New battery, but still won't start on 2000 EB 5.4

[Retiredusps]

I do not know if you have oem battery cables. But if you do and they are the molded style they corrode inside.You can cut them off and put cheap replacement ends.They look good but the strands are not connected on the inside. Cheap fix before starter.

 

[stamp11127]

https://www.expeditionforum.com/threads/voltage-drop-testing-for-no-start.26144/

Simple check with a meter will locate resistance without taking anything apart.

 

[Steve McGarrett]

Well the snow finally melted enough that I could get underneath my beast and lo and behold the positive battery cable has corroded enough that it separated from the 90 degree connector to the starter. New one is on the way from Amazon so think I should be on the road by this time next week! Thanks to all for your help!

 

[justKen]

A good rule of thumb - if the battery has been in long enough to give it's complete service life, you can all-but guarantee that the terminals/ cables are corroded. It's common to scuff & clean the terminal, but on sealed cables this does not address the corrosion that will be present in the stranded copper at the terminal junction.

If it's time to change a battery - it's typically time to change terminals and clean the cable. New terminals (replace both) can be picked up for a few bucks while at the parts store picking up the battery, and since the cables are already disconnected and the battery is out of the box - it's perfect time to change them.

Something else to check while you're doing the work - I found a vacuum leak in the plastic lines that feed the front axle actuator where they passed by the battery. It seems the battery venting reacted with a section of the tubing causing it to degrade, become brittle, and had begun leaking. I cut out the hard/ brittle section of both lines and replaced with a rubber vacuum hose jumper. Front axle actuator works without hesitation now.

/K

 

[Steve McGarrett]

Time for an update...Due to improving weather I was able to get out and work on removing the battery cable. It was a bear but I was able to get it out and am ready to install the new one (OEM part). Has anyone done this job yet? The cable is very Medusa like and before I begin I don't know if it would be better to work from top down or bottom up.

I tried searching YouTube for a video, but they all seem to be people who hacked the original cable versus replacing it outright. Getting closer!

 

[1955moose]

If nobody mentioned this earlier, buy a Ford dvd online. Their very inexpensive, and trust me you'll use it in the future. You guys have to stop believing everything is available online it's not. These are factory Ford manuals that cover A to Z. I wish that these were around 30 years ago. We had to buy individual books, I had over $2,000 worth for cars and motorcycles. Of Course I worked on a lot of cars back then, and bikes.

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[Steve McGarrett]

So was finally able to get everything put back together after much elbow grease, cursing and questioning of Ford's engineers and.....nothing. No lights, nothing like everything is dead. Parts replaced: battery, starter solenoid (on firewall) and battery cable. Beyond frustrated. Any ideas?

I did try a portable jump pack and it made no difference.

 

[backnine29]

Not sure if this relates to your problem, but many of your symptoms and solutions I have experienced on my 2000 EB 5.4L. Turns out that if I push the shifter arm further up into park, the truck will start. Seems the shifter may not be properly seating into park. Failure to start happens often. Having regular service done tomorrow and the issue will be included in service review.

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[1955moose]

The screws that hold the switch in there come loose, causing the shift gate problem. Your problem sounds like no power reaching the solenoid, or the starter itself failed. You didn't mention jumping the starter relay, or checking if you have power to the small wire from ignition to relay, easy to check. It's time to start testing parts/power, and not changing with hope you'll stumble upon a fix. You may have to have a shop complete this job. No shame there.

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[Steve McGarrett]

View media item 6666View media item 6665Thanks for the replies! I just went out and check the little wire to the solenoid and it's connected correctly (or at least I think so). The odd thing is that before I replaced the battery cable I did have lights, radio, etc just no juice going to the starter. Now I have nothing at all.

I took a couple of pictures, but nothing from underneath as it's night out now. On the starter I have the positive going to the bottom bolt, the large negative on the upper bolt and the small negative going to the small (10mm) bolt on the solenoid. I REALLY should have taken a picture before I took the old one off as I'm doubting myself now. Is that the correct way to wire it?