Took our truck over to New Mexico, hauled about 1500 pounds of siding and tools to build a well house on our place. Load was sitting just off the overloads, so it banged a bit on the crappy surface of I-40. Truck absolutely did not care about the load and at 67.5 mph (what's with the goofy speedo graduations?!?) we maintained 19-20 mpg.
520 miles to NM, got there about 0100 and next morning, truck wouldn't start. Interior lights and the 17 buzzers all worked. No starter. Few twists of the key and it starts. Hmmmm. Went to Checker and the alternator is charging 13.7 volts like a champ. The battery terminals and the multitude (4) of wires attached to the positive terminal were totally crudded out. Whoever sold the new Interstate battery to the previous owner just sprayed that red crap right on top of the crud. I took it all apart, soaked everything in baking soda solution till it quit fizzing. I replaced all 4 of the accessory terminals and greased everything down. Putting it back together, when I attached the ground cable to the engine block, I noticed a pretty good arc and spark. Not like what the little light under the hood would cause. Everything was off. I'm thinking something is draining the juice.... Anybody got any good ideas? After all the stuff is clean and new and charged up, it did the No-Start thing to me again. After a few turns of the key, it did start up. I HATE intermittent electrical issues. Now every time I get in the truck, I'm thinking, "C'mon baby. START". What to look for Oh Wisen Ones?
Love that ride and the power and economy this bone-stock Blue Dog delivers.
Thanks for reading and giving a darned. H.

 

The starters on these old beasts seldom go bad but the brushes and especially the contacts in the solinoids wear out. Luckily it's all rebuildable for not a lot of cash. Check the sticky at the top of the page, there's a rebuild guide with part #s.

 

Thanks for the reply. I'll look into it. Forgot to mention Brake warning and anti-lock lights light up occasionally when pedal is depressed for more than 10 seconds or so. Fluid level is correct, brakes work great. Any guesses on this one? THANX Gents. H.

 

sounds like your computer may be screwin up, setting off lights and doing no starts. computer may be leaving something on draining the battery.

 

Another outside possibility would be a lot of corrosion in the positive cable to the starter. I had it build up inside the jacketing and the braided cabling and it was giving a lot of reistance which made for slow cranking, especially when engine comp. was hot. Went thru the batt, alt, starter to find lastly that was the issue.Likely not your problem but something I learned to check for. Wouldn't cause a drain unless the cable was shorted.

 

Ignition switch could be on its way out? If it doesn't start with the key try the pigtail up by the battery to crank it over. Not much to these old truck to get them to run. I believe a problem with these trucks is that all power is routed thru the Ignition switch and head light switch. I bet the bottom cover on the colum below the ignition switch is melted a little.

 

The underhood light draws enough current for a good spark.

I say don't worry about it.

Sounds like a vacuum leak in the booster on the brake warning light issues.

 

Same thing with mine, until I changed the brake power booster. I was doing a little something under the hood, and asked a friend to turn off the truck. When the rattling stopped, I heard a "sssssss'. Turned out it was a leak around the seam of the brake booster. I caulked it because I'm cheap and it worked for a whilw, then the caulk started to debond. I got a new shiny booster now, and no more BRAKE and ABS lights.