04 Explorer Won't Start

[Roush2002]

I went out to my truck this morning, put in my key, and nothing. Tried it again, and nothing.

All of the electronics turn on, and when I turn my key, I can hear 1 click from the dash area, but it won't turn over or anything!

It's an '04 4.6 V8 with 38,000 miles... (This couldn't have happened 2,000 miles earlier while I was still under factory warranty!) My truck is in great condition, I have kept up on all mantenance, I keep it very clean (inside, outside, engine bay, underbody). I've never had ANY problems with starting it...until today.

I put a battery charger on it for a while, and it says it's charged to 100%. Still nothing.

Please help!

 

[E.B. Cornburner]

There was a TSB I remember reading about a poor connection on the small wire on the starter solenoid. Yours may be a victim of this. That'd be one of the first places I'd check.

You don't have any type of aftermarket alarm added to the vehicle, do you? If you do, they're notoriously failure prone if they're hooked up to disable the starter. At the dealership, we've smashed some pretty expensive alarm kits with a big ol' sledge hammer just for the sheer satisfaction of knowing they'll never cause a problem on another car ever again.

Edit: You're not too far away from me! Howdy, neighbor!

 

[Roush2002]

Thanks for the reply.

My dad (who is actually a GM mechanic) took a look at it. It took him a while, and he blamed it on my Viper Remote Start System too. I was told that they did NOT hook up the alarm system, only the remote starter part.

He dug for a while, and found the exact problem that you described. The connection to the starter was broken off. Weird.

 

[BWilliams]

Good to hear that you got the problem fixed.

However, just so you know, that Viper remote start kit does disable PATS. EB's hammer suggestion sounds pretty good-- the Ford alarm and remote starter is a very good system, and it keeps PATS functional.

 

[BrooklynBay]

Welcome to this forum! I've had to disable a couple of alarm systems. They just go bad suddenly for no apparent reason after a while. One neighbor of mine got stuck a few blocks away when their car wouldn't crank. I got there a few minutes after they called me, and to my surprise it started right up when I cranked it! They couldn't start it again in the morning, so I just unplugged the alarm module for them.

 

[E.B. Cornburner]

Glad you got it going. I guess having somewhat of a photographic memory can be useful some times...I was over at my buddy's shop and they have Mitchell OnDemand, which has a complete TSB list in it, and I remember reading that one.

Like one of my friends says about me, "He's pretty smart...He just acts like an idiot."