I have a 91.5 4x4 and noticed that the 4 year old battery would hardly crank the engine.

I bought a new battery from Oriely and installed it , but diddnt try starting it at that time. Soooo, a week later , I tried starting and it will not turn over.
I just hear something like a solenoid going "Clunck" when i turn the key.
I turn the lights on ,they work fine. With the lights on an turn the key, the lights do not dim.

Could this be a solenoid , starter, ?

Please tell me how to determine, I want to dtive it.

Thanks in
advance.

 

FIrst thing I would check is the battery connections. Almost sounds as if oneof them isnt on there tight or was dirty.

I had something like this similar happen to me is why I say this. Go check it and make sure

 

i just had this happen to me a couple of days ago, i just put a 1020 ca battery in and changed the connectors out and it fires up within the first couple of seconds, just like it did when i bought it, check the other ends of the cables too, jus incase one of them worked loose

 

Did the starter work fine right up to the battery change ??

A brand-new battery seldom has a full charge and will usually be strong enough to start an engine as soon as installed, but not have enough bottom to still be strong a week later.

A weak battery will grunt the solenoid just the same as a bad solenoid and worn-out contacts; either situation is the same so far as the starter is concerned = too few amps getting through the contacts.


Did you check battery state of charge with a volt-meter ??

Did you load-test the battery ??

Did you try jump-starting the engine AFTER performing the above-mentioned tests ??


If the starter was working fine before, and the only thing changed was the battery, I doubt your trouble is the starter, but sometimes it is hard to make a correct long-distance diagnosis.

 

Try turning the engine a little by hand. You may have had a bad spot form at the starter motor commutator from low voltage.
If that doesn't work CAREFULLY use a pair of jumper cables and jump the starter itself from a known good battery. That will let you know if the starter is bad, or it is either a cable, controls, or battery problem.

 

Very true on the low voltage/amperage burning spots and causing bad internal connectivity in the starter.

However, seeing as how the starter is not engaged with the flywheel teeth until it's own centrifugal force and the solenoid-plunger pushes it into engagement, I fail to see how rotating the engine is going to move the starter commutater.

 

I was thinking it might change the tooth alignment a couple of degrees and let the starter find a new spot when trying to engage. It might not work, but simple enough to try before pulling the starter to bench test.

 

If you have a meter do a loaded voltage drop on the cables. I'd bet the problem is in the cables, now the bad story is that most the time with trying to start a truck over and over with to little amperage will burn up the contacts. So a stater rebuild is a good idea with the new cables.

 

Is the starter solenoid on the starter or fender well?
the battery is fine.

 

It's on the starter...Mark

 

The starter relay is on the fender. Sometimes these go bad, mine ticks and ever so often is starts. I need to re-wire this because most of the wires were silicone in :/