I'm not sure of anything at this point. Starters going out is usually pretty to determine if they are going out. What are the chances that it worked flawlessly and then nothing. No signs that it is going out. Would I use a voltmeter to see if it is getting juice? And where would I place the rods on the starter. I have only worked on diesel tractors and combines, really only had hydraulic and compression issues growing up.

 

Should be two wires going to the starter, a fat one, that is the main power feed, and a skinny one, which is the one that energizes the solenoid. Wanna check for voltage on the skinny one, while the key is in the start position. Should have at LEAST nine volts. (red probe goes to the wire, black probe just grounds somewhere convenient.)

 

Ok thank you. I will get back to you once I check it.

 

See my post for testing for power at the starter.

Electrical stuff does strange things. You would reasonably expect that if the starter were failing, it would give you some indication beforehand...... but, it doesn't always work that way.

Since you aren't even getting a click out of it though...... I suspect you are going to find that you do NOT have power down there.

 

First thing I would do is pull out your voltmeter. If you don't have one, they're pretty cheap anymore and I would suggest picking one up.

Start with the battery and test voltage at the posts, should see 12.6v or a little less on an older battery. Next inspect for corrosion, if you have any corrosion on your terminals break out the baking soda and a toothbrush. Also look for any corrosion that may be under the insulation of the wire.

If everything checked out fine there, check for voltage at the fat wire on the starter and as HeyYou said, check for voltage at the s-terminal (small wire going to the solenoid) with someone holding the key to 'start'. While you're down there listen to see if you hear any activity in the solenoid.

Your diagnosis will have to go from your findings at that point. If you don't have power at the s-terminal its fairly safe to say its a control circuit issue and my next step would be to check out the relay. Also make sure when you ground the black side of the voltmeter that you are on a good clean bare ground, a little rust or paint can screw up all your tests even if you try and scratch it off first.

Don't write off corrosion as so many people do, just recently my GFs brother almost put a new starter in her car when all it needed was a little baking soda. All she did was drive over to his house and couple hours later when she went to leave... Nothing... but the dash lights were all still lighting up.

 

So the large wire at the starter when the key is off has the same number of volts as the battery. About 12.6. When the key is forward trying to start it has 3-5 volts. The small wire has 0 volts whether on or off or trying to start. Nothing seems to be getting to it. Any suggestions on where I should go next or if I should replace anything. As far as I can tell the starter relay is working.

 

And there is no corrosion anywhere on any wire that I can find

 

Had the starter checked. The battery wire going to the starter (large red wire) was certainly active sense I didn't disconnect the battery when I took it off. It sparked fairly bad, twice. The small black wire is the only one that I can't figure out if it works. I am in the process of disconnecting all wires right now and pulling them out. Autozone said they don't carry any of the wires. Any ideas on the wire issue?

 

If you aren't getting anything on the small wire, then you need to go up to the PDC, and make sure you are getting power to the relay first. (should be power there all the time)

You can test the starter on the truck by simply shorting the fat terminal, to the skinny one.... (use a screwdriver) Make sure the truck is in park, or neutral if manual trans, as if the starter and battery are good, it WILL spin the engine. You would be unhappy if you ran yourself over......

 

Alright. So the large cable gets power. No doubt about it. Is the small brown/black wire the ground? Because its not getting any power and I think it's the cause at the pdc. But it just flows in from the wire casing to the box. Can't tell if its bad past that point...