pharrell

My daughter's 1997 Ford Ranger will not start. When she tried to crank it all it would do is make a clicking noise. Her battery seemed to be fine and a friend said it was the starter. We replaced the starter and it still does the same thing..makes multiple clicking noises when you turn on the ignition. Any assistance will be appreciated.

mre_power

pull the battery and test it to see if it is still good. if it is just drained, find out why it was drained.

check the battery cables. and if the above fails it may be a neutral stop switch.

pharrell

Thank you for your response. We checked the battery, put a charger on it just in case it was not full strength, even replaced both battery connections to make sure it was getting a good clean connection. The thing that is strangest is this is what it did to begin with prior to installing the new starter. We took the old starter off and took it to autozone who tested it and said it was bad. So we bought a new starter $140 + and installed it but all the truck would do is click once. We took the new one back, got another one and had them test it to make sure it was a working starter. After installing that one it is making the same noise it did when she got up that morning and went to crank it like about 5 or more clicks in a row and nothing else. I wanted to try to get it working before she gets back from visiting her Dad for Christmas but I don't know what to check next.

thefonz

Most of the time when you just get a click or rapid clicks, it is usually a weak battery or bad connection. Make sure connections are clean and tight. battery>solenoid>starter. The cable can also be bad under the insulation.

mre_power

then i would check the starter relay right behind the battery. and maybe the neutral stop switch

chiltons says when the switch is activated and the starter moter does not operate at all(clicks) then the problem lies with battery (in your case good) the starter relay contacts, the starter solenoid, or the starter moter electrical connections.

pharrell

Hello, I certainly appreciate all your help. We still cannot get this truck to crank. Here is an update. We have determined that the starter is good and did get the truck to start by doing a direct jump from another vehicle to the starter. The truck ran fine util we turned it off and then the same thing - multiple clicks when turning the key. We replaced both battery cables and all ground wires and had the battery checked on double load to make sure it was good. Now when turning the key the motor makes an attempt to crank and you can see the front pulley (I guess you would call it) make a slight turn and then nothing. We get the same thing when trying to jump it from another vehicle. It seems that there is something pulling all the power and not allowing the truck to completely turn over.

pharrell

Also we have noticed that all the interior lights dash lights and headlights completely go out when try to crank the truck. Any assistance is greatly appreciated, I don't know how much longer I can hold off the 17 year old teenager, she is back!

Krezman

check ur alternator

dave4161

Where is the ground cable attached ? on the body or the engine? Should be good ground to the engine and to the body. Some where you have a bad connection from the battery to the starter.That is why the lights go out. the starter is doing the same thing