I have an 83 sr5 4wd and recently I've been having problems with getting it to start. I checked the battery and it holds voltage, when I turn the ignition on my radio works and my voltmeter is reading voltage. But when I turn the key to start the truck I get absolutely nothing. I checked the voltage to the starter with a test light and it's getting lower. I also checked the connector that goes to the starter with the test light and it gets power whenever the key is turned. If I push start the truck it will turn on and run perfectly fine but if I turn it off, I can't get it to turn back on. I don't know what else I need to check that can be maybe shorting to out or causing it to not start. Has this happened to anyone or does anyone have any tips to what else I can check? Any advice would help. Thank you

 

Forgot to mention that I removed the starter and I took it to get tested because I thought it had to be the starter that was failing. But they told me my starter was fine which is why I'm stuck now.

 

First, Kudos on using a volt-meter.... But why are you keeping the voltage reading a secret? Are you asking for help or are you testing us?

A PROBLEM THAT IS WELL-STATED IS A PROBLEM ALMOST SOLVED.

I could be here right now.... Can't see what you are dealing with.
Got pics so we know EXACTLY what you have in front of you?

However, EXACTLY what voltage are you reading at battery post when ignition is on?
Maybe your battery is just strong enough to run lights but not enough to even energize the starter solenoid.
Maybe your connections are bad so you lose power on them and not enough power gets to the starter solenoid.
Turn headlights to high beam. What do you read?

What power? 5 Volts is power. 3 volts is power.
Exactly What voltage did you get?
Exactly where did you measure?

How much power? Voltage?

IF YOU PREFER HANDS-ON TEST, Try this:
ENSURE truck IS IN NEUTRAL
Get a 1/4-inch female spade connector and crimp/solder it to a few feet of 12 AWG wire.
Remove connector from THIS on starter solenoid
Connect female spade terminal to this.
Touch other end of 12AWG wire to battery. Solenoid should energize, thunk, and starter should crank.

 

I do think the Op was referring to the Voltmeter gauge

The best thing you can do is retire that test light

You need real world numbers.

I have seen poor grounds cause all sorts of no crank problems.

One of the best tests is a voltage reading from the positive battery terminal to the engine block .

Maybe it is my hearing going bad I think the solenoid pulling in is more of a Klunk then a thunk.

 

You can have voltage, but not amperage. Comparing it to plumbing, voltage is like water pressure amperage is the flow rate. Your lights and such take very little "flow" while your starter takes a lot more "flow" so 12 volts at 10 amps will turn on an interior light, it will not turn a starter.

You need to look at things that reduce your amperage or cause resistance to the starter. The simple cause would be an old battery. Again, your batter could be putting out 12+ volts, but not enough amps. Other things that affect resistance include wire length, wire diameter and wire material composition. Since you are having problems directly with the starter, the troubleshooting list should be shortened. What does the wire off of the battery feeding the starter look like? Personally, I use a 4 ga wire to feed the starter. If yours has a poor connection, is corroded or a smaller gauge then it likely doesn't carry enough amperage to the battery. How are your grounds? Your starter is grounded by its connection to the transmission, which is grounded to the block, which is grounded to the chassis/body, which is grounded to the battery. If any of those grounds are poorly grounded or have corroded wires then you could have a problem there as well.

Your starter has a solenoid and a motor controlled by a relay. If the solenoid is clicking and the starter motor isn't even trying to turn then you have a bad relay or a bad connection to or from the relay. If the solenoid clicks and the starter motor is trying to turn then you likely have low amperage going to the starter motor.

 

I really appreciate all of the advice the three of you have given me. Don't think I am ignoring your questions/advice, I have just been so busy with school and work I haven't had the chance to work on the truck. Hopefully by tonight I can do some measurements with my DMM on what you guys have mentioned above and see if I find anything. I should have known better a test light is not going to cut it. I tried jump starting the truck with another vehicle and I got the same results, so maybe my problem is a bad connection somewhere. Anyways, I hope to do some more testing soon and I will let you guys know what actual numbers I am getting. Thanks again

 

i was able to take some measurements today and this is what i got:
My battery with ignition off: 12.5v
Battery with ignition on: around 12.17-12.2v
ignition on and headlights on it dropped to 12.02v
when trying to turn truck on would drop from 12.17-12.04 and no crank.

Then i went under the truck and measured the starter and got 12.5v when the ignition was off. When the ignition was on i would only get 12.10v and when trying to turn the vehicle on it would drop from 12.10 to 11.8v. I also measured the starter solenoid positive terminal coil when turning the vehicle on and that voltage was 11.9v

Dave- i did not get the chance to check all of my ground connections, it was just to dark and it's getting pretty late. however, the solenoid is not even trying to turn at all and i do not believe i hear any sort of clicking.

 

Good job checking the voltages!
Those readings sound normal. But you're not feeling nor hearing the starter solenoid Clunk at all?
Yes, definitely check your ground AND all connections to battery. All connections should have shiny bare metal touching shiny bare metal.

Then Try this:
ENSURE truck IS IN NEUTRAL
Get a 1/4-inch female spade connector and crimp/solder it to a few feet of 12 AWG wire.
Remove connector from THIS on starter solenoid
Connect female spade terminal to male spade above.
Touch other end of 12AWG wire to battery. Solenoid should energize, Clunk, and starter should crank.

IMPORTANT INFO: If your truck is stock, it probably does not have a starter relay. I strongly recommend installing one. A starter relay is necessary:

 

Read your voltage from the positive battery terminal to the block.

See what that reads sounds like bad grounds to me.

Easy to clean easy to get to.

Electric cable wears as well vehicles this old things do need replaced after some years.

 

Sorry forgot to add that in there. i did measure the voltage from the positive post to the block and i believe the reading was around .01v or maybe it was .001v, don't remember exactly what i got but i will check it again today. Can it be anywhere on the block?

 

.01 volts to the block? There's your problem right there - you have no (or very little ground) to your engine which means that you have no ground to your starter. Better start replacing grounds to your engine. I have three grounds on my engine:

1: 4ga wire daisy chained from the battery (-) to the body to the frame to the passenger side engine mount bolt - each cable is terminated with solder filled copper lugs (Heat up the lug, fill with molten solder and stuff in the cable while hot) and each connection shares the same bolts.

2: 4ga wire daisy chained from the alternator to the driver side engine mount to the frame to the body

3: 8ga wire from the firewall to the back of the head.

This is technically more than you need, but I like to have redundancy so that I am less likely to have a problem if one fails. If you have old original ground wiring then it is likely corroded and/or damaged so your best bet is to replace it with new, heavier gauge wiring.

 

Thanks for the advice Dave I definitely plan on switching all of those ground out like you suggested. However, before I started to do all that I checked all my grounds again and I was wrong, my block is grounded. I am getting around 12.5v from positive post of battery to block. I forgot my block had been painted and it must have been to much insulation for a reading, so this time I checked from multiple points like freeze caps and the engine hooks. I also checked my transmission, (positive post on battery and transmission as ground and I am also getting around 12.5v). I'm stuck and have no idea know what else to check. This is so frustrating lol

 

I finally got the chance to work on my truck again and decided to just go ahead and switch out the starter with a new one. I finally get the old one out and and the new one in and what do you know, it fires right up . i should have never trusted the damn auto parts store but of course it doesn't end there. Now my new starter seems to keep turning the engine once it is already on. I have to cut the ignition and let it fully turn off and try it a few times until it finally starts up normally. Is this maybe a problem in my ignition? i do not think i could have mixed up any wires on the starter, there is only two. I never had this problem before the old starter went out. Any suggestions would really help. Thanks everyone