Ok guys, for as long as I've had this truck I'm still learning something new every once in a while. I'm posting this to help someone doing a search later, and pulling their hair out/snapping at the wife/ kicking the dog due to frustration.

The last few years, every winter, and anytime my cables get corroded up, I have a no start condition. This most generally is quite a bit worse in the winter. Sometimes I've sprayed the pump/ solenoid linkage, sometimes cleaned the cables, sometimes had to take the plunger out and hose it off, but it almost always would go right back to working. It would last a good while usually. Until recently. None of that worked.

I had to cut it off at the drive through the other day for the girl to hear, and it wouldn't restart, new thing, not even turn over. Load of feed on, but on a grade, so I tells my wife to help push she loved that. And also, she went to the window on foot. It was classic.

This problem was caused by a loose battery cable end, the bolt thread had finally had enough acid and give it up. Fixed that, and I'm thinking this thing is good to go for a while. Nope. Still a no start condition, regularly, like 9/10 times. So, I've finally had it, and have it in my mind that I don't care if I have to tear this thing completely apart and have it in 50 5-gallon buckets, I'm tired of this ****.

Get to looking and checking, The center (pull) blade terminal in the solenoid-side of the pigtail plug looks like it's shorter than the others? I'm thinking that weird and pull on it with needle-nose and it comes right up to the same level of the others. What would make it like that? I pull it up, mark the white wire (pigtail side, remember) at the edge of the plug so I'll know if it slips back again when connecting them. It does. A number of times. I finally get it together by squeezing with the pliers and pushing with them while connecting. I don't know how long it's been like that. I'm thinking a long time, and it's just eat the edge of that blade off enough to where it wouldn't carry the juice with anything less than a perfect connection at the battery?

So, if yours is giving you fits, make sure when you connect the pigtail plug back up your connectors inside align perfectly and you don't end up pushing a pin out. I can't remember the last time I've had that plug apart. Weird deal.

 

Salty winters always show the ugly heads of little problems that have been waiting for the perfect time for me. Glad you figured it out!