new! won't start get one click from firewall

[mustangmike1]

hello


new to this forum. have 93 ford explorer been working on it for weeks now.
I get one click from solenoid on firewall. i installed new battery,new solenoid on firewall,new power cable and ground cables,new starter and i still get 1 click????? I have tested all power connectors no drops in power. both my old starter and new starter run fine out of the truck tested both. have a good ground to the starter even ran a new cable from starter bolts to the battery just to make sure there is a good ground to housing and engine. fuel pump turns on when i turn key. I'm at my wits end about to burn the truck??? Any ideas??? strange part is once in a while i get it to run and when it does it runs great but if you shut it off it won't start for another 1 million clicks. All fuses seems to be good tested them all inside and out of truck HELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLP!


thanks in advance

 

[Iron Weasel]

There are two cables that go to the starter, are they both hooked up?

I know it's a dumb question, but sometimes it's easy to overlook the little stuff.

 

[mustangmike1]

yup big one from battery and little one from solenoid to starter all on starter and hooked up

 

[Iron Weasel]

 

[mustangmike1]

all these test good execpt the crossing of solenoid to s terminal still get the click. this says bad starter but i have bench tested it on gound with battery and it fires everytime. i have fired it up at least 10 times out of the truck but in the truck it won't turn. you still think it a bad starter?

 

[Iron Weasel]

That test has you jump battery voltage to the starter motor across the starter itself. When you do that, you're bypassing the fender mounted relay and all the interior wiring and applying 12v directly to the starter solenoid from the positive battery cable.

The starter should engage and crank since you're eliminating pretty much everything except the starter.

Here's the wiring diagram for the staring system- if you look in the lower right corner you can see the starter and how the diagram from the battery to the relay to the starter and also from the battery to the starter.

 

[Iron Weasel]

One thing just crossed my mind while looking at the diagram....

The starter is grounded through the engine block which completes the circuit. Is the starter housing getting a good ground through the block?

Edit:

Reread your original post and saw that you ran new grounds.

Main point is that for some reason you aren't completing the circuit. Jumping from B+ to the S terminal should crank the starter over. If two starters bench test OK, but both fail on the truck I'm thinking that it's a ground issue somewhere because there's an incomplete circuit.

Edit #2 (maybe I should think before I post):

The negative battery cable grounds to the frame and to the engine block. The starter grounds itself by attaching to the engine block. When you do the "jumper test", current flows from the battery to the starter solenoid and out to the engine block and back through the negative cable to the battery.

 

[mustangmike1]

ok got it running. yessssssssss... thanks for your info man. it was my ground cables not making good connection

 

[Iron Weasel]

Welcome.