Help! Won't Start?!?!?

AFD256 · May 31, 2009

Hopefully you guys can help out-

Drove the truck all day with no problems, then went to start it and ......................nothing! When the key is in and turned to the 1st slot, aux?, the radio goes on as well as the rearview mirror, gauges are limp. When I try to start it the radio and temp on the mirror cut out. Clicking noise can be heard form the fuse box under the hood. Tried jumping it, didn't work. Then noticed there was a blown 40amp fuse in the Starter 1 slot under the hood, replaced it and it blew again. Is it a bad starter? or maybe a short? Oh yeah and I got it back a week ago from the shop with a brand new tranny. Now this............

georgecdisc · May 31, 2009

Hopefully you guys can help out-

Drove the truck all day with no problems, then went to start it and ......................nothing! When the key is in and turned to the 1st slot, aux?, the radio goes on as well as the rearview mirror, gauges are limp. When I try to start it the radio and temp on the mirror cut out. Clicking noise can be heard form the fuse box under the hood. Tried jumping it, didn't work. Then noticed there was a blown 40amp fuse in the Starter 1 slot under the hood, replaced it and it blew again. Is it a bad starter? or maybe a short? Oh yeah and I got it back a week ago from the shop with a brand new tranny. Now this............

Sounds like a bad starter. Bring it to Autozone, and if you fry their equipment then you know it is bad . Check the wiring to the starter, see if anywhere the wire is exposed / shorting out on something.

AFD256 · May 31, 2009

Thanks- This might be a dumb question but here goes-

Do I have to remove the starter from them to test it or can they test it while still installed?

georgecdisc · May 31, 2009

Thanks- This might be a dumb question but here goes-
Do I have to remove the starter from them to test it or can they test it while still installed?

You have to remove it from the vehicle and bring it in to the store. They have a machine that they will put it in and test.

Edit: make sure to watch the test yourself. I've had a perfectly working starter be diagnosed as bad because the guy connected the ground cable to a rust mount, so it didn't make a good connection.

AFD256 · May 31, 2009

I forgot to ask-

would a bad starter blow the fuse everytime I try to start it?

georgecdisc · May 31, 2009

I forgot to ask-
would a bad starter blow the fuse everytime I try to start it?

It is definitely possible. If the starter is shorting out internally it would cause an overflow of current... thus blowing a fuse.

AFD256 · May 31, 2009

Thanks for help seth

georgecdisc · May 31, 2009

No problem!

AFD256 · June 3, 2009

I took the starter out and took it over to NAPA, the starter was good but the solenoid(sp?) was bad. So after $150 bucks and 4 1/2 hrs total, the beast started right up. Well after almost 10 years and 150,000+/- miles I guess that thing couldn't last forever.

On another note- what a pain in the ask getting that thing out! No slack on the wires and little room to work it. Am I wrong or did it used to be alot more easily accessible? Why do they do things like that? It's like the last plug on the left side that faces back toward the firewall. That little things that make you go errrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

What things you guys have dealt with make you wanna scream?

Brad0Walker · June 3, 2009

I took the starter out and took it over to NAPA, the starter was good but the solenoid(sp?) was bad. So after $150 bucks and 4 1/2 hrs total, the beast started right up. Well after almost 10 years and 150,000+/- miles I guess that thing couldn't last forever.

On another note- what a pain in the ask getting that thing out! No slack on the wires and little room to work it. Am I wrong or did it used to be alot more easily accessible? Why do they do things like that? It's like the last plug on the left side that faces back toward the firewall. That little things that make you go errrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

What things you guys have dealt with make you wanna scream?

Well i spent 6 hours trying to put a set of 2" drop shackles on the back. The bolts that hold on the shackles had the head of the 6" bolt 1" from the frame. There was no possible way to get the bolt out the way that they had it installed and you can't get to it to cut it with anything but a torch, which would torch the bottom of the bed. I had to twist the leaf springs (very hard) to get the 4 bolts away up and above the frame. I turned the bolts around when i put them back in and had to cut off 1.5" of smooth non threaded studs off the back of the bolt to keep them from grinding on the frame. The only thing i can think those studs would be for is so they can do mechanized assembly??? Even then the bolts were turned the wrong way.

georgecdisc · June 3, 2009

I've tried pulling a starter out of a Jimmy once, same issues. Access to the nuts are impossible to get to, not enough length of wire, and to add to it, the puzzle of orientation maneuvers it took to get it out in the tight space. Glad to hear it is working again. Solenoid going out is a common problem with starters, if accessible just hitting the starter with a hammer will knock the solenoid into place to start the vehicle. Supposedly this is an unofficial way to diagnose the problem... never actually done it myself.

bill190 · June 3, 2009

The people who design things are not the people who fix things!

My favorite is when they have all metric bolts and ONE English size bolt. Or the other way around. I find this and say "Isn't that special!"

Or an old Ford where I replaced the heater core. Half the bolts were on the inside and the other half were in the engine compartment! "Isn't that special!"

So I had to take apart the entire inside as well as the engine compartment side when this could have all been done from the engine compartment side. I spent 4 hours on a job which should could have been done in 1 hour.

A friend has a Toyota and as I recall, his alternator and starter are up high on the engine and quite easy to replace. I sure like that idea!