Power Wagon Registry

Havent been on here for a while now but am having issues w the wagon.

First off it has a new battery and the starter is about a year and a half old.

Every once in a while when I try to start the truck and all I get is a clicking from the starter. It eventually will fire up but only after trying anywhere from 6-10 times. It seems to be getting more frequent as well. I can be running errands, itll fire up fine when I head out but then 2 starts down the line itll click untill it finally fires up. I usually turn the key let it click once or twice then give it a rest for a minute or two and try again. Sometimes it starts the second or third try but sometimes it takes way more.

This is getting really annoying since its my daily driver. Please give me some suggestions or if this is common please point me to the fix.

Thanks in advance.

D

Does it ever fail to crank when cold? Does the problem only occur after it's warmed up? If it's a hot crank problem, that would be indicative of a bad solenoid if it were a small block Chevy. I have no idea where the solenoid is on the PW, but if it's on the starter motor, that's where I would focus my attention. The standard trick on Chevys is to install a remote Ford solenoid to avoid the overheating problem on the factory solenoid.

It seemed that the hot start was when it was doing it before but now it does it when its cold as well... Sitting in the grocery store parking lot as we speak waiting for it to start lol.

D

I would verify your ground and positive connections are solid and not corroded. Simple thing to do and has been the number one cause of starting problems that I have seen.

Yeah battery is new, connections are solid and clean..... Bit the bullet and picked up a bosch starter after the pos eventually fired up at the store. Gonna throw it in now and see.

Thanks for the replies so far guys.

D

It seemed that the hot start was when it was doing it before but now it does it when its cold as well...

May be progressive failure of the solenoid. When you get the new starter out of the box, let us know where the solenoid is in relation to the heat sources around the mount. I'd just go look under mine, but it's 100 miles away. Good luck.

loose connections
battery bad (or not being charged...check alternator)
belt slipping /loose,
good battery but being discharged by a short while sitting

That's what I would look at.

I had an odd issue with my wife's WJ and found it was the connector on the wire going to the solenoid on the starter. The wire side had developed a loose connection.

In the beginning it was intermittent and I could rap on the starter while someone was turning the key and it would start. I reasoned that at 120,000 miles and the fact that whacking the starter made it work, so I should just replace the starter. I did and the problem just got worse. Now whacking the starter no longer worked. I found that by moving the solenoid wire at the starter that it would start if someone was turning the key when I did it. I cut off the connector end and soldered a wire to the starter after removing the plastic to expose the pin/stud and put my own (weather-pack) connector in between the two wires and my problem was solved. I could have also extended the wire with a splice and put a ring terminal on the end but I wanted to be able to disconnect it with one hand w/o needing a wrench.



.

Good call on the wire to the solenoid. The shitty factory plastic plug that attaches to the spade connector on the starter was loose as all hell so I threw a new connector on. Started right up. Hopefully that solves it.

D

Nice

Nice. Maybe you can return the new starter. Cheap fixes are best.

FWIW- I would check the other end of the ground cable. There are 3 cables in the factory terminal clamp. One to the fender, one to the frame, and one to the motor. Check all for corrosion and torque. You already stated that the terminals are tight, but look closely at the space between the ears of the terminal. If they are touching, it didn't tighten on the battery stud. I found mine to be cracked after removing the battery only one time. It appeared to tighten, but all it did was spread the crack and make the ears touch.

Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk

Ah screw it ill eat the starter. Its been actin up like this for a while now and me getting pissed and cranking it too much way too many times couldnt have been good for it. Ill get the core and be on my way. Now just have to fix an exhaust leak that makes the truck sound even worse than the exhaust manifold leak it already had and do brakes. I may actually be caught up after that.... well until the next ball joint or u joint goes lol.

All this and my 85 fj60 land cruiser which is my wheeling van also has a freaking exhaust leak.... Nevermind the 69 fj40 thats sittin in the garage 96% finished (bastardised). I need a jay leno set up to keep everything going man, at least the dd's startin wicked now.

D