gets fouled your RH battery can go dead. You will still have full 12 V to the glow plugs and fuel pump and the starter solenoid but the mainfeed to the starter comes from the RH battery and if that battery is dead your screwed.

Missy
 
The first time my side-post connection went south, I had lights, camera, and no action. Everything worked fine... but when I turned the key, it went 'click' and everything went dead. Let go of the key, lights, sound, LP all came back.

I tried jumping it (I was in a friggin asphalt campground in Vegas in the middle of the day, and VERY unhappy, and another camper helped me boost it) and it made NO difference.

Cleaned the connections and vroom. Did I ever feel stoopid... he thought it was awfully funny, as I recall.
 
thanks for the info guys and gals. so say i jump it and it still doesnt work and i do a load test and they pass what other tests can i do to narrow it done to a starter soleniod. this is of course after i clean everything. i would be doing this right now but there is a monsoon outside and my garage is on a sharp incline so there is no place to do stuff like this without getting wet.
 
Woody35 said:
so btfarm you going to be at the pumpkin festival in sycamore in a few weeks
Click to expand...

Gonna try to Woody. We should try to meet up one day. Maybe Farm & Fleet in Syc this fall. I just KNOW you have to go over there occasionally. I'm usually up in Sycamore on Saturdays so PM me if you're headed up that way and I'll make a point of it. Have to know beforehand though because I don't have a computer there.
 
Woody35 said:
thanks for the info guys and gals. so say i jump it and it still doesnt work and i do a load test and they pass what other tests can i do to narrow it done to a starter soleniod. this is of course after i clean everything. i would be doing this right now but there is a monsoon outside and my garage is on a sharp incline so there is no place to do stuff like this without getting wet.
Click to expand...

Don't forget the power lead on the STARTER side of the battery to starter cable.

In case you don't know there are 2 of them. One goes to the solonoid, its a small guage wire. Then a 2nd BIG FAT gauge goes from the RH battery to the starter motor itself. Thats the one that rotted out on mine at the starter end.
 
Missy Good Wench said:
If jump is a no go and batteries are ok then starter is suspect.
Click to expand...

What I do to determin battery condition is watch the dome light when you try to crank. If it dims/fades out you know theres no power in the batts. If it stays the same, or close to. Batts are good. Hasn't failed me yet. I towed cars for about 4 years so I've jumped/diagnosed a ton of dead batts/starter issues. ANY MEANS possible to not tow the car :)
 
just got off of work. so im going to go outside and clean connections. my truck is on a incline on the side of the driveway. so since the steering and brakes dont work unless the engine is working im kinda screwed on taking the front passenger wheel off. what other ways do you suggest on how to take the starter out
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top