*UPDATE* No more current drain, but truck won't start

[willowbilly3]

Low voltage will kill a Ford starter quickly. I remember some dum farmboy dragging 3 of them back to my friends parts store and being all upidy about bad parts and all. My friend refused to let him have another on until he brought the battery in for testing. Turns out he was killing them like swatting flies with his bad battery.
I agree, do the diagnostics and quit trying to guess and throw parts at it. At this point I would almost wager a bet you have probably created your own problems that are shadowing the original one if it even still exists.
The only way to approach an electrical problem is to diagnosis first, then replace. Not guess, guess, buy new parts, guess some more, pray (although that never hurts ), guess some more, buy some more parts, ask questions, replace more parts without testing. on and on. Do the diagnostics, we will be glad to patiently walk you through the procedures.

[morganater]

New starter (i know it works from my other truck) clicks a whole bunch. Starter relay ?

[willowbilly3]

Probably not. Those seldom go bad. You have low voltage or a bad connection if the starter is known good. Are all your battery cables clean and tight? Do you have those clamp on battery cable replacement ends? Get rid of them, if you can't solder on new ends then buy new cables. And get the good heavy ones. Nothing less than 4 guage and 2 is better. Put the volt meter on your battery and see what it's got in it.
Also remeber that starter might have cranked another engine but can't spin this one. I rebuild my engine once and the starter that had spun it fine when it was tired wouldn't crank a new tight engine.

Are you doing the diagnostics? Electrical problems on these old trucks just aren't that complicated. I think you are trying to skip some of the steps and do the guess and swap method.
Don't feel bad about needing things explained more than once, we all do sometimes. You have a whole bunch of older experienced guys ready to help you out and explain things over if needed. You need to resist your instincts in order to develop good habits and learn proper techniques. Be patient and be thourough, it is the fastest way to fix it right, believe me.

[dotcentral]

Is there someone there that can help you do the diagnostic?

Good point about the connections, that's what my problem was. Do you hear a sizzling type noise or no noise at all?

If you hear a noise or see evidence of sparks or smoke at the starter solenoid, try taking all your wires running to the starter solenoid and hitting them at the contact point with a wire brush or sandpaper. Also, if your battery cables are good, hit the inside were the contact the battery post with sandpaper also.

[willowbilly3]

Can someone turn the truck over for you while you look under the hood?

Persoanally I wouldn't reccomend that. It rarely happens but I have witnessed 3 different occasions in my life where a battery exploded. One in particular was a very similiar problem on a Chevy pickup. He came into my shop and I did some basic diagnostics which included a starter draw test. He cranked it while I basically stood over the battery with my voltmeter on it. I determined it had a shorted cell. He said he would go to his Uncles gas station as he got them for cost there. He drove to the station and the very next time he cranked that truck after I had my face over that battery, it explded big time. It put a big dent in the hood. It very well could have killed me and darn sure would have put me in the hospital or blinded me.
Batterys put off explosive gas when they are being charged or heavily discharged, any spark can ignite it, like a poor connection that is sizzling.
Try this; attempt to crank it and then feel of all the connections. The one with bad contact will be hot.

[dotcentral]

Good point. I modified the post.

[morganater]

Got the alternator all checked out well.. Did some voltage tests and seemed a little wierd so i brought in the battery to get it tested and it tested bad. Hopefully I solved the problem.

[Kaylle]

Have you checked your altenator belt ? Do you head lights get a little brighter when you rev up the engine? If so you altenator is at the least making voltage. There are diodes in the altenator that can go bad/leak and cause a overnight drain of the battery.

[oldschoolrods]

Kaylle makes a good point if the alternator belt is too tight or the pulley is mis-aligned it will create a lot of stress on the bearings.

[morganater]

the alt tested well, and I have no current drain as of now, I just have another problem found in my headlight thread.