Hello everyone!

1998 3500 4x4 extended cab, 12V.

Truck hasn't been started in a few years...I've been out of town, sort of..

Dash lights come on, I can hear a light click when I turn the key but no starter operation. Fuses look good. I had a spare starter, swapped it out with no change.

Yes, I pushed in the clutch pedal...

Help, please.

Thanks

 

Looks like dead battery. Measure each battery voltage, with the cable removed to isolate them. You need at least 12.5 volts each. Clean the battery posts and cable clamps while you're at it.

 

Brand new batteries. I'm thinking relay. I just saw how to test the starter from the relay location in the fuse box. Also have to look for mouse chewed wiring...
Thanks.

Dave

 

The light click sounds like a relay. Does your FSS pull up as it should? If so, I think your starter relay is good - the FSS relay is triggered by the starter relay, so if the FSS is pulling up then the starter relay is triggering.

Put a test light or multimeter on the solenoid/relay post (the small terminal) on the starter. If no reading/light when you turn the key, then there's a problem somewhere in the path to that terminal.

What shape are your cables in? You may have corrosion under the insulation that is causing significant voltage drop. You can either do end-to-end voltage-drop testing on the individual cables (the preferred method), or test voltage at the end-terminals (starter post, block terminals, driver-side battery for the battery/battery cable) and compare against voltage at the battery terminals.

Since you have the original starter out, try testing it on the ground with jumper cables to see if it spins - just for grins and giggles.

 

Cables look good. I will check the fuel shutoff and make sure it's in the correct position.

Thanks.

Dave

 

It's hard to tell how good the cables are just by looking - as I mentioned, you could have significant corrosion under the insulation that increases the resistance of the cables to the point they won't carry the load. Simple continuity-/ohm-testing only needs one strand of cable in contact from terminal to terminal to show continuity or no-load voltage, but that won't carry the amperage - voltage-drop testing under load is the way to tell. Mine once "looked okay" but were dropping 2+ volts from end to end under starter load.

 

FSS is not operating when ignition is on. It stays in the same position. Still no movement of the starter.

Dave

 

When you say the FSS is not operating and stays in the same position, are you saying you attempted to crank and start the engine and the FSS did not lift? You are aware that the FSS will not lift with the ignition key in the "run" position, correct? The FSS "lift" coil is only active when the key is turned to the start mode - after that, the FSS "hold"-coil keeps it up while the key is in the run position.

I hoped you could use the FSS as a quick and dirty test of the starter relay and wiring, but we may be heading down a path of confusion. To minimize possible confusion around the FSS, I suggest testing for voltage at the starting relay - power, ground, trigger, output (if the first three are good).