2003 Ford Ranger won't start

[Tdbo]

Vehicle is the Ranger in my signature.

Drove the vehicle on Sunday without issues. Did not drive it on Monday. Went out to start it at 6 AM on Tuesday, and got nothing but clicks. Strong headlights and dash lights, just not enough to start it. Checked the overhead dome light to see if it was left on. No sign of it. Ended up taking the Accord on my trip.

Got home last night. Still nothing but clicks. Truck started instantly with a jump. Battery is a 4.5 year old AAP Silver. Went to AAP and had battery, starter and alternator tested. Battery tested "Good" at 12.73V and 487/550 CCA. Starter (10.7V) and alternator (13.64V under load) both tested normal. Cables on the battery are clean and tight, and truck has started flawlessly ever since.

Ideas on what could be going on?

 

[tomcat27]

Did you remove the battery terminal connector and inspect it?

 

[MasterSolenoid]

Watching to LEARN something.

 

[ragtoplvr]

Starters often become intermittent before failing completely. Often the brushes are worn, and spring pressure is low, and they just do not get started. Jump at a higher voltage and current, and off they go. How many miles.


Rod

 

[Tdbo]

Went out to check the terminals more closely and found this. While it was not the complete crack that I found (and replaced) on the positive side this past winter, I’d guess that this doesn’t look normal:

 

[Tdbo]

Originally Posted By: ragtoplvr
Starters often become intermittent before failing completely. Often the brushes are worn, and spring pressure is low, and they just do not get started. Jump at a higher voltage and current, and off they go. How many miles.


Rod


It is pushing 110K. I certainly wouldn't rule that out, based on age more than miles.

Back to the battery terminal that I tried to insert the photo of, the neg. terminal is not cracked, but it looks like a piece of the terminal was missing, almost looked like the shape was stamped in. Weird. Will try a replacement of that first.

 

[Colt45ws]

I would try fixing the terminal. What you did by jumping it is decrease the resistance of the ground the starter was seeing.

 

[BigD1]

Don't trust the AAP starter test 100%.

I was servicing a 2008 Honda Civic. It had intermittent no crank just click, and at other times it would fire right up. Cleaned all the terminals, and bought a new battery. Owner wanted a new one, so I obliged. New battery did not fix the problem, and it still had the intermittent no start problem.

Took the starter to AAP, and they put it on their machine, and it passed. Bought a new starter, and no more problems. Old original factory starter had just north of 100,000 miles.

 

[bullwinkle]

^It's possible to have dead spots on the armature where the brushes make contact, and also have bad contacts in the solenoid (or relay, if it's like older Fords) that can cause intermittent problems. Good catch on the battery terminal-your original symptoms sure sounded like a bad battery or bad connections.

 

[CT8]

Originally Posted By: ragtoplvr
Starters often become intermittent before failing completely. Often the brushes are worn, and spring pressure is low, and they just do not get started. Jump at a higher voltage and current, and off they go. How many miles.


Rod
Starter solenoid?

 

[FermeLaPorte]

If it is a 3.0 v6--- same as the old Aerostars-- it's gon get bad

 

[vwmaniaman]

Ford starters have a bolt on the back of the starter that provides the ground side connection for the brushes. This bolt gets corrosion under it and makes the starter intermittent. Happened on my sons ford van. He changed it with a new starter and within a few days it had the same issue. It was a Motorcraft remanufactured one and it had that problem too. Cleaned it up and tightened it back down and no more problems.

 

[StevieC]

Have you tried hitting the starter with a hammer? If this corrects it, replace or rebuild the starter.

 

[Tdbo]

UPDATE: Just put a new terminal on it. Original problem has not repeated itself again.
If this does not resolve issue, perhaps it will buy me some time to find a local rebuilder.