Possibly the battery

[patarch1]

Hi,
After stopping for 10 minutes, I tried to start my 97 ranger 3l V6 and the starter barely moved (one clonck).
After that, no light on the dash when I turn the key.
I wait for five minutes, I get the dash lights but no starter motor movement.
I suspect the battery to be the culprit but it is only 6 months old, the alternator charges fine and the truck always starts on the first key turn, except for this time.
Does anyone have more insight?
Thanks
Patarch1

 

[nitro71]

There's a thread in the 91-94 section that might give you some ideas. Started by Chetz. I'd try to get the battery charged and have Napa or Schucks test it out for you or haul the battery down after you charge it up. They can check the charging system and the battery with there machines.

 

[patarch1]

thanks

 

[Diff Whack Daddy]

First I would check and make sure your battery connections are clean and tight. I can't tell you how many times this has happened to me
Posted via Mobile Device

 

[hewie7383]

i would try tapping the starter, or check the solenoids....

 

[patarch1]

I forgot to mention taht we tried to jump start the truck yesterday and nothing happened, not even a light on the dash

 

[fixxxer]

When you tried jump starting your Ranger, were you connecting to the battery terminals/cables or right to the posts on the battery? If you have a bad pos. or neg cable, jumping won't help 'cause the cables are not letting current pass due to loose/corroded connections. Do you have a battery charger? Clean the terminals and then the posts while the battery is disconnected and then try hooking the battery up to the charger while your cleaning. After a full charge, reconnect the cables and try it again. I had a closely related problem with my wife's car, I'd clean and tighten the terminal clamps as tight as possible and I still wouldn't get a reliable connection, turns out, the battery post had been so tightly squeezed by the terminal over the years that it was malformed and basically "wasp-waisted". The terminal clamp had a plastic spacer between the part of the terminal where the pinch bolt is that wouldn't let the terminal tighten up quite enough for a good connection, so I removed the plastic spacer and tightened the clamp so there was no gap, now I have no more issues with it not charging or starting.

 

[patarch1]

I was clamped on the connectors, not the cables. After 3 hours of fast charge (10A) with the battery charger, the charger needle has not moved from the 2A mark on the charger display. I am going to try a brand new battery tonight. We shall see.

 

[patarch1]

found the issue, bad ground, the (-) connector was all corroded..
Thanks for all the tips, they are not lost

 

[fixxxer]

There should be a Ford TSB for the battery cables, this seems to be a very common issue with the 1990's models with the 3.0 and 4.0 V6 engines, they seem to be more prone to internal corrosion of the battery cables than any other vehicle I have seen. My wife's old 1996 3.0 V6 Taurus and our old 1998 Windstar with the 3.8 V6 both had this issue.