paryzek

I have not started my 83 F150 in several years and tried today. It didn't start, as you would probably expect. So we replaced the battery and tried again. Lights, etc worked so the battery was good, but when we turned the key it went "clunk". I'm thinking starter, but looked at this forum and saw some comments on the solenoid, so we tested that. We checked the power going into the solenoid (12V) and coming out of the solenoid (7 V), so we figured we would replace the solenoid next. We did that and tested the new solenoid. Again 12 V coming in and 7 V going out. We quit for the night and figured we would do some research. First question is what to try next? Is there any reason we can't simply bypass the solenoid, at least as a test to eliminate the solenoid as the issue? I know I will have plenty of problems getting the vehicle running again, but I kind of want to get one problem fixed before moving on. Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Andy

landscaperluke

Hi Andy,
The starter motor could be siezed up from sitting so long. I have used a wrench to arc across the 2 big terminals on solenoid to see if starter will turn but dont hold it too long since you may heat up the wires too much. This may not be recommended by all but I have done it as a test. In a few seconds you will know.
Also since it has set for such a long time its not a bad idea to check the timing chain because they tend to tighten up from not moving and will break when they move again,...just a thought.

paryzek

Thanks for the reply. We thought about bypassing the solenoid to see if the starter motor was seized up, but at the last moment decided to send the truck away for professional evaluation. I know that was just going to be the tip of the iceburg since it has not been started for so long, and I really didn't have the time available to go through each problem as it came up.
Thanks.