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Bad starter?

BennyT

New Member
Joined
August 27, 2020
Messages
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City, State
Greenfield, Illinois
Year, Model & Trim Level
2001 Ford Sport Trac 4.0
Hello Explorer enthusiasts! I have an 01 Sport Trac with what I think is a bad starter solenoid, or a bad ignition switch. I’ll post a video of the clicking on start-up for more detail. Thanks for your support!

 






I also forgot to mention that it starts fine on the battery charger and starts fine for a few minutes after a charge, but after an hour or so, it does the clicking. I don’t think it’s the alternator/battery as after a longer drive I put the multimeter on the battery and it read the 12.1 volts it needs.
 






My bet is it's the battery that has a dead cell in it. I've had that same thing happen a few times on different vehicles. When it doesn't have a draw it seems to have good voltage, but as soon as a load is placed on it, the battery craps out. Easiest way to test is to jump it off and head to an auto parts store where they can test it for you for free.
 






Bad battery. A fully charged battery should read 12.6 volts.
 






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