Solved No crank. A new battery was installed recently.

[Exproblems]

Hi All,

I just attempted to start my Explorer this morning and it wouldn't start or turn over. All I heard was "one click" coming from the starter each time I turned the key to ignition "on' position. I've checked thru the forum and couldn't find anything specific to my exact problem. Some past posts suggest a PATS and KEY problem. The remote key fob does unlock all the doors as it should. I only have one key for this vehicle. I installed a new battery last week and the vehicle started no problem each day and time until today. The previous battery did also start the engine each time as well, but I did get a "TEST" message one time before changing the battery. I did notice on the Battery dash gauge that when I held the key in the start or on position for approx. 3-5 seconds, the battery gauge needle started to drop towards the low end of the gauge. I put my battery charger on the new battery and the battery meter on the charger shows a full charge. I also tried to start the engine by using the 50 amp booster charge on my battery charger and got the same result, one click and nothing. No warning messages on dash or flashing icons. The dash icons do light up when key is turned to start position and dome lights work and so does the heater fan, radio as well. The anti theft dash light is "blinking" at it's normal speed when the key is not being turned to on position. My Starter is only 1 year old. Battery connections were tight and very clean. I just unhooked the battery negative terminal and will wait 10 minutes or so to see if this clears up the problem. One thing I did notice is that I do not hear the fuel pump turn on when the key is turned to the on position as I usually would. I then pressed the fuel pump reset button and still got the same thing. If anyone has any suggestions or has had this exact same problem, please let me know, Thanks!
Update, no luck with battery unhooked for 10 minutes. Still get the same problem, one click coming from the Starter and no fuel pump turning on.

 

[JoshMcMadMac]

Just a shot in the dark: try starting it with the shifter in neutral. Perhaps something happen with the shifter or column?

Do you have a volt-meter? It would be good to verify the voltage across the battery as it sits, as well as when you turn the key.

 

[Exproblems]

Just a shot in the dark: try starting it with the shifter in neutral. Perhaps something happen with the shifter or column?

Do you have a volt-meter? It would be good to verify the voltage across the battery as it sits, as well as when you turn the key.

Josh, yes I tried to start it while in Neutral, same result, one click at Starter. I actually moved the shifter up and down thru the gears and same result. No, on volt meter, but I took my new battery back up to the parts store to be tested and it tested okay. The tester said it had 709 CCA's in it and it is a 850 CCA battery. According to my mechanic, he said that would be normal with the cold temps (below zero wind chills) we have been having and running quite a few electrical components. I had the vehicle towed to my mechanic's shop, too cold for me to screw with it anymore. My mechanic is going to check the wiring and the starter, alternator and I told him I do not hear the fuel pump kick on when the key is turned to ignition start. I did take the truck thru the car wash yesterday when it was around 20 degrees outside and sunny and drove it home from there and parked it for the day. Could possibly be related to why it won't start today. Thanks for the suggestions!

 

[BrooklynBay]

Since you have no fuel pump sound, do you see a check engine light turn on when you turn the ignition key? Did you check the fuses & relays? Did you check the starter solenoid on the fender wall to see if it cranks the starter if you jump the coil connection? Make sure that it's in park when you do this.

 

[Exproblems]

Since you have no fuel pump sound, do you see a check engine light turn on when you turn the ignition key? Did you check the fuses & relays? Did you check the starter solenoid on the fender wall to see if it cranks the starter if you jump the coil connection? Make sure that it's in park when you do this.

BrooklynBay,

Yes, I saw a "check engine light" and a 'Service Engine light" lit up on the dash as I turn the key to the start position. They don't blink on and off, just stay solid and stayed lit up. The other dash icons that light up when the key is first turned disappear after a couple of seconds. Those two stay on. No, on checking fuses and relays, but I didn't hear a blown fuse sound of any kind when I first tried to start it. Just heard the one click at starter. My starter has the solenoid built into it, it's not mounted on my firewall separately from the starter. I now have the vehicle up at my mechanics shop. Now that I am thinking of it, I wonder if I did blow a fuse or something, since the fuel pump isn't engaging when the key is turned to on. I hope that's all it is. Thanks for the suggestions.

 

[pet575]

Since this problem seems to coincide with your previous battery issues, I'm suspicious that you have something else going on that might have caused a premature death for your battery and/or might have popped a fuse somewhere along the line.

Corroded cables/poor connections due to wear and tear or corrosion could be the root cause for popping of fuses if that turns out to be what has happened.

Having said all of that, let's say you popped the fuel pump relay or fuse to where that is the cause for your fuel pump not coming on. That still wouldn't explain why you would only get a CLICK instead of the starter turning the motor over. The reason I say that is that I have pulled the relay/fuse (I honestly can't remember which on it was right now) with my motor running on order to run it out of fuel before working on the injectors. Once it died, I tried to restart it to ensure the fuel was gone. The starter cranked and cranked but the engine never started.

I guess it is possible that a starter relay or some other fuse might have popped/gone bad.

If that ends up being your answer I'd consider replacing your battery cabling system. They can corrode internally without appearing to be bad on the outside.

Please update us. I'm curious on this one....especially right on the heels of the battery replacement.

 

[Exproblems]

I guess it is possible that a starter relay or some other fuse might have popped/gone bad.

If that ends up being your answer I'd consider replacing your battery cabling system. They can corrode internally without appearing to be bad on the outside.

Please update us. I'm curious on this one....especially right on the heels of the battery replacement.

I told my mechanic to check my battery cables among a few other things and told him that the Ford dealership that installed my new motor 14 months ago, spliced in a new set of wires that connect directly to the Starter solenoid. They didn't change the full length of the positive cable from the battery to the Starter, just the lower end of the cables/wires. Thanks for the suggestions and I'll post up the results of the findings and repair once my mechanic gets back to me. Might not be until tomorrow Friday 1/16 since he closes in 1 1/2 hrs or 5pm.

 

[BrooklynBay]

I've never heard of anybody replacing half a cable. These aren't low current wires with crimp connections. The cables are at least 4 gauge thick with multiple strands. I don't know how they joined them (solder, crimps, giant wire cap, etc). Either way I suspect that this might be the heart of the starting issue as far as the starter clicking without turning over. The fuel pump is another issue. You might want to check the relay, socket, fuse, and ground wiring under the hood for the computer since the computer feeds the fuel pump.

 

[Exproblems]

I've never heard of anybody replacing half a cable. These aren't low current wires with crimp connections. The cables are at least 4 gauge thick with multiple strands. I don't know how they joined them (solder, crimps, giant wire cap, etc). Either way I suspect that this might be the heart of the starting issue as far as the starter clicking without turning over. The fuel pump is another issue. You might want to check the relay, socket, fuse, and ground wiring under the hood for the computer since the computer feeds the fuel pump.

BrooklynBay,

I don't know exactly know how much of the wires and cables to the starter were spliced in, but the starter wire ends all had new connections on them after they installed my new engine and new Starter. The end of the positive cable where it meets the battery, was the original one I had in good condition. You got me? I did tell my mechanic about it, so he will be checking it out hopefully tomorrow. On not hearing the fuel pump kick on when I turned the key, I told him about that as well. He didn't get to my vehicle today at all, so the waiting game has begun. I'll mention the fuses and relays to him tomorrow when I talk to him, thanks again for the help!

 

[Exproblems]

BrooklynBay,

I don't know exactly know how much of the wires and cables to the starter were spliced in, but the starter wire ends all had new connections on them after they installed my new engine and new Starter. The end of the positive cable where it meets the battery, was the original one I had in good condition. You got me? I did tell my mechanic about it, so he will be checking it out hopefully tomorrow. On not hearing the fuel pump kick on when I turned the key, I told him about that as well. He didn't get to my vehicle today at all, so the waiting game has begun. I'll mention the fuses and relays to him tomorrow when I talk to him, thanks again for the help!

Update; Problem solved: I just picked up my Explorer from my mechanics shop. Turns out nothing is physically wrong with my Explorer. All systems, components and wiring is good. Here is what happened, my Starter actuator arm "Froze in place" from going thru the car wash the day before. Temps the morning of the car wash were from -6 F at my house to -13 F at the Doctors office 2 miles away. When I went thru the car wash, temp was 20 F and sunny outside. I took the vehicle home after the car wash and shut it off for the day. Water from the water jets that shoot up from under the car while going thru the car wash, got water into the Starter thru the "weep hole" and froze solid once I shut the car off for the day. This caused the starter actuator arm to not shoot out and engage the flywheel when I went to start the engine the next morning. The frozen actuator arm caused a big power draw, which in turn caused the PCU to shut off power to other electrical functions so they wouldn't be damaged by the power over load. The relay cut out power to the fuel pump. This explains why the fuel pump wouldn't energize when the ignition was turned to the "on" position. My mechanic said once my truck was sitting in his warm shop for a few hours, it thawed out and he found water dripping from the starter weep hole. So he placed an electric heater under the starter for a while and let it dry out. When he went to start the vehicle after doing this, it fired right up. He then tested the starter and it is working fine, he also tested the Alternator and it was putting out great voltage he said and my new battery is just fine. He also checked out all the wiring to the starter and that was fine. My Positive terminal was completely new, not spliced in with new connector terminals as I first thought. So all is good and it cost me $90.00 Labor (1 hr) with the tax. Moral of the story is, stay the hell out of Automatic car washes on very cold days. Thanks for all who offered help with this!

 

[BrooklynBay]

Thanks for the update! Your thread is now marked solved in green letters.

 

[pet575]

Glad you got it figured out. That is probably the last thing I would have thought of!

 

[Exproblems]

Glad you got it figured out. That is probably the last thing I would have thought of!

Thanks and yeah, it surprised me too. I had a hunch the car wash the day before had something to do with it since it ran fine up until I shut it off for the day, but not causing a frozen starter. I was thinking something burned out. It was a good thing I told my mechanic that I went thru the car wash the day before because when he saw the water dripping from the Starter weep hole, he realized where the water came from. I went thru the same car wash yesterday and told the kid working the machine to shut off the under carriage spray nozzles and he did. No problems going thru it this time.

 

[02~Explorer~4.6]

When you refer to the PCU shutting off power to other electrical functions, was wondering what a PCU is, and where it is located? On my 02 Explorer XLT behind the glove box is a multi-function gem module. At the top of this box, or module is a hole that looks like it cold be used as a re-set button, if you were to push a pointed object into it. Would anyone know anything about this?

 

[Exproblems]

When you refer to the PCU shutting off power to other electrical functions, was wondering what a PCU is, and where it is located? On my 02 Explorer XLT behind the glove box is a multi-function gem module. At the top of this box, or module is a hole that looks like it cold be used as a re-set button, if you were to push a pointed object into it. Would anyone know anything about this?

When I said the "PCU" I was referring to the vehicles computer. Pretty sure PCU stands for 'Powertrain Control Module". I'm not sure where it is located exactly, but figure it is some where behind the dashboard. Don't now about the module behind the glove box you are referring to, but along the front passenger side, side wall, is the "reset" button for the fuel pump.