Is my starter bad?

[seang]

Well.... Something was draining my battery. It was getting old, so I got a new one, and after installing it, the truck would start but the battery still discharged after sitting overnight. This went on and I got a new alternator because I thought the diodes inside the old one were shorting out, causing my battery to discharge--a new alternator did not fix the problem. The problem is actually worse now, because even with a fully charged battery all I get is a few clicks from the starter when I try to crank the engine. So my question is: Could the starter be discharging the battery?

I am going to look over the wires today, checking for bad connections, but in the meantime I wanted to post this in case anyone has had a similar problem. Thanks for your advice/suggestions!

[longtooth]

Mine was the dome light comming on.

[seang]

Thanks, Longtooth, but I don't keep the dome light on auto-mode.

[Rev_D21]

Use the test light method for finding parasitic battery draws. Disconnect the negative battery cable and attach a test light between the terminal and the cable, will also work with a multimeter as well. Position the light/meter somewhere you can see it from inside the truck. Now start pulling fuses on-at-a-time till the light goes out or the voltage drops to zero. Once the light goes out, or the voltage drops to zero, you now know which circuit is drawing on your battery. Check everything that runs off that particular fuse.

[RT22]

check brake lights, the pedal has plastic button in pedal arm if it breaks the switch sticks in the hole left and leaves brake lights on all the time mine did it 2 nights before i realized the lights were on. Also on a old mazda the parking light switch went bad and sometimes they would just come on, not always but that happened a few times before i spotted them on one night.

[Rev_D21]

That happened to mine as well. I replaced the plastic button with a nut and bolt.

[seang]

I'm pretty sure it was the starter, and will find out around noon today when I get the new one hooked up. The truck was able to start after I tapped on the starter solenoid with a metal pipe, and that helped me conclude that it was causing this problem the whole time. I should have tried that firstly, but my alternator and battery were both getting so old that I couldn't help but suspect them as well--hooptie status.

Thank you for explaining that diagnostic method, Rev, I will have to remember that one for the future!

[seang]

I put a remanufactured starter on and it does the same thing as with the old parts. The question I am asking myself now is: What 100+ dollar part do I buy next?

I am going to go through the wires again and clean ground connections. I also suspect a voltage regulator for some reason, but I am obviously not a wiring guru....

[RT22]

Hate to say this but sometimes electrical stuff needs a pro to diagnose with the proper tools so you do not buy more stuff that is not needed.

[seang]

I hear you, RT, and that has crossed my mind. And to be more specific on what my truck is doing: When I turn the key to "Start," I can hear the relays clicking rapidly but the starter does not engage.

[seang]

I might try testing the ignition switch as well....

[seang]

Okay, enough of the mystery. There must have been bad ground connections. I replaced the negetive battery terminal and ground strap on the starter, and it started up finally. It is running good again. I am going to go through and replace other ground straps as well, because they are pretty corroded and it is cheap to do. And I can't totally blame myself for suspecting the old parts, because even though they might not have been the cause, they looked original, which, if so, means they had 156,000 miles. Thanks for all your input, guys!