Truck will get power to starter to turn over

[dookie]

So i buy a 01 f250 4x4 psd , i bought it offline with a supposed bad transmission, but i get it unloaded , and it wont even crank , i turn the key on , and in just a second or two i hear a click noise coming from under the hood and then its like it shuts off all power . i have noticed that it has a brand new alternator on it , and the batteries have 03/08 stickers on them , so i am assuming that someone else noticed this problem before i got my hands on it. Its like the electrical system is going in safe mode or somthing.
I may have gotten screwed it appears that it has more than one problem.
i crawled under the truck , and for some reason the linkage is unhooked from the tranny , and i have also noticed that the turbo down pipe is pretty much taken loose from the turbo......

I am going to go back outside and continue looking and trying to figure out what all is going on , but i wanted to post here first .
I bought the truck from a guy that bought it from a repo auction , so there is no telling what is going on with it .

[Southpaw]

Let us know what else you find. Sounds like someone f'd it up good and may have raped it somewhat?!?
Load test the batteries for starters, they could still be bad. The click you hear is probably the fuel pump?
Possible fried PCM?

[dookie]

THanks for the reply Chris,
I stuck the battery charger on it for couple of hours and secured the grounds on the battery , they seemed a little loose . TO my suprise it turned over and cranked !! I was absolutely amazed , truck seems to run perfect . I have no idea why someone would unhook the downpipe from the turbo unless they were trying to rob it off before the reposession. Its not stock , has a magnaflow resonator . To my suprise it wasnt as loud as i was expecting .
Next question is there any chance it could have a bad transfer case? truck will not even try to move in any gearl forward or reverse. I can hear the engine drop a couple of RPMs as i am pulling it down between gears but thats it .

[Southpaw]

Well glad to hear it's running for you!
That's why I always start with the simplest things...
I'm not really a good tranny guy, hopefully someone else will chime in here about that. Who told you it was a bad tranny? What did they know about it, if anything?