Okay I'm at wits end. After replacing the starter earlier today it seemed to start right up with no problem and sounded great as well. about 3 hours later went to go give it a drive and nothing right back to the lights on, clicking noise and no attempt to crank.

When the car running a few weeks ago I did take it to an auto store and they tested the alternator and battery and both checked out. The car had a new battery put in in February, but also had these weird battery drains. That was solved after isolating the speaker circuit which had some sort of short. I just removed the speaker fuse and the battery stopped draining.

I just tried cleaning all the grounds, and the battery terminals, what am I missing? This couldn't be more frustrating!

 

1. Does it start with a jump from another vehicle? If so then the battery is getting drained by something. New starter, new battery, clean connectors don't matter if something is staying on draining the battery. The reason the lights and everything comes on but the starter won't work is the vast difference in the amperage required to run the starter.

2. If jumping doesn't help in starting then something else is going on. (starter, battery, connectors, I know they're all new, but new parts fail, that's why they have warranties).

 

Thanks bkreutz, I should've also prefaced that with my previous problem. Before I replaced the starter it would start after cranking slowly (about two or three times) before turning over. Then one day nothing, just a click from the starter solenoid. So i climbed under the car and whacked the starter and it started up (still after a couple cranks). I drove it for awhile awaiting the inevitable, and then alas it would start no more. So when I put the new starter in today and tried to start it immediately afterward, it fired right up, no prolonged cranking or anything. Shut it off and tried again right away same result. That's why when I came back and awhile later and just got the click again, makes me really scratch my head, wth am i missing?

 

I'm no rover expert but with any car.. as stated above you need to first determine whether you have a loss of power or an interruption in the power supply.

if you can jump start the car, than there is technically nothing wrong. you have a power drain.

if you cannot jump it than you have a poor ground or a whole host of other nightmarish problems.

I have an E-250 that about every six months it does exactly what you are saying. it is the crappy battery terminals I have. I have changed them 3 times, put in a new battery, I finally gave up. when it does it I hit the terminal to the side with whatever monkey whacker I have handy and she starts right up... when I get where I'm going she has full power radio works everything is great, till I try to hit the ignition. whack the terminal and were back in buisness, about a week of this and then I'm good for six months... I need to solder the terminals on... its my work truck

 

Did you have a heat shield on the starter that you removed to get to it and then reinstalled? If you are not careful this can get across the new starter and short it out (ask me how I know). I put my heat shield back on using only the spring clip that connects around the starter body, but did not put the screw back in the front of the motor mount to secure the heat shield at that factory mount point, so when I did a couple hard stops against a curb, the heat shield came off and got across the starter posts and shorted it out. Technically, I guess it is the solenoid post that is shorted out..

- You can test the starter by disconnecting the small ignition switch push-on wire from the thin blade post on the starter solenoid and connecting the blade post on the starter solenoid directly to the hot post on the battery. Connect a jumper cable or heavy clip lead to the starter side first and then the other end to the battery, so you are not over the engine if it starts. This will tell you if you starter is good, assuming you have enough battery power to turn it over.

- You can also test the ignition system here by using a volt meter or test light and pushing one of the probes in the ignition wire connector where the blade post would go if you had it plugged in on the starter, and the other end to the negative battery post. Now, have someone turn the ignition key. If you see 12.5V or so you are seeing the ignition passing the power from the battery down to the starter to start it. The ignition switch system is good, and most likely the starter is the problem.

 

Interesting Rover_Hokie, I didn't remove the heat shield. I just bent it all around to get at the starter, then bent it back into place (maybe not all the way or to far). I'll take a look at it in the morning and see if its touching any on connectors on the solenoid. However I did not drive it at all, just started it up a couple of times and it sounded great, so I shut it off and went to cleaning up. Thanks a lot for the insight, I have a feeling tomorrow is going to be another trial and error day. I've already spent 5 hours today alone sifting through hundreds of forums, reading anything semi related.

 

I started that response meaning to ask, what was your starter fried? or just in need of a re positioning of sorts?

 

It was fried, so I picked up a used one and put it in and was good to go. I had planned to have my old one rebuilt for a spare, now I have two to choose from to get rebuilt.

Here is the thread where I was working on the problem.

D2 - no crank after weird running after key removed

 

Well got under there and had a look, nothing touching the metal, and nothing looks fried, or smells funny. I tried jumping it but to no success.

 

The replacement starter could be bad. Where did you get it? Have you tested the lead from the starter circuit to make sure it is providing 12 volts to the solenoid? If the safety switch on the shifter is bad it won't allow the starter to turn. Have you tried starting it with the gear selector in neutral? Also, have you tried a jumper from the battery to the starter? You can also jump from the battery feed to the switch terminal right at the starter and it should turn.