96 PSD No Start

[POWERSMOKIN]

So, 3 days ago, i left my cb on overnight, and it completely drained the batteries.

I popped the hood to charge it, hooked the 40A batt charger to one battery, and my suburban to the other.

charged for about 5 minutes, and tried cranking it every 30 sec or so

before i put the burb on there, i tried 200A start mode, nothing, still clicked and didnt crank.

so after 5 minutes of subrban and charger charging, i turned it over, and it cranked real fast, and started on the 6 crank.

drove around for like 10 minutes, and came back, and parked it.

Came out like..... 2 hours later, and it cranked real fast again, 4th crank and it fired.

since that saturday, its gotten real bad. it almost didnt start in the school parking lot today. when i got home ~10 minutes later, i turned it off in the driveway and tried cranking it again.

Click. nothing.

Now it dont start at ALL

I hooked the 200A starter to it, tried cranking, nothing.

when i got the truck a couple months back, i noticed it did the same thing. cranked fast when i got it, and later cranked slow.

i tried cleaning the terminals off, i steel wooled the terminals and the connectors.

when i turn the key, the solenoid makes a real strong CLICK

any ideas?????

[POWERSMOKIN]

btw, every time i start it (before the cranking), the battery light comes on, and the voltage goes down to below the N on normal

[Matt P]

Do you know how old the batteries are, I would check that first sounds like they are going bad

[POWERSMOKIN]

had them tested bout 4-6 weeks ago at kragen....both were fine, but one needed to be charged a little in the machine.

I tried jumping the solenoid... didnt go well. i think i had the truck off (just a , hey why not, thing that came into my mind) and it sparked like a MOFO! so i didnt try it again. If i have the ignition in the on position, will it spark?

[POWERSMOKIN]

well, i guess ill just go down to kragen and get them re-tested

[Matt P]

How much was it sparking, with the key on I would expect some sparks but I could be wrong, have you got the alternator tested at all

[POWERSMOKIN]

it was a big spark. turned the screwdriver black and melted the prong a little (not a lot, but, like i nicked it with a screwdriver).

i believe the alts fine, it always shows ~14-15V when driving...

Is the ~9-10V in the on position normal?

[97powerstroker]

might be your starter,mine was doing similar things,i bought cranked fast for a year,then it started cranking real slow for a while,mostly after it had been sitting for 6 hours or more,would start out slow,then speed up and start.then one day it was cranking fast again,did this for two days then started cranking slow again.so i checked the batts and all the cables,everything was fine.wasnt 100% convinced it was the starter but i went out on a limb and spent about $175 on a 2001 super duty gear reduction starter and so far so good,cranks great,sounds sweet cranking to.my money is on your starter.just check your battery cables,not just at the batteries but follow them,and check them all out,also check the battery grounds ,make sure there tight,but i bet its your starter.i racked my brain for months on it cause i didnt want to buy a starter for nothing.goodluck!!!

[Matt P]

I just went and checked on my truck mine sits at 10v in the on position and 14-15v when driving so all that sounds normal

As for that spark I cant give a definite answer cause Im not sure but when you have a big spark like that and melting it normally isnt good news from my experience

[Matt P]

I would say just pull that starter off and take it in and get it tested I just replaced mine a couple months ago as well and if your batteries and alternator is fine that would make sense