Turn the key and nothing

Does anyone know what happened? 2000 AC, V-8, 172,000 miles. Drove my truck over the weekend and the battery light came on. The battery is about 8 months old so I figured maybe the alternator was going. Went out last night and turned the key and nothing, totally dead. Went to jump it and still nothing but the headlights and both turn signals came on when I had the jumper cables on. Charged the battery overnight and put it back in this morning and still nothing. I'm not good with electrical but I was thinking maybe a fuse or the alternator took a dump. Any help would be appreciated!

 

First things first.....clean your battery terminals and check your cables. These are classic symptoms of dirty corroded terminal connections. Several people have found that their main battery cables have rotted away under the insulation.

 

Battery full of water?

 

Cleaned the terminals with a wire brush and the battery is a sealed type. I'll have to check under the cable insulation

 

If your terminals are tight and clean sounds like your alternator may have stopped charging causing battery light to come one.

Not charging killed your battery.

is your battery under warranty? Many have 12 month warranty period. Is your battery an agm style?

I would get a known good battery installed (or jumper pack) and start the truck.

Read voltage at battery with truck running to check of the alternator is charging.

 

Thanks for the info! I have the warranty for the battery so I'll take it back after work and get another one.

 

Multi meter check battery/ when running. Will it run when jumping?

 

Wont even run when jumped. With jumper cables on it the headlights and turn signals came on but the headlights were turned off and still dead.

 

If you put a good battery in and it still isn't working, it's not the alternator. If your battery is bad, it's just bad and needs to be replaced. I suspect cables are the issue. My negative cable was so corroded my truck acted like someone stole my battery. I had to replace the battery and the cable that runs from the battery, through the factory loom and all the way to the back of the motor on the drivers side. It's a long one. I ended up cutting the ends of the old cable off as it entered and exited the factory loom as there didn't look like a way I could remove it. I ziptied the new one to the loom.

 

Thanks! I'll check the negative cable and get a new battery. Hoping it's just that!

 

Yeah. Disconnect your cables and connect them to the battery in the other car with jumpers. If your lights work then maybe your battery is bad

 

Will do!

 

I would use a jumper vehicle, or cables from known good battery, run the negative to a good ground, like chunk of metal on the engine, and the positive right to the positive terminal, and see what you get when you try to start it.

 

I'd just pull the f'n battery and haul it up to where you bought it to have them test the damn thing. It's the absolute fastest way you're gonna know if the battery is the problem, which will let you move onto other possible things if it's found to be good - at which point you should trickle charge it, then try to fire up the truck.

Really, I think @KNABORES nailed it:

 

You're not wrong, but I'm gonna say right now, with those symptoms, it's not the battery. Even if the battery is bad, thats not the problem.

 

Big question is - will @Mr. Pickles come back and update us on progress

 

Any extra rain in your area?

 

Exchanged the battery and still nothing. My brother came out and was messing with jumping the starter relay. He got the interior lights to work by doing that but still wouldn't even crank. He said it's either the relay or starter. One weird thing we noticed is when we try to start it there's a like air suction sound coming from under the main wire loom on the right side. Hope to get the new relay today. No rain but I did wash and wax it 3 days before this happened.

 

Also hooked up jumper cable from battery negative to motor block and nothing.

 

It is rarely the starter. Not saying it's not possible but I'd do that as a last resort. The fact that you have no power to anything else seems like it shouldn't be the starter.

I'd focus on whatever needs to happen to get the interior lights/cluster to light up on their own before focusing on starter components. It's possible water got in the windshield seal and messed with your integration relay/internal fuse box.

 

Thanks Nick! I'll look at it after work. Thinking I'll have to tow it to somebody who knows electrical systems. Put a new starter relay fuse in last night and didn't help

 

There is this one video online helping with startup issues. I would be checking the square fuses in the engine bay relay/fuse box also. If you're seeing other issues, like a lack of power to the cab (I think that's what I read earlier?) I would be pulling out a multimeter and checking circuits, especially after seeing this thread where the alternator fuse was shorting. But I'd also be checking your positive cables for issues, consider running a temporary positive cable to confirm if that's your issue. Corrosion inside the cables has been an issue for others. This thread may also be interesting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jWouSQYTnU

 

Yeah, at this point figure out the flow of electricity in your truck before worrying just about the starter. If your lights wont turn on with a full battery there is a problem.

test voltage at different fuse boxes, find all the grounds and make sure they are in good condition, look for corroded wires like mentioned.

You probably have a break in your electrical flow somewhere

 

his first post mentions the battery light coming while driving.

the alternator circuit could be the issue.

 

Only reason I wasn't thinking it to be alternator or its circuit is his comment "Exchanged the battery and still nothing"

With a good battery installed, even if the alt or alt circuit was arcing to ground, I'd expect something out of it, lights coming on, something. If it was arcing enough to discharge 1ll 14v of that car battery into the frame so much it won't turn over, I'd expect to see smoke. That's what happened when my alternator ate shit: Put in a new battery, and when full 14v hit the dead alternator, fire commenced.

Battery light in the dash, no lights to the interior are both symptoms suggests to me there's an issue between the line going from the batt to the engine bay relay box and the cab. I swear it was Bubba who posted a rundown of the power circuit and how it's routed for starting recently. Wish I could find it...

 

Shifty, watched the video you posted and jumped the positive to the starter relay and it cranked but wouldn't start. Checked the fuses and they're good. Noticed when I took the jumper wire off and turned the key to start there was a hissing sound from the right side of engine, like air sucking in somewhere. Like you mentioned maybe an issue between the battery and relay box in cab. I'll keep trying! Thanks for all who chimed in!

 

Also Am-1 and Am-2 fuses are good and the 5amp in the cab are good.

 

Something to note: Fuel pump won't engage if the crank position sensor isn't sending a reading. I think I mentioned before, but I think it's probably worth checking its wiring harness to make sure it's not compromised. I'll need to crunch on this mentally a bit ... the fact you're not getting a crank when using the key, but are getting a crank when bypassing the relay is a sign of something.

 

Thank you Shifty!

 

Jumpered the positive to starter relay fuse #5 and it cranked, did that again and wife held the key in start position and it started and ran for about 5 seconds. Checked the fuses again and ALT was blown. So going to get a new one and take fuse box out since it's bolted in the sides.