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Start Me Up...

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Old 05-01-2013, 08:53 AM
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I first thought the fact I couldn't start the truck was the battery, simply because it's simple. Well, the truck has power and attempts to start but merely clicks a few times. If I hold the key over to start and gauge flap, it clicks a few times, and then just sits flapping its gauges in the wind.

Any ideas?...I'm thinking the starter
 
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Old 05-01-2013, 10:02 AM
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Honestly.... Could still be a bad battery.
Just enough power to display dash lights and heads etc.
just not enough on cranking.
If there's a bad cell or two, the cranking will rob what little power there is. But it's not enough to spin the engine.
Al.
 

Last edited by abarmby; 05-01-2013 at 11:25 AM.
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Old 05-01-2013, 10:54 AM
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Sounds like a bad cell on the battery... but could also be a bad battery connection... if you have any corrosion on the battery you will need to clean that off and then reconnect the battery.
 
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Old 05-01-2013, 11:32 AM
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Originally Posted by AKCallahan
I first thought the fact I couldn't start the truck was the battery, simply because it's simple. Well, the truck has power and attempts to start but merely clicks a few times. If I hold the key over to start and gauge flap, it clicks a few times, and then just sits flapping its gauges in the wind.

Any ideas?...I'm thinking the starter

Since it is clinking, you rule out the starter. Did you test the battery, how any volts are you getting. And like They said look at your terminals for lose connection and corrosion
 
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Old 05-01-2013, 03:28 PM
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I truly appreciate all the help!

Here's more details.
The battery is a Continental brand..shows on the sticker that a 1 is punched out, indicating 2011. The previous owner had an amp/sub in the truck which was removed and the power left attached to the battery. The terminals showed corrosion but were cleaned by me prior to take ito Autozone to be tested...It was sitting at 10% when I took it to Autozone, so he charged it for a couple of hours and tested it again, resulting in 100%... When I got home with the battery, the truck hesitately started, but the CEL came on. Explained the situation to the guy at the shop, he said to bring it in so he could test something. He read the volts on the battery while it was starting, stating it was charging just fine. I went back home, and tried going to work the next day...DIDN'T HAPPEN! Same crap as I started with.

Here's a video of the dash while trying to start it...
 

Last edited by AKCallahan; 05-01-2013 at 03:31 PM.
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Old 05-01-2013, 03:36 PM
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Did you take the fuse out of the amp wire off of the battery?

and is there a red wire behind the radio that is connected to a battery power source instead of an ignition power source?

If the Battery is good then it has to be something running while the truck is off.
 
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Old 05-01-2013, 03:49 PM
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Originally Posted by Izero
Did you take the fuse out of the amp wire off of the battery?

and is there a red wire behind the radio that is connected to a battery power source instead of an ignition power source?

If the Battery is good then it has to be something running while the truck is off.
I was kinda slow on the draw on this one, but I just disconnected the amp wire from the battery today. You think a recharge and another attempt is worth trying?
 
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Old 05-01-2013, 04:01 PM
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Originally Posted by AKCallahan
I was kinda slow on the draw on this one, but I just disconnected the amp wire from the battery today. You think a recharge and another attempt is worth trying?

All you really had to do was pull the fuse that should be within 12" of the battery's positive terminal... but yes I would recharge it... and try again if the amp wire was touching the chassis then you were grounding the battery causing it to drain.
 
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Old 05-01-2013, 04:29 PM
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Originally Posted by Izero
All you really had to do was pull the fuse that should be within 12" of the battery's positive terminal... but yes I would recharge it... and try again if the amp wire was touching the chassis then you were grounding the battery causing it to drain.
I got it to jump off my charger on the first try. No warning lights on the dash or anything. Let it run for about 10 minutes, drove it around the block and then parked it again..

Have another issue though that still stands with water leakage.. just found the rear driver floor mat full of water, no carpet is wet but when I drove off for this test drive...water came down from the passenger side of the sliding glass window in the back...
 
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Old 05-01-2013, 05:11 PM
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Originally Posted by AKCallahan
I got it to jump off my charger on the first try. No warning lights on the dash or anything. Let it run for about 10 minutes, drove it around the block and then parked it again..

Have another issue though that still stands with water leakage.. just found the rear driver floor mat full of water, no carpet is wet but when I drove off for this test drive...water came down from the passenger side of the sliding glass window in the back...

Yeah the seals around the 3rd brake light suck and usually end up leaking into the cabin... might want to check that out first... sometime a little bit of silicone will fix that right up.

Keep us posted... If you still have battery problems tomorrow, we will try to test for a parasitic drain somewhere...
 

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