In search of help with no start click problem with my 93 at wd21

[nmullin]

Would really like to meet up with some one that is a bit more comfortable with this than I am. Would be willing to pay whatever is requested but I need to do the fix where you put in a new relay so starter gets full power from battery, have seen a few write ups here and there but not sure I can tackle it on my own. Any advice or help greatly appreciated as I just got a new job and need the pathy for my daily( it's all I got). So if your in the southern Nh area or if you can snap a few pics so maybe I can try it myself id be happy to PayPal some money for the assistance

[OlBlue]

Hey, have you already checked and cleaned all your connections, and checked the condition of your cables? Tested your starter?

[unccpathfinder]

Its a pretty basic principle...I was intimidated by relays for a while until I got one and figured it out...basically the relay u need has 4 posts (poles)...what I did is looked at the schematic and got 4 pieces of wire and a relay...I ran 1 wire down to the starter and had my relay and other pieces of wire up at the battery... 1 wire goes to the + terminal of the battery and then to 1 of the poles on the relay (if u post a pic of the relay it will have pole #s on it and we could tell u What wire to go where) the pole th..at coorelatss to that is typically across the relay and it will go to ground but typically the ground is hooked up and the positive has a switch BC when these are closed it causes the relay to engage...one of the other relay poles will follow to 12v+ on battery and the other to the starter solinoid...so basically now when u connect the original + it will close the relay and tell the solenoid to turn the starter over...before u do any of this make sure the vehicle is in Park or neutral BC if its in gear it will roll...once you get the poles figured out u can mount the relay in the fender well and basically run back to the key switch or put a momentary switch in at the dash...mine is push button start right now...

 

Now with all of this don't worry the truck won't start unless the key is turned over to position 3 BC its not getting furl by bypassing the starter

 

I watched a few mins of this and its pretty good

 

http://m.youtube.com/index?desktop_uri=%2F&gl=US#/watch?v=Mru8BbTGDwM

[unccpathfinder]

And yes what ole blue said...if Its not every time it could be there is a bad spot in the solenoid...getting the starter tested won't necessarily show this problem. Eventually the bad spot gets bigger and the starter won't work...starter test just tests the starter not the solenoid

[ahardb0dy]

here are the contact numbers on a basic 4 terminal relay and what each wire goes to, this applies to what ever you may use a relay for, ex. lights, fans, starter relay mod, etc.

 

 

numbers on botom of relay next to tabs:

 

30 - is always the 12 volt power supply coming into the relay, (ALWAYS PUT A FUSE INLINE WITH THIS WIRE)

87 - is the output of the relay when the relay is "triggered"

86 - "trigger", this wire connects to what ever is turning the relay on,

85 - goes to ground

 

so for the starter relay mod it goes like this:

 

1. - mount the relay as close to the battery as possible

2. - I usually will attach a short wire from terminal number "85" with a ring terminal on one end and loop it back up to the relay mounting screw, this is your ground

3. -take the stock starter solenoid wire out of the starter solenoid plug and attach it to terminal number "86" on the relay, this activates the relay when you go to start the engine

4. - run a new wire from terminal number "87" down to the starter solenoid plug, this lets the output of the relay engage the solenoid when you start the engine

5. - run a wire with a fuse inline from terminal number "30" to the positive on the battery, this is the relay power supply

 

that's it

 

here is a diagram for wiring a pair of auxillary lights using the high beams to turn them on using a relay, this schematic can be followed for most everything relay related, just substitute the lights for what ever you wish to control with the relay and substitute a switch for the high beam wire:

 

 

I would not recommend wiring the 2 lights as the diagram shows with 2 wires coming off terminal number "87", instead run wire from terminal number "87" to the light furthest away, than using a "scotchlok" connector attach the second light to the wire that runs to the furthest light.

 

NOTE !!!!

when using a relay to control lights or anything you wish to turn on using a switch, the switch that you use to turn the relay on can be very small and only needs to be rated to handle a few amps as the current to turn the relay on is very small.

 

This is one benefit to using relays, with out a relay you would normally run a wire from your battery inside the cab to a heavy duty switch that is rated for whatever the load is you are controlling, (for example for 2 off road lights a 20-30 amp switch would be common), than a wire would run from the switch in the cab back out to what ever you are turning on with the switch, ex. lights,fan,etc. This wastes power,

 

Using a relay the power runs a short distance from the battery to the relay than when the relay is activated the power goes from the relay out to what ever you are controlling with it, ex. lights, fan,etc, and the wire from the switch is very low current to activate the relay.

 

 

=========================================================================================================================

 

You may also find relays from the auto part stores with 5 terminals, these are the same as the above 4 terminal relay with the addition of a terminal numbered "87A" this type of relay is known as a "changeover" relay, basically how it works is, when the relay is off terminal number "87A" has power and when you trigger the relay (turn it on), terminal number "87" has power and terminal number "87A" does not. These are used when you want to switch between two items, like for example a high/low on a fan among other uses

Edited April 8, 2012 by ahardb0dy

[ahardb0dy]

My 94 PF was doing the start some time just clicking sometime thing and after doing the starter relay mod it started everytime for about a year, than finally I had to replace the starter, but I did leave the relay in place.

[dmag23]

Posted the response below to this forum in July, 2010. Have not had the starter "click" problem repeat itself since I made the adjustment prior to July, 2010. Not saying my problem solution is a fix for everyone, but it's an easy procedure to try before modifying the starting circuit with bypass relays and such.

 

I've been fighting the starter/click problem for a long time now. Over time, I replaced the inhibitor relay, battery, battery cables, starter, traced all the wires to check for bad connections. The last item I replaced was the ignition switch. Not the key/tumbler mechanism, just the electrical side of the switch. It went from the typical "click" issue to nothing. No click, no start, no nothing. All the other electricals were working as normal. So I removed the new ignition switch and checked with a multi-meter. It was working properly. Turns out the alignment of the switch into the key/tumbler mechanism was not right. The switch has a register mark that fits into a groove in the key tumbler mechanism. The switch is then secured in place with a single screw. I left the screw a little loose when I reinstalled the switch, allowing me to rotate the switch ever so slightly. That "ever so slightly" is what made the difference between getting nothing when I turned the key to start, and getting a click when I turned the key, and finally having the starter turn over likes it is supposed to. So the problem I had all along was................even though the key was rotated into the start position, the ignition switch contacts weren't fully engaged because it wasn't aligned properly. I modified (via drill bit) the ignition switch and key/tumbler mechanism to allow me to rotate/re-position the ignition switch so that when the ignition key was fully rotated into the start position, I got good engagement of the ignition switch contacts. I haven't had a problem since.

 

Try it yourself. Pull off the upper and lower steering column covers, exposing the electrical side of the ignition switch. Find the securing screw at the bottom of the ignition switch. Loosen it or take it out completely. With the key rotated into the start position, rotate the electrical side of the ignition switch as it sits in the key/tumbler mechanism. It would go from starting, to clicking, to nothing, with very little rotation of the electrical switch. When I say very little rotation, I mean 1 or 2 degrees of rotation (if not fractions of a degree). For kicks, I did the same thing using my old ignition switch. Same results. It wasn't the switch (or any other component for that matter) causing the "click" issue, just the switch alignment. I used the drill bit to open up the hole in the ignition switch that the securing screw goes through. This allowed me to get enough extra rotation with the ignition electrical switch (before I locked it down with the securing screw) to allow good engagement of the switch contacts when the key was turned to the start position.