Single click when trying to start (1 Viewer)

[Stevelugzit]

hello all, I have been having this intermittent starter issue. So when I go to start the vehicle it will just click once when I turns the key. The lights don’t dim and it doesn’t try to start. I heard to replace the starter relay so I went ahead and did that. I first pulled the old one out and put it back in. 4 weeks went by and the issue didn’t come back on the old relay. I assumed the relay was going out so I bought a spare one to keep in the glove box for when this one kicked the bucket. Well fast forward to today and the click comes back. I can still start if after a few times turning the key, click, turn ket, click, turn key, starts. So when I got home from the store I pulled the old relay and put the new OEM relay in. The issue is still there. Identical issue. I have no idea what it could be. Some say solenoid but why would me have pulling the old relay and putting it back in have made such a difference for 4 weeks if it wasn’t related to the relay. Could it just be a bad OEM replacement relay? Bad wire? Is it truly the solenoid? Any ideas or suggestions would be much appreciated.

Breakdown:
One click, no start
After repeated turning of the keys to try to start eventually starts everytime
Pulled old relay and did the wire trick to jump it, worked instantly, put old relay back in issue went away
4 weeks later issue is back, new OEM relay in. Issue persists

 

[excessive]

what year is your truck?

 

[Mike NXP]

It sounds to me like the starter is failing and the relay swap / jumper wire you did that led to no issues may have just been coincidence.

Of course this is just a guess and you need to troubleshoot more / poke around at the relay to check for power in and through it...

I'm no expert in diagnosing the starter circuit in the 100 series but in my experience a click click click / no crank / sometimes cranks , is a sign of your starter failing

 

[Stevelugzit]

It’s a 1999.

Im not 100% on the starter yet. When I jumped the power to the starter it would start right up everytime. I tried it 3 or 4 times and it worked everytime. I feel like it’s an issue from the ignition to the relay. I’m no expert on electronics though. My friend is an electrical engineer and he’s going to help me with diagnosis either today or tomorrow.

 

[Mike NXP]

It’s a 1999.

Im not 100% on the starter yet. When I jumped the power to the starter it would start right up everytime. I tried it 3 or 4 times and it worked everytime. I feel like it’s an issue from the ignition to the relay. I’m no expert on electronics though. My friend is an electrical engineer and he’s going to help me with diagnosis either today or tomorrow.

Ah, I didn't realize you managed to jump power direct to starter. How the heck did you do that, the starter is buried under the intake manifold or do you just apply power after the relay? Just curious for my own general troubleshooting

Sounds like you're on the right track, hopefully your buddy can help make sense of what's going on

 

[Stevelugzit]

If you pull the starter relay and use a scrap piece of wire you can jump the 12 volts directly to the starter. It worked a few weeks ago. We tried it again today and still worked but it wasn’t first try, it still clicked once and wouldn’t rattle off until we tried 2 or 3 more times. Our current guess is the starter solenoid is going out. If anyone has had any experience like this before please chime in. I’d sure love to not do a starter replacement in my apartments parking lot lol

 

[hotdawwgman]

It is for sure your starter.
When I would get the click, I would use my work's 10,000V Diesel Truck jumper and man that would send the juice to the starter. once I replaced the starter, those problems went away.

 

[sacman]

Check your ground strap on the battery. They do go bad.