02 e350 7.3 no start, no crank

[Air]

I have a 02 with 180,000 mi on it.

i turned it off at a gas station the other day, and when i went to crank and leave it failed. It did not crank, did not even attempt. It just clicked.

The dash appears normal, the wait to start light goes on and then goes away.

the volt meter appears weird. when you first turn the key to run it jumps to 16ish, then it falls below the 8, and then jumps back up. it will do this every time you turn the key, until you turn the key to start. then all i hear is a loud click from the starter area and a lower faster clickclickclickclick from farther forward on the engine for as long as i hold the key to start.

after this point, the batteries seem to be drained. when the key is to run, the dash lights are dim, the dinger is more of a moaner, and the stereo will not work. as soon as i hook the upper battery to a charger everything goes back to normal though.

both batteries have been tested and are good.

My only guess is a bad stater. i really dont know enough about what it takes to start a diesel to guess further. I replaced this starter about 1 year/40,000 miles ago.

i am in north carolina now, where the temps are in the 80's to 90's.

what could be draining the batteries of all their juice so quickly. IT seems like there is a HUGE bug in the circuit somewhere that is dumping a TON of energy. i keep reading about a glow plug relay, but i dont know if this applies to my situation. If it went bad, would it draw enough energy to prevent the starter from even spinning over?

[DivinDave]

Sounds to me like a issue with the connections at the starter or the battery terminals. If there is corrosion at the cable connections at the starter it can create the primary symptoms you are having when attempting to start. This happened on my 90 van at the curb in front of the house just as you describe. Mine was corrision on the cable lugs at the starter. Looked just fine at first inspection, but taking them off and cleaning up to shiny condition was the fix. Ensure that the connections at the battery terminals are clean and tight, the connections at the starter motor are cleaned up and tight and see if the problem goes away.

[Air]

thanks for your response dave. That makes total sense. I went to check the connections on the starter, and all were tight. however, the starter solenoid (small piece on the top of the starter) has a black insert in the metal casing. This black insert was unusually loose fitting. I removed the starter and took it to autozone to get it tested, where it failed. Armed with a new starter, i was certain i had the problem wipped..


I think there is a new problem. wiring issues perhaps? the volt gauge will go up to 16 when i first turn the key to run, then it drops down to 0, while the dinger moans and the radio only plays on 1 speaker. All other dash lights are dim as well. After a minute, it all returns to normal. If i proceed to try and crank it at this point, i get maybe 1/2 a revolution and then it goes to the click-click-click-click that signifies not enough juice.

all this is with a running car jumping from its battery to the lower battery of the van.

[e444]

Originally Posted by Air

thanks for your response dave. That makes total sense. I went to check the connections on the starter, and all were tight. however, the starter solenoid (small piece on the top of the starter) has a black insert in the metal casing. This black insert was unusually loose fitting. I removed the starter and took it to autozone to get it tested, where it failed. Armed with a new starter, i was certain i had the problem wipped..


I think there is a new problem. wiring issues perhaps? the volt gauge will go up to 16 when i first turn the key to run, then it drops down to 0, while the dinger moans and the radio only plays on 1 speaker. All other dash lights are dim as well. After a minute, it all returns to normal. If i proceed to try and crank it at this point, i get maybe 1/2 a revolution and then it goes to the click-click-click-click that signifies not enough juice.

all this is with a running car jumping from its battery to the lower battery of the van.

check that starter conection my terminal was slightly cracked replaced it fired right up also battery connections need to be real clean