ford broke down

[transplant87]

ok so heres the deal, my sister was driving my 94 ford f150 to school today and then called me and said that my truck broke down, so i went and looked at it and found out nothing i mean nothing was getting power and i cant think of anything to fix it. I you have any ideas let me now and ill check it out. Thanks

[Fordguy77]

Nothing getting power kinda leads me to think its a battery issues, or a grounding issue...I have had a positive battery cable vibrate loose after a long while of driving it, and kill power to the whole car, and i only found it when i bumped the cable and it arced a little and the hood lights came on.

[Brad]

Does the Battery have Voltage? If the alternator is bad it could have drained the battery down to 0 by running the truck solely on the battery.

[Fordguy77]

ColoDisco previously posted:

[transplant87]

yeah i looked at all that and found out that the ground was gunked up and now i have power and now it wont start and the starter is fairly new and upgraded and ther battery is new and has power in it, im thinking either the starter or ther starter solinoid is bad

[Warrlord]

Does it have the original positive battery cable? If so, the positive battery terminal can be internally corroded where the cable goes into it. It will have 2 or 3 positive wires going into the terminal depending on the options of that vehicle. This happened to my 94 Bronco a while back. The battery had 12v, the lights would work, everything worked except the starter because with that corrosion (that you cannot physically see inside the terminal), there is no way the amperage that's needed for starter operation, can be pulled across that corrosion.

Rather than buy the OEM style positive battery cable for around $60.00, I went to the Zone & picked up one of of these. I just got the single one for $1.49. It was a cheap, easy fix.

I'm mentioning the above possibility based on what happened to my 94 (and what I've seen after fixing cars for a living for over 28 years) which can often be overlooked because the internal deterioration of the positive terminal cannot be seen unless you dissect the terminal.

[Brad]

Have you tried arcing the solenoid to the positive cable on the starter just for a second? Good way to see if the starter is working.

[Fordguy77]

ColoDisco previously posted:

[transplant87]

Larry i replaced both cables when i bought the truck 5 years ago and had to put those connectors on not to long ago.
Brad i did arc the solenoid and all i got was a clicking noies for it and nothing from the starter.
chris my dad tought me that trick when i was really young and comes in good when timing a fors engine.

[Fordguy77]

The clicking makes me sway towards a battery issue like no amps....
Remember you can always have 12v and no amps...

transplant87 previously posted:

[transplant87]

i know that but i took the power from my blazer and tryed to jump the starter like that and still nothing, so im going to think it all could be my starter (i hope not my starters are 95 bucks)

[Fordguy77]

A little cheaper at $65
http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinfo.php?pk=1414408

[Brad]

Sounds like a starter to me. $95 is not bad. I paid $176 for my Land Rover Starter, aftermarket.

[transplant87]

95 is alot when u have 1 doller in ur pocket

[Hypoid]

Take the starter off and hook jumper cables to a good battery. Hook the ground jumperr to the starter, HANG ON to the starter and touch the positive to the starter lug.

All I know at this point is that the solenoid goes "click." I don't know what voltage you have measured before, or after the solonoid. I don't know the condition of the starter cable or if there is any oil or corrosion where the starter case mounts. Never mind how I learned the importance of a clean electrical path.

[Jackie]

Here, here - to above suggestion. I've known that to work in the past. I always carried a hammer!!!