1990 f150 clicks, won't turn over. could be a stuck starter

Apr 13, 2005 1 Replies

first of all the truck hasn't moved all winter. it was too cold to work on. i just finished changing the fuel pressure reg which i think was causing the truck to stall last year. the engine was turning over fine before.



now when i turn the key to start i get a loud, fast clicking from the relay next to the battery. when i jump the left/right posts on the starter relay with the key turned on, i hear like this groaning from the starter like it's fighting but something doesn't want to budge. when i take the screwdriver off the relay, the fuel pump kicks in again, back to 39-40 psi on the nose.



i'm guessing the wiring and the grounds are ok but maybe the starter is jammed somehow from not being used all winter. i've been charging it at 12 amps all last night and this morning, and cranked it up to 75 amps this morning so i don't think it's the battery.



what can i do to see if the starter is OK? if it is stuck can i cure it with some wd40 or something?


A rapid clicking in that solenoid indicates low battery voltage under load. Clean the terminals and re-check voltage at starter termial on both sides of solenoid for voltage. Voltage to starter should remain above 10.5 volts or so under starter load. It is entirely possible for a battery to read the correct voltage with no load and completely fail to do the job if it has 1 or 2 bad cells - is bad battery. The groan you describe is also symptomatic of low voltage at the starter.

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