I'll try to be succinct:

Our battery connectors have gotten slack over the years; they are loose despite cranking the bolts on as tight as possible. We've had issues in the past where we had to pivot the connectors around so that they were as tight as possible, otherwise there were starting problesm.

Most recently, my husband drove the truck to the station for fuel, and then it wouldn't start. Click. After a couple of tries, it started. This happened again, and then the truck sat for a bit.

Next, I drove it to town, and when I tried to start it, click. Checked under the hood and one of the cable connectors was completely off the driver-side battery, sitting on top of the post! I put it back on, tried again but no start. Called AAA for a jump.

AAA guy got a knife and pared away some lead on the connectors on the driver's side battery so that they could be clamped on tighter. Gave it a 1500V jump with a portable deal that tested the alternator and showed it was charging. Thought we were good, drove it home 30 miles, and then it sat for a few days.

Dead! Click! No attempt at turning over! Tried to charge batteries but each one would show 100% but then when I disconnected and then reconnected, they'd show 60%. Disconnected batteries and charged them separately but same thing. These were new batteries as of about 1 year ago, when we also replaced the alternator.

The connectors on the passenger side were still not super tight so I pared away lead on those myself. Unfortunately, the lead broke away on the ground connector where the square end of the bolt sits tight, so I still wasn't able to get it to tighten down really well because the square end would spin around.

Thought there was a problem with the charger so bought a new one. It showed 100% charge after a short time so old charger was still working.

Still no start, just "click." So, my question to you all is:

What's the next thing to look at as far as no turn-over is concerned, just a click, given the history? Could it be that one connector on the ground post not being tight enough?

I've wanted to buy a whole new set of cables but they are very expensive. Since there are the three wires coming into that connector, not so easy to splice in a new clamp.

Where do we look next? I'm sort of the mechanic in the family. DH wants to buy the cable set but I'm not convinced that's where the problem lies, so spending $$ without a fix?

 

When you say click, do you mean click as in dead battery, or click as in starter just wont turn over? Turn the lights on and try the key ( with someone watching the lights of course ), if they go really dim or out, then you have a battery issue, if not, you likely have a starter contact issue, which is fairly common with these trucks.

Let us know which kind of click you are dealing with and we will diagnose from there.

 

You either have one bad battery and one good battery or a parasitic battery drain somewhere or you have bad starter contacts. Approximately every 100k the starter contacts and plunger should be replaced.

 

Try this http://www.fostertruck.com/dodge-den...t-89-2006.html

 

patdaly, let's just say that after the batteries were charged, all I got was a click when attempting to start, rather than the chugs you get when there's just not enough juice in the batteries to turn it over. After we messed around with tightening the clamps, the truck started. It sat for two days, click!

My husband thinks it's due to bad connections on the battery terminal posts (1999 truck, original battery cables/connectors in fairly bad shape) but does it really work that way? We've got the connectors on tight, but he thinks the surface area of the connectors isn't good enough...is he right or wrong, here?

We will test the dimming when attempting to start.

Are there instructions somewhere on how to change the starter contacts, assuming that's the starter solenoid kit infidel linked to above?

I need the truck to haul a trailer real soon!

 

I should add that DH wants to do the cable replacement (rebuild), that we've had terminal connector problems for years so it needs it anyway. I first and foremost want to get it started!

 

Bad cables will cause a lot of issues but so will the starter contacts...you already know your cables are no good so replacing them won't hurt

 

My cables did that also and I pulled cable off post and placed a single strand of small stranded wire ( about 1 1/2 inch long ) over post and put cable back on post . Had to actually tap cable down on post and tightened down bolt . Its plenty tight now . Might work for you .