My truck is a 1992 W150 with a 318 and a 5 speed manual. Recently it’s been having issues starting sometimes. It doesn’t happen every time, but sometimes when I go to turn the truck on I turn the key it won’t start or even crank, all I get is a click. This morning the truck started just fine, first turn of the key, no hesitation or anything. I moved my truck while I was at work, same story. Then when it was time to clock out and I went to drive up to where our time clock is, click click click and the truck will not start. It’s still stuck at my job at the time of writing this. I thought maybe the starter or the battery had gone bad, so I took some tools back to work and took those out of the truck so I could get them tested at autozone. Autozone guy says both the starter and the battery passed the tests. This had me thinking maybe there’s a bad ground, so I chased the wires from the starter and it’s wired straight up to the battery and as far as I can tell there isn’t an issue there. Now I’m confused as to what else my issue could be, would appreciate any ideas.

 

Is it a loud click, or a quiet one? Might be as simple as a failing starter.

 

How are the connections on the battery? Do you still have power after the click? Sounds like the starter, It can still test good but be on it's way out.

 

So the truck will run. We had the idea today to get one of our forklifts and push the truck so I could bump start it, which worked and I drove it home with no issues. The click is fairly loud, not loud like something is breaking but definitely audible and i had a friend try to start the truck while I was under it today and the clicking is coming from the starter. The connections at the battery are fine, I checked them and later removed and cleaned the terminals to ensure a good connection. And yes I do keep power after the click, all the lights and everything still work just fine. I suppose the starter could be failing and still passed the tests at autozone, but I put this starter into the truck less than 2 years ago. I can’t imagine it’s gone faulty already.

 

the starter is likely just fine and it is just the contacts inside the solenoid that are causing you issues. almost all the starters i have pulled apart have this exact same issue or are working their way towards it.

 

That may be the issue. My guess is that the shaft of the starter is engaging but it isn’t spinning the flywheel, which is why I’m getting a click and no start. Can I fix the solenoid if I were to take it out tomorrow? What would that entail?

 

The click you hear is the solenoid moving into place but does no good if power is not able to make it from 1 contact to the other. You would need a new contact kit to fix it properly but for a temporary fix you could likely shim the worn contact with a rubber or nylon washer like in the picture I posted. As long as the solenoid can still move in and out it will be fine

 

Wolfie you’re a genius, just finished shimming that contact inside the solenoid and the truck started right up. Thank you so much for your help.