No Start - Clicking instead of cranking - not a dead battery

[tony2much]

Hey all,

I have a 91 MM with a stock 2.4. I have a consistent issue with starting where the truck will give a single "click" but will not start. Sometimes it will start first try, sometimes after 1 or 2 clicks, sometimes after 30 plus clicks. As of now, it has always started eventually. Here is a video of the issue - https://youtu.be/hLUXEFSWQ9Y

The click I hear is coming from the right passenger footwell. I assume its a relay, but my Haynes manual doesn't list a relay - just a solenoid on the starter. The previous owner stated it happened to him frequently, but always eventually started. The issue has persisted even after a new battery and a new starter, so I have ruled those out.

It has become more frequent over the past couple of months. Before it would happen every few starts, now it seems to be almost every time. I'd love to get this figured out as it's quite embarrassing while trying to leave a gas station or event.

Any thoughts? Anyone dealt with this issue before?

[Law Dog]

Fuel pump relay and your ECU (computer) is on the passenger side. I’d clean and redo the battery and starter connections before I got too excited first.

[camoit]

Put a jumper cable between the + on the battery to the starter. Put the ground between the battery and the block. Then test it. If still only 1 click. It’s probably a solenoid. Some can be taken apart and you can clean up the contact plate inside it.

[tony2much]

I appreciate the replies.

Update:
Put a lead from the positive battery terminal to the small terminal on the solenoid: cranked every time, no click, so I’m pretty sure the starter/solenoid are fine.
I bypassed the ignition switch by jumping the points on the back of the switch, and still got the click, so I don’t think it’s the switch.
I unplugged the relay in the passenger footwell, still clicks, so I don’t think it’s the relay.
every time I got the clicks, the truck would still eventually start. I got a video of the clicking in the engine bay here:

https://youtu.be/_nKSzdamck4?si=cVLFkMHwJnBP-Ea0

When the truck does eventually crank it cranks strong and healthy and starts right up. So I’m still pretty sure it’s not the starter or battery.
I’ll be closely inspecting all the connection points next, checking the ground to the motor, etc.

[tony2much]

Some updates incase there's any more advice, or if anyone finds this thread with the same issue:

As law dog said; the relay in the cab is the fuel pump relay. With that unplugged, I get the same symptoms of clicking/occasional cranking. Of course the truck doesn't actually start since the pump is disconnected, but I feel that I have ruled that out as a source of issue.

I traced the wire (black with yellow stripe) from the small lead on the starter up to a plug next to the battery. From this plug it appears to go through the firewall and onto the ignition switch. If I jump the starter side of the wire directly to the battery the truck cranks, so I thought the issue may be with the wires/plugs running between the ignition switch and this plug at the battery. However - when I ran a lead directly from the ignition to the starter - bypassing all factory wiring - I still got the same issue.

I've determined that I am hearing 2 sounds; a click in the cab, and a clunk in the engine bay. The click is the fuel pump relay, and the clunk appears to be the solenoid pushing the pinoin gear. Since that clunk is a typical sypmtom of a bad starter, I'm going to throw a starter at it. Perhaps I just got a starter that failed early, or maybe there is something else that is killing my starters? I'll update the post when the new starter is in to see if there is any difference.

[SubGothius]

I traced the wire (black with yellow stripe) from the small lead on the starter up to a plug next to the battery. From this plug it appears to go through the firewall and onto the ignition switch. If I jump the starter side of the wire directly to the battery the truck cranks, so I thought the issue may be with the wires/plugs running between the ignition switch and this plug at the battery. However - when I ran a lead directly from the ignition to the starter - bypassing all factory wiring - I still got the same issue.

That sounds to me like a faulty ignition switch. Fortunately, you can replace just the electrical portion of the switch pretty cheaply without replacing the entire steering lock and key cylinder; IIRC, the switch module just pulls out of the left side of the steering column.

That said, if the starter that's in it was one of those parts-chain "lifetime warranty" starters, those tend to fail pretty quickly/frequently, so you're really just buying into a lifetime supply of rebuilt replacement starters about as crappy as the last one.

Give me a rebuilt OEM starter every time, which any local alternator exchange or auto-electrician shop should be able to do pretty cheaply. Usually all they need is to be cleaned and greased up, have the brushes replaced, carbon deposits buffed off the contact bar inside the solenoid, maybe a new pinion gear if badly worn, good as new. There really isn't much else in them to "go bad" if they were made well in the first place, which the parts-chain starters usually aren't.

If you don't have the OEM starter anymore, get a good major name-brand starter, even rebuilt if need be. When I gave up on getting yet another crappy reman from O'Reillys, I got a rebuilt Bosch starter instead that's been going strong ever since [knock wood]. Better yet, O'Reillys customer service confirmed I could get a refund instead of a replacement under their "lifetime warranty" terms if I wound up buying a replacement starter elsewhere, tho' this was a few years ago.

[xboxrox]

Thanks for that good info sub