Turn the Key, Only A Single Click??

Sounds like low crank amps on one of your batteries. Have them tested.

 

Sounds like a bad connection or a bad wire, between battery box and starter. Otherwise it would have cranked when jumping at batteries. Maybe it’s the selinoid in battery box. Maybe a bad connection or wire, at ignition. I’d start with battery/selinoid connections, before replacing selinoid.I doubt it’s the ignition, since it’s not exposed to the elements. I’m just guessing.

 

Not 100% sure. All i know is i had the same issue years back and i took batteries off and had them tested. One had really low crankIng amps. Replaced all 3 with 60$ refurbished batteries and it was an immediate fix. That was actually 2 years ago and ive only had to replace one of those 3 so far.

 

My truck would not jump at batteries either. Low crank amps. Im not a battery guru by no means, just speak from personal experience.

 

I’m no good at electrical, myself. Makes sense though, since power gets lost through the cables. My Dads Company Trucks would always go dead, while on hometime. I tried to jump a brand new one with my Dodge Colt, nothing. I hit it straight to the starter. Fired right up. Dad thought I was a Genius! Lol. I’ve done it to my Truck a few times, when the selinoid was bad, it made a funny noise afterwards, but eventually went away. I hear it’s a good way to fry a starter, gets it too hot. I believe it.

 

A single click usually means one of two things.

1. The solenoid has sufficient voltage and current to pull in but the copper contact or plunger inside is worn away from arcing and wont carry enough current to engage the starter motor.

2. The solenoid is internally good but the control voltage is insufficient to fully pull the iron core plunger in far enough to engage the plunger or wiper.. Basically to connect the big lugs like when you "jump" it with a screwdriver. Thats all a solenoid does really.

This is often a failure in the ground side of the control circuit, that is the small coil that makes the magnetism to pull in the plunger.


Since your solenoid is new we will assume it is not scenario 1. Since it clicks when you turn the key we know the key switch works and voltage is getting to the solenoid but maybe not enough. If the ground circuit is done by mounting to metal then corrosion on the ground circuit might be the issue. Take a jumper cable. Chomp the solenoid metal body and make a direct connection to the battery negative post.

If that fixes it clean up your grounds or add a direct ground wire. If it does not, and direct screwdriver lug jumping did not crank the starter motor, it usually means youve worn the brushes out of the starter motor. Since yours cranks full speed with a jump we know its not the starter motor or the batteries. It is a mechanical or wiring issue in the switching portion of the starter which falls under the solenoids department.

 

Did you check the battery connection for corrosion? Simple stuff like that usually ends up being the problem.

 

Start by buying a small set of wire brushes at auto parts store, start with neg. batt. cables. and take all of them off and clean them, then take off pos. cables to clean them , take off wires at sol. in batt. box to clean them, you can buy buy a batt. tester and ck. them with all cables off, if any show bad buy all new batt. not just one?