911: NO START!

[blown84]

my truck has been runnin fine. all of a sudden, today, i go out to it, and the starter seems, not quite as spunky as usual. drove it to the parts store to get some new, brighter marker lights, and when done, it seemed a little more than just not spunky. came home, decided to go to mcdonalds, then walmart. startin is seemin to be kind labored, but my lights and everything work fine. shut the truck off at the drive through to order, and the crankin is slower yet. again, lights are still bright, gauge is tellin my everything is chargin normally. got to walmart, came out, and no start. lights are still on, and bright, but when i hit the starter, all i got was "truh...ruh...ruuuh...click." i was able to push my truck back, and thank God the lot has a slope i was at the top of, and got er rollin fire her up.

im utterly baffled by this for a few reasons: one, its never done this before. two, i have dual optima red tops. three, all of my lights work just fine. as a note, after i got it fired up at wally world, on the way home, my blinkers stopped workin. but again, nice bright headlights.

the only thing i can figure is voltage regulator. somebody please tell me im right so it just a ten minute/ten dollar fix!

 

[93f250idi]

Sounds like the starter took a crap on you. Still a pretty cheap fix. Got mine rebuilt locally for like $40. I guess you can change the voltage regulator and see if it fixes it. Worth a try for $10

 

[blown84]

if it IS the starter, i hope its one of those items where the core is worth more than the reman part. BUT it doesnt explain why blinkers took a crap on the way home...

 

[Goofyexponent]

Check the connections befoe you go spending money. I cleaned my terminals last winter when my starter started to crank slower and slower......fixed the problem righ tup. Clean BOTH battery terminals on BOTH batteries. Follow the ground terminals from the batteried to the block and take them off...clean them up and put them back on. Go to the fender mounted solenoid and remove ALL the wires there....clean the terminals and put them back on the way they came off. Clean ALL the contact at teh starter too....it's free, and what have you got to lose?

If that isn't the problem, then it might be time to start spoending money. Is she charging properly? What condition are the cables in? Old, swelled up and puking green corrosion?

Hopefully it's not something that will cost you an arm and a leg, but it sounds to me like it may be the starter. Check all the free fix items first though!!!

 

[blown84]

thanks for the advice goofy. however, i have to report that there is not a sign of corrosion on ANY of the terminals. due in part to the fact that bout every 4th time i wash the truck, i degrease the motor, with it runnin of course. as far as everything chargin, the gauge says its normal. but really, how accurate can an idiot light with a needle be? then again, this did just happen all at once, not over a period of time, which is the main reason i blame the voltage regulator. kinda sad, cause the one thats on it is all bright and shiny still...

 

[Clayton]

Check the running voltage with a meter.

 

[bghnkinf350]

My terminals looked fine too - in fact I had recently cleaned them when I found one battery was getting about 10 to 11 volts and the other was 14 or so. Cleaned the terminals again and both charge nicely. Because they look fine does not always mean they are fine. I would start as Goofy said first. Do you have a DVOM?

 

[Compu Doc]

These starters can go out without a warning. Yours was giving you warning signs. As others have said check all connections first. If that fails replace the starter.

 

[GOOSE]

You should have close to 12 volts when the truck is off and 13.5-14.5 volts when running. Most stores will load test the batteries and bench test the starter for little or no money.

 

[icanfixall]

Is your starter the older direct drive. If so you probably need another starter.Install the gear reduction starters. The crank the engine so fast you can't count the rpm. Fast cranking rpm makes heat from quickly compressing the air in the cylinders. That heat is what ignites the diesel. Do as suggested and check all the terminals before replacing anything..

 

[blown84]

well, i went and bought a new voltage regulator, put it in, and drove around for bout 45 minutes. went back to the parts store, just in case it wasnt the fix. and it wasnt. so they helped me jump start it, and threw the tester on the batteries. the guy was like, oh, your batteries are shot, theyre only throwin 10 volts. im thinkin, haha, no. dual optima red tops dont just decide to go kaput at the same time when they are only a couple years old. so i told him to throw it on the alternator. turns out my charge gauge WAS lyin to me, cause it was only throwin the same 10 volts the batteries were at. (cudos to the red tops!) so, went in, got the "upgrade" replacement, as its a 70 amp instead of 65, and has a lifetime warranty. put it on, and tested it to 13.7 volts @ +/-1000 rpm. now my gauge reads pretty far to the right when im drivin, and responds instantly to the output change when i rev it. drove her home, shut off, and hit the starter again, she fired right up. problem solved.

 

[bghnkinf350]

Glad to hear it was a relatively simple fix! The factory gauges are only "suggestions".

 

[blown84]

lol. i know. my temp gauge says im perpetually overheatin, while the aftermarket one never flinches off of 204 degrees, after it warms up.

 

[icanfixall]

Well sure glad you found what was wrong without throwing lots ofparts at it. Don't think youwasted anymoneyon the voltage regulater. Its a good idea to always replace those then you replace the alternater. As most here felt from what you described we felt the starter was shot. Thats because your posting told us the alternater gauge was telling you that you have a charge going on... So now others will see these factory dash gauges are just guessing at whats really going on. A 65 amp alternater sounds really low on the output for these double battery trucks. My serpentine belt alternater is a 200 amp internal voltage regulater design. I don't run a large sound amps or radios so I stay charged all the time. After my starts the gauge never stays charging very long to top off the batteries. I do run my ac all year long. I like the feel of the dry cool air. In the winter I just add some heat to the ac.... Works for me.....

 

[Goofyexponent]

Agreed 100% Gary!!!!! I thought my gauges worked fine....until I installed a set of aftermarket mechanical ones.....WOW, these factory clusters are just stabing in the dark at what's REALLY going on under the hood!!!!