my dads 98 started acting up lately...when hes trying to start it, it will jsut click sometimes just like the batteries are dead but they are good still, even tried 2 new batteries..the alternator is fine and charging, we would wiggle the battery cables around a bit and tighten them back up and it would start once in a while even changed the connections on them and made sure it was all tight and it will still just click..once in a while it will start up with out being jump started..we even changed and checked the clutch pedal sensor. is there somthing simple im missing.?

 

check the starter

 

forgot to mention the starter was the first thing he changed

 

check your ground connections ??

 

did you buy a new starter or just change the contacts on it ??

 

its a new starter, and the grounds were checked and retightened along with the positive cables being changed from his 97 parts truck

 

What clicks , the starter or something else , like a relay somewhere , put your hand on to see if you can feel the click .
Its too late to save the money already spent , but testing is what you need to to do to find whats wrong , before buying parts .
Your limited I'm guessing in tools & experience because of the approach , its important with heavy current draws to have good high test tools , here is a link to some that will not break your budget too bad ,

http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/item....re&dir=catalog

To start though , get a set of [ good ] = [ heavy welding cable , lots of copper , at least 1/2" ] jumper cables , use just one side at a time , connect to the neg. side of battery with one end , then connect the other end to starter body , sometimes you do not get a good connections so while some one is holding the key to the start position , you may need to wiggle either end to make sure of good connection , what your doing is using the jumper cable to see if the ground cable , or connections in truck are good .
If that does not work , switch to positive side of battery & large connection at starter .
When it starts work all the time , work backwards to the battery to see where it doesn't work , that gets you close to the problem .
Its possible that one of the parts you already put in are bad , batteries / starter .

 

pretty sure its the starter that clicks..i havent really looked at it.. its the old mans truck he knew the starter was getting old to begin with, he wasnt sure about the batteries, we put a load tester on them and they were good, just had to try the new batteries to make sure it wasnt somthing simple..im gonna go help him try the jumper cable trick here to help him find his problem
thanks

 

Sometimes the shutdown solenoid click sounds a lot like a starter when you have a low battery.

John gives good advice with the jumper cable trick for finding a bad connection.
I spent a lot of time once before I learned that the large cables, especially the negative, can be corroded in half way down under the insulation where you can't see it.
I ran into one corroded all the way though with at least a foot of clean wire on each side of the corrosion. Enough juice flowed though to light up the dash but not crank the starter.

 

just changed the battery cables from the 97 parts truck that had the ones with the end sautered (SP) on seemed good for a few starts and now back to just a click.

 

tracked down the click and it is the fuel shut off solinoid i beleive that is what it is...its right next to the fuel plate and is just a bit smaller than a pop can coming off at an upward angle

 

That's because soldered on connectors don't work on high load cables. Connector heats up and melts the solder.
If you just break down and buy some new cables chances are your problems will be over.

 

that could possibly be..i will try get him to get new ones but i doubt he will because they worked fine on the parts truck before it was totalled off.

 

well the problem is back..on the previous starter he took it back and got a new one and all was well now almost 2 months later the problem is back, so he figured it was just a cheap starter so took it back on warranty again and put the new one in and it was good for a day and then now it will click a few times then it will fire right up..you can take these starters out and put the jumper cables on them and they wont spin it will just shoot out, anyone have anything to suggest?

 

just to clear things up it has new batteries (2 months old) changed the wiring from his 97 parts truck that never had starting problems and its a new starter. i believe the brand of the starter is a dixie they are a remanufactured starter with a 2 year warranty..