93' Explorer Starter Problems - Machine Gun Noises

[CreepingNet]

It's been awhile since I posted here.......

I went out tonight to drop of a check and pick up some food, and my truck won't start. Instead, when I turn the key to accessory, the battery, check engine, and ABS lights come on and don't go off, and the if I turn to start, the starter sounds like a machine gun at a much lower volume, like it's trying to turn the engine but cant.

I'm trying to figure out what the problem could be. It ran fine as usual on Friday. I'd hate to have to towed into the shop since I already have some outstanding medical bills to take care of (hence the check). Could this be anything I could fix in the apartment parking lot? Or should I just drag it off to the shop. I have not found a good repair shop since I moved here to Everett Washington in 2005, and really haven't had a need to until now.

 

[BP_93explorer]

When mine made that noise, it was due to bad battery cables. Try giving them a jiggle and see if that helps. I did that for a few months until I finally replaced them.

 

[Phager]

It could also be the solenoid, which would require changing the starter. I would definitely start with cleaning the terminal ends and terminals, since it's best to go with the easiest fix possible. If the starter is bad, it would be a good time to swap out the cables while you're at it.

Pat

 

[CreepingNet]

Update, just tried again, this time there's little or no juice coming from the battery, the dome light won't come on anymore, so that's a good sign of weak/no current, so tomorrow, I will charge the battery, and inspect and/or replace the cables as needed. Sounds like something is vampire-izing my electrical system possibly though. Great suggestions, I can't believe all the reading I've done on this site and I forgot about the battery cables being a potential issue, especially since my truck is still 98% original 1993 parts.

I just finished eating at IHOP and hung would with the waitress and one of the patrons discussing trucks and cars, good news is, I have found a few sources for Starters if such is needed to be done.

 

[gsmaclean]

The sound you describe is more likely caused by not enough juice to the starter than by a bad starter. I'd vote for battery cables, and remember that the corrosion is often on the inside where you can't see it.

 

[CreepingNet]

Update, I checked around, it looks like new battery cables may be in the cards here, because I pulled off the battery this morning, threw it on the charger, seemed to have a pretty good charge overall, albeit not full, so I let it sit an hour till it trickled down to half-rate charge, pulled it off, popped it back in the Explorer, and she fired right up hair trigger on the start as usual.

Other things, I reseated the relays one at a time, and inspected the cables, the ground seems a little loose on the blue ground wire running to the chassis, and the red one has some corrosion on some just barely exposed wire on the outer sleeve, so new cables it is. Might go pick up that upgraded arm rest pivot while I'm out making improvements.

 

[marragtop]

It could also be a bad battery or alternator. Your original description sounds like it may have been a weak battery.

 

[nismotunedgtr]

I had hte same noise, turned out to be a dead battery. It's the sound of ht esolenoid clicking continuously because there isn't enough power to turn the starter.

 

[Mud Bug 94]

did you try to jump the solenoid? BTW cranking an engin over with low voltage will kill the starter solenoid....

 

[CreepingNet]

Well, I know it must be something draining the battery, because when I recharged it and put it back in, I took a quick nap, had already lined up a job interview for tomorrow, and boom, won't start again, bring the battery up, and it's flatlined.

Either my battery is bad (believable, cheap battery), or there is something the juice out of it with the ignition off is my most recent guess. The good part is at least I can charge the battery and keep it unplugged, and HOPEFULLY I can head over to the garage tomorrow and get it fixed up, I don't have time to fool with it now since I just accepted a job interview. The thing I wonder, is if something is sucking the juice out of my battery.....what is it, because it's nothing I've checked in the interior.

 

[Burns]

I would prob say that you could just replace the bat. and be fine. I would try it first. If it does not fix the prob you can return the new bat.

 

[Phager]

Parasitic draw is fairly easy to diagnose if you have a multimeter and alligator clips for your leads (You can get the clips from RS for ~$3). All you do is set you mulitmeter to the amps setting and out you positive probe lead in to the 10A fused hole (Or how my instructor referred to it the "A-Hole ). Clip the negative lead to a good ground (I use the alternator case) and place the tip of the postive probe on the center of the postive battery terminal (the reason for doing it this way is that it preserves the computer memory).

Once you're all set up there, you pull the positive cable off the terminal over the test lead and see what it displays. You're looking for a reading of less then 100 Milliamps (note all of this is done with the key out of the ignition and doors closed). If you get a reading higher then that the first place to look is to make sure you don;t have any courtesy lights on like the glove box or dome lights. If all that checks out then get a helper to pull fuses, with the test leads still in place, and as whichever fuse being pulled drops the current draw in to the normal range you'll know which circuit is causing the draw.

Also, in rare occasions bad battery cables can lead to parasitic draw, so it's possible that swapping out the cables will take care of the problems.

Generally checking for parasitic draw is pretty easy and doing it yourself will save you a good amout of money in diagnostic fees at a shop if you can track down the circuit that is causing the issue.

Pat

 

[CreepingNet]

Okay, this is really strange....

Went out today, picked up new battery cables, have not installed them yet, also picked up a test light, and have been running tests with a Multi-Meter.

Talked to the dudes at Pep Boys, they said that it'd be a better idea to test it myself because labor can be high, so thanks to the heads up of the above on that. This is also a good start for me since I signed up here a few years ago to read up on keeping this thing running as long as I can.

Have'nt run the test lamp the right way yet as I re-consulted the post AFTER running the test to find I was just pulling up the battery's total voltage.

The Multi-Meter test was really wonky. Running the tester in series with the positive cable and positive terminal on the battery yielded no readings whatsoever from any milliamp setting.....maybe my meter is junk on that side (it is a cheap $12.00 Radio Shack after all). Testing voltage, I had current of 10.47-12.07 volts going through the meter when running series to the bettery's positive terminal. Funny thing is, if I'm getting a voltage reading, where's my amperage current draw?

Anyway, I'm out to go pick up a new DVOM since I don't really trust my old beat up one, it works well for checking resistance values in guitar pickups, but it sounds like the amperage section is on the fritz.

 

[Dan Whitaker]

I'b be willing to bet you have a dead cell in the battery. Pep Boys can check your battery if you bring it in & do a load test on it. Why the hell they didn't offer I don't know.

 

[CreepingNet]

Just checked it again with a new (and apparently much better) DVOM, I tested the battery current level straight from positive to ground on the terminals, then tested it on the positive in series, both came up with the display showing 0.11 mA (unless that's 110 that it's really reading, it's an auto-range type).

I'm going to go make another trip on down to Pep Boys so I think I'll go have the battery tested while I'm there to swap out an incorrect battery cable that I picked up, I picked up a screw on type and not the pole type connector.

Nice part is the sun is finally out, so it's a lot more pleasant to work on the truck now.

 

[EMG7895]

Make sure you give yourself at least a whole day to replace those cables, do a search, because the job is a bit more involved than it sounds.

 

[CreepingNet]

Make sure you give yourself at least a whole day to replace those cables, do a search, because the job is a bit more involved than it sounds.

Looks like, I'm going to give it a rest today, and see if the problem might have miraculously tried to solve itself. I think I'll study up on the cables tonight. Pep Boys told me they were tied up, and no kidding, they had both battery test bays taken up. I'll take it over for the test tomorrow morning, I got the cable that I need now anyway.

 

[93rangerguy]

Machine Gun Noises!

I just tried to start my truck after being home all day, and it won't turn over. It's around 10:30pm, and it's making the sounds of a quiet machine gun, so I am going to wait until morning to retry...
Just read a thread on here from a guy with the same issue. I'm going to give the battery a charge in the morning, then replace the cables. Is there any other possibilities I might try? I whacked the starter a couple of times with a hammer just now with my wife behind the wheel, but after that I decided that it really was too late and I should call it a night and stew on it til the wee hours of the morning. Please help, as I just moved to where I have to commute to work now, and I need the truck to start so I can get to work Monday morning!!!

 

[gsmaclean]

I just tried to start my truck after being home all day, and it won't turn over. It's around 10:30pm, and it's making the sounds of a quiet machine gun, so I am going to wait until morning to retry...
Just read a thread on here from a guy with the same issue. I'm going to give the battery a charge in the morning, then replace the cables. Is there any other possibilities I might try? I whacked the starter a couple of times with a hammer just now with my wife behind the wheel, but after that I decided that it really was too late and I should call it a night and stew on it til the wee hours of the morning. Please help, as I just moved to where I have to commute to work now, and I need the truck to start so I can get to work Monday morning!!!

That's the universal sign of a dead battery. You turn the key, the solenoid engages, which pushes the starter out to engage the flywheel. That's the click that you hear. As soon as it is engaged, the solenoid contacts close, connecting the starter to the battery. The battery doesn't have enough juice to crank the engine, so as soon as it engages the starter, the battery volts drop to near zero. This causes the solenoid to disengage the starter, which pulls it back from the flywheel. As soon as this happens, the battery voltage recovers, so it then pushes it back out to re-engage the flywheel again, and the cycle repeats, causing the machine-gun noise.

 

[Bobmbx]

I just tried to start my truck after being home all day, and it won't turn over. It's around 10:30pm, and it's making the sounds of a quiet machine gun, so I am going to wait until morning to retry...
Just read a thread on here from a guy with the same issue. I'm going to give the battery a charge in the morning, then replace the cables. Is there any other possibilities I might try? I whacked the starter a couple of times with a hammer just now with my wife behind the wheel, but after that I decided that it really was too late and I should call it a night and stew on it til the wee hours of the morning. Please help, as I just moved to where I have to commute to work now, and I need the truck to start so I can get to work Monday morning!!!

Sometimes a quick cleaning of the battery terminals with wire brush will solve this problem. If you have a lot of the white/greenish powder on your battery, it means your terminal posts are corroded, and the alternator can't recharge the battery. Eventually, the battery loses its charge to the point there isn't enough current to start the car, but everything else seems to work.