Hi guys! Came here in desperation but really like the forums. Anyways, Ive got a 98 Ram Van 1500 Maxivan. 318. Love this van and do my business out of it (flooring). I went out to crank it up this morning and all I got was a clicking sound. OK I thought, no worries, battery is still under warranty. Get out the jumper and no help. Still just hear the starter clicking. Well, transfer tools over and go and finish project and come home thinking its the starter. No sweat. Pull the starter and go have it tested. Tests fine on the bench. Bring it back and put it back in and of course, just clicking. Check fuses, swap relays and havent hit on anything yet. Any other routes that I should be checking? Thanks.

 

Did you also have the battery tested when you brought the starter in to be tested?

 

No, I put the charger on it and still no luck. Im not suspecting the battery because even without booster, lights are bright and everything is as should be. The first thing I tried was jumping it with the charger but no luck. Doing a little research (google can be a friend!) a similar problem was fixed by a bad ground. I'll be tracing the ground back this afternoon after work and seeing if that may be the culprit. Anyone know where the ground attaches from the starter?

 

Fixed! I traced back the ground wire this morning from the starter. Ground goes into a connector, and a wire goes from there (out of the harness and sleeve) and bolts into the firewall. This is working from starter to battery. Battery ground also has a wire that goes from terminal to the ground that bolts into firewall. I took the bolt out of the firewall and used snad paper to clean the two wire connectors that go under the bolt (one wire goes to battery and other wire goes to connector). While I was there and so close to the battery terminals, I loosened the terminal bolts that the wire goes into (changed the negative terminal a few years ago so its back to the classic terminal) and sanded the wire ends and inserted back into the terminal and tightened them all down. I should note that there was no corrosion on terminals but wanted to make sure there was good connection anyways. Hit the ignition switch and fired right up. Quick review, starter was making a FAST clicking sound but no turn over. Battery had a good charge and only a year or so old. Put jumper on anyways but still same symptom. Obvious thought, bad starter and or solenoid. Took starter off and had bench tested at auto parts store and it tested good. Came back and started cleaning connections. One of them (don't know which) was the culprit. Hopefully this may help someone down the road!