The Situation: I put the key in the ignition, turn it, all lights come on but it just clicks. I checked the batt for charge and it's putting out 12.26 volts, I cleaned the terminals (that looked fine but cleaned them just to be safe) hooked them back up and made sure they were tightened down for a good connection. Still nothing. It's a brand new starter, just put in 3 months ago. I don't know where I should check next. Last Time I Drove it: Last time I drove it I was taking my cousins motorcycle to him in a nearby town that's roughly a 30-45 minute drive. Truck drove fine the way there. On the way back about about 10 minutes into the venture home going down the interstate holding at 60mph my truck cutout for half a second then I heard what I can best describe as a tiny pebble or a screw bounce around off something a couple times, then it stopped and the truck drove fine all the way home. I tried to start my truck 3 days later and the above is where I'm at...
I would say it is a starter problem. Try the starter relay I believe it is under the glovebox somewhere. Make sure your connections on the starter are in good shape too. And have you taken the starter out since you had the initial problem? The gears in there may be damaged? Since there was a bouncing screw sound... The starter needs to be bolted in at the right torque. Maybe you had it too tight?
i had the same problem on my 4x4 and gary (truckaction) showed me how to fix it. the problem is the starter trigger wire gets old and gives a weak signal. to fix it you install a ford starter solonoid (about $12) in line with your battery to starter cable. then cut the stock starter trigger wire, and wire it to the small left post on the solonoid (the one closest to the battery cable side), then run another wire off the small right post to the trigger wire terminal on the starter. i haven't had the problem since
I got it from O'Reilly's. It was under warranty and I still had the receipt (since I had just put it on like 3 months ago) so I got a new one for free.
