2001 EB 5.4 hear 1 click on start attempt but no cranking..new battery

[BTVelocity]

2 year old refurbished battery had 1.5V left on it after 6 weeks sitting. Got rid of it!!

Bought new battery 2 days ago, load tests fine. 24 hrs later, yesterday 0530, 9 degrees F, only 1 loud click heard when trying to start engine. No cranking, no dimming of lights.

Attached emergency start battery pack and it started! Weird!

Started and ran it 8-10 more times throughout the day yesterday, no problem.

As a precaution, disconnected terminal cable to negative battery post overnight. This morning at 0630 and 8 degrees F, same loud single click on start attempt, no cranking, no dimming of lights. Battery Voltage 12.2, load test good.

This time the emergency start pack did Not work, tried 2 different packs.

Seems like no power is getting to the starter (after overnight cold soak).......

Is there a relay or solenoid that is not passing power on to the starter?

How do I troubleshoot this bummer of a problem????

I'm thinking it's Not the starter since it turned over the engine yesterday flawlessly 8-10 times.

Thanks for the help!!!!!!


Bill
Richmond, VA

 

[Russell Lewis]

Check voltage when happening. Depending how cold it it might make things sluggish different temps between the 2 times ?

 

[xJohnnyOx]

I had a similar issue in the past with both my Explorer and Expedition.

Battery Corrosion had made its way INTO the battery connectors and wiring (not visible from the outside). I had to strip back a little of the insulation to see it. Once I saw the extent, I chopped off the connectors and installed some third party type connectors (after trying to clean as much corrosion out the copper cables as possible). Been working well since (over 4 years now on the Expedition). Anyway, just one more thing to check, as this issue could be a wide variety of things. P.S. Getting to the starter connections is a real *****, so hopefully those are still good.

Happy New Year's

John O

 

[BTVelocity]

ALL FIXED!!!!

Thanks for your replies, Russell and John.

Had a friend holding the Starter Solenoid at the passenger side firewall while I turned the key to the start position. He could feel a click inside the Starter Solenoid, but no cranking.

The top bolt had 12.1 volts going to it, the bottom bolt had Zero volts, even when the key was in the start position. We presumed that the small ignition wire at the 3 O'clock position on the Starter Solenoid was activating the coil inside the Solenoid (the single Click we heard), but the Contact at the end of the coil was likely burned out.

30 minutes later, after some online research and a trip to the local car parts store for a new Starter Solenoid, $15.39, and the engine now starts up flawlessly. Yay!!

So maybe I'll check it again tomorrow morning at 7am and 22 degrees F, and see if it still works...... I have faith that I will do just fine.

Thanks, again, for your help!!



Bill
Richmond, VA

 

[Russell Lewis]

ALL FIXED!!!!

Thanks for your replies, Russell and John.

Had a friend holding the Starter Solenoid at the passenger side firewall while I turned the key to the start position. He could feel a click inside the Starter Solenoid, but no cranking.

The top bolt had 12.1 volts going to it, the bottom bolt had Zero volts, even when the key was in the start position. We presumed that the small ignition wire at the 3 O'clock position on the Starter Solenoid was activating the coil inside the Solenoid (the single Click we heard), but the Contact at the end of the coil was likely burned out.

30 minutes later, after some online research and a trip to the local car parts store for a new Starter Solenoid, $15.39, and the engine now starts up flawlessly. Yay!!

So maybe I'll check it again tomorrow morning at 7am and 22 degrees F, and see if it still works...... I have faith that I will do just fine.

Thanks, again, for your help!!



Bill
Richmond, VA

ALL FIXED!!!!

Thanks for your replies, Russell and John.

Had a friend holding the Starter Solenoid at the passenger side firewall while I turned the key to the start position. He could feel a click inside the Starter Solenoid, but no cranking.

The top bolt had 12.1 volts going to it, the bottom bolt had Zero volts, even when the key was in the start position. We presumed that the small ignition wire at the 3 O'clock position on the Starter Solenoid was activating the coil inside the Solenoid (the single Click we heard), but the Contact at the end of the coil was likely burned out.

30 minutes later, after some online research and a trip to the local car parts store for a new Starter Solenoid, $15.39, and the engine now starts up flawlessly. Yay!!

So maybe I'll check it again tomorrow morning at 7am and 22 degrees F, and see if it still works...... I have faith that I will do just fine.

Thanks, again, for your help!!



Bill
Richmond, VA

Little humor for you. Your colder then Alaska lol

 

[Bedrck47]

Attached are the prints for the starter system

 

[xJohnnyOx]

Always a good feeling to have a reliable starter working for you,

John O