Dome light, aftermarket radio works, headlights work, but truck won't start

[twanhines]

My dome lights come on, the radio works (though it is aftermarket), i hear the chimes, but my 1999 ford explorer v8 won't crank! It won't turn over or anything! It has a new battery, i cleaned the terminals, i had the starter tested tuesday and it checked out fine. I had to drop the fuel tank tuesday to replace the fuel pump, but after that it worked great until yesterday afternoon. i went out to put the key in the ignition last night, and the dash lights came on and went off. I don't know what to do, and its very frustrating. I took the new battery back to walmart and it tested fine. the headlights even work. when i turn the key, i get nothing. I don't believe its PATS since when i turn the key, the theft light flashes the same speed. it never slows down or speed up. I'm about to shove this thing off a cliff, any suggestions?

 

[FIND]

Check your grounds. Take a pair of jumper cables, and put one end on a bolt for your starter, the other end to your negative battery post. Also, check your starter relay and fuses.

 

[Joe Dirt]

Mine did the same thing, I had to loosen the terminals on the battery cables, clean the cables with a wire brush to get a better contact, then reattach the terminals. Worked awesome since.

 

[FIND]

Also, try shifting your truck into neutral to see if it starts.

 

[twanhines]

Ok so i replaced the battery terminals this morning, cleaned the wires with a toothbrush and some battery cleaner, installed new terminals to the post and still nothing. Then I looked at my fuse schematic that i have for the truck. I popped the ignition fuse out and whaddaya know! The fuse had a split in the middle. I took the abs fuse since it was rated at 50 and popped it in, and all the lights came on. But! When I attempted to start up the truck, the same thing happened. I took that fuse out of the ignition spot where the abs fuse was now sitting, and it too had a complete split in the middle. So why am I blowing fuses?

 

[twanhines]

Smh, replaced starter, and lead wire. and magically, she stopped blowing fuses, and cranks right up. Its odd though because when i took the old starter off, it smelled really burned inside. i guess the motor burned up, and maybe shorted the battery and possibly the fuel pump. all is well in explorer land.

 

[1992fordgreen]

Yeah, I had the similar problem with my EX after replacing the trans. Forgot the ground on the starter. Brain fart.

 

[Joe Dirt]

Nice! Glad you got 'er figured out...