Truck won't start

[Jeremy_5]

I can't get my truck to start, the battery has been checked and I was told it is fine, it doesn't even crank over, all I hear is a click and that's it. I was wondering if someone could give me a run down on some simple things to check into. If the starter was bad wouldn't it try to crank? I was thinking it must be electrical. By the way what is the clicking noise I hear when I turn the key.

[1BadSS]

if you hear a click, it sounds like the battery is dead... but thats interesting... it could be that the starter is dead.

[cdowns]

the first thing to do is to clean your battery cables and the gound "shiney metal on shiney metal"

[Sweet72]

Last question first...
That click you hear when you turn the key is the starter solenoid energizing and engaging, or trying to engage the starter gear into the flywheel. Bottom line is the starter isn't receiving enough current to turn over the engine. If in fact the battery is okay, you probably have a loose or corroded connection. Check the battery cables on both ends and make sure the metal is clean and the connections are tight. The (-) should be connected to the passenger side cylinder head and the (+) goes directly to the starter motor. Good luck!

[GMC AMI]

Good call sweet72,It is a loose connection or poor ground. It might help to jump the two posts on the solenoid with a screw driver or remote starter
handheld switch,the big batt.cable post and the s post. this will bypass the
solenoid to test. Good luck. You might have to pull the starter out and bench
test to be sure the starter is not locked up. Just use a 12 v. battery with a set of jumper cables. The ground to the starter body and the positive to big post,hold on good it should kick in and spin freely.

[Jeremy_5]

top......

[ChevLoRay]

I had a time, once, trying to figure out my starter problem. Seems that my starter was "sometimin'" , meaning sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn't. The bendix would engage most of the time, but not all. So, one cold December day, I had to pull the starter off. I took it into the house and let it warm up. I had a new bendix to put on it. When I took the nose off of the starter (putting in new brushes, too), a bolt fell out of it. Seems that the gear on the bendix was occasionally contacting the bolt, and preventing it from engaging the flywheel. I don't think that is your problem, but I just wanted to throw it out for tickles and grins.

The following is another story, but it explains the bolt in the starter nose. A dealership in Little Rock had replaced all of the Torque convertor bolts to address a complaint that the previous owner had about a clunking noise in the front driveline ('76 Blazer 4WD). After they had spent almost $2K to fix the clunk (part time kit, and a bunch other stuff), I fixed it by greasing the slip yoke on the front drive shaft.

[TsgtE662]

To see if it is the starter I would take a hammer and tap the starter a couple of times and then see if it will start. If it does then you know its the starter.

Sometimes that will work if thats it. I have done that every time I have any doubt on it.

Do you have a separate Voltage Regulator on it still?