Javier4814

hey guys, first post.

I have an 81' 2wd...i recently bought a new battery and starter thinking that would help get my truck started again. Everytime i try to turn it on all i get is a crazy clicking noise from under the hood...and what sounds like the battery getting drained =D

if anyone could give me an idea of whats wrong that'd be nice =D

blake.nemitz

you have a bad ground somewhere, try hooking up cables or a charger directly to the starter and greound to the block if it cranks you need to find the bad ground. mine did the same thing and i had to hunt some of those down

blake.nemitz

or possibly a bad starter relay, i dont know if they had them in 81, oh and try jumping the solonoid that will tell you if its not a ground if it cranks that way

Javier4814

Now when you say hooking up cables directly to the starter..what cables?
And how do i jump the solenoid?

Javier4814

sorry, kinda clueless when it comes to wiring..

83

Make sure the battery terminals and wire ends are cleaned up, also. I had a subaru that wouldn't start every now and then, just some clicking. Then I heard a kind of sizzling...and a little smoke from under the hood. It was just corrosion on the terminals and wires. Didn't look bad at all, was the funny thing, but it still needed cleaning. Something easy to check, anyways.

83_4wd_Toy

you might want to check your fusible links by the batery and there conectors, these pictures are the ones on my 83 toyota truck the one wire link did kinda what your talking about it would click and then kill the bat, the 2 wire link would kill all power to everything. jumping the starter would still turn it over but it wouldnt fire.

Javier4814

I had someone jump the battery after i looked for grounds. it has started 3 times since so..idk? lol

Gov't Mule

These trucks came from the factory with a grounding system that is prone to failure. I have since re-wired my ground coming off the battery,,,here's why.

The ground cable originally went from the battery to the right side front fender well (body) and THEN down to the truck's frame. The ground connections on the fender well become faulty over time from rust and electrolysis.

The way it SHOULD be done is with a ground cable that goes directly from the neg terminal on the battery down to the FRAME and then a short ground cable from the frame to the body (fender well...whatever).

You should also have a grounding strap going from the frame directly to the engine block as well.

Make sense??



GM

Javier4814

indeed. thanks!

83_4wd_Toy

on my truck when the one wire fusable link was bad it acted as if it was a fualty ground or a grounded power wire. you would turn the key, starter would click once and kill the battery.