03 explorer no ignition.

[irs29223]

Greetings to all. New to the forum and have been looking for a issue similar to mine with no luck. Any info or direction to a thread with the info needed, and I will be happy. Ok went to start 03 v6 4.0 explorer eddie baur edition. Sound like it was about to start and heard a pop and died out. Tried to start again and got clicks. The clicks sound to be coming for the driver side engine bay close to the rear, basically forward from the driver side dash. Had a low battery that wouldn't charge swapped batt. Now I get all my gauges pegging out in acc. when turn for ignition I get a clunk and rapid clicks. battery cables are getting hot and the starter was as well (its not anymore). Altentator and starter has been checked battery connectors scrub cleaned and look to be in decent shape. no corrosion and connection is snug. Spliced a new ground to starter. I need any tips I can get , that will be helpful. Did a quick look at battery cables and all seem to be well. I have attempted to start only 20 times or less. After troubleshooting and get the same results. Took my 650 cca batt to get recheck. Now it has only 550 cca. So I am also wondering if my attempts to start drained the battery or was it bad from the start. Could anything drain the battery from the couple times I tried to start it.. I did remove batt after each time I attempted to troubleshoot. Can anyone please give me some direction... also swapped starter relay out.

 

[rmcknight]

Are you saying its not turning over at all?
If not, can you turn it (only clockwise) manually with a large socket on the harmonic balancer.

 

[irs29223]

I get no attempt of the engine trying to fire up. Only thing I get is a clunk and rapid clicks. So its no attempt of ignition. Everything on the dash lights up normal and radio works. before I attempt to start, it the gauges peg out. That's all my gauges peg out and go down. turn the key for ignition and clunk. hold the key and than the clicks start. battery cables get hot. I had the battery rechecked yesterday and the cca was at 550 with 12volts. I had them slow charge the battery. The batt is new not even 2 wks old. I only attempted to start a handful of times. So it seems something is draining my battery when I try to start. I am novice mechanic at best LoL. So I am trying my best to describe my issue. I just have a feeling its something simple and don"t wanna pay for something I can do myself

 

[rmcknight]

Can you make 100% sure that the engine is turning, clicking does not mean turning.
The starter clicks in and out (pulses) to stop itself shorting out if the engine does not turn. That is normal. you may need to get someone to watch and see if its turning during the crank.

 

[irs29223]

no the engine does not turn at all. it dies before there is ignition or a attempt at ignition. when the key is turned to start there is clunk and clicks. I know its something electrical just trying to figure out what to check.

 

[2Trux]

It sounds like you have a huge load on your starter (hot cables, large battery drain). Check first to see if you can turn the engine by hand.
If it turns over I would look at a starter problem first, followed by flywheel issue.
If it doesn't turn it may be hydro locked (cylinder filled with liquid). I would then remove all the spark plugs and see if it will turn over (by hand).
If that works and fluid comes out of one of the cylinders you can do more troubleshooting based on what it is (gas or water).

I had an engine hydro locked with gas once. Don't crank with key to blow it out. Think of huge fireball when ignition set it off!!

 

[irs29223]

Thanks 2trux. that helps and now that you mention hydrolock. When I removed the starter there was a lil water that dripped out. I am in sc and we have been getting a lot of rain. When you say turn the engine by hand how would you go about doing that? I had the starter checked and it checked good I even swapped the old with a rebuilt one. I still had the same issue. Its been hard to get to working on this issue. because of life. LoL. Just never seem like I have enough time. Just getting around to figuring out what other fuses and relays deal with ignition.

 

[2Trux]

Are you saying its not turning over at all?
If not, can you turn it (only clockwise) manually with a large socket on the harmonic balancer.

Right here.
The harmonic balancer is the large pulley at the bottom front of the engine. There is a large bolt in the middle that holds it on.
It is important to only turn it clockwise (looking from the front) to keep from damaging the engine.
If you have to pull hard enough that the bolt starts to turn and not the engine you have a problem.