Dodge Ram Starter Problems

[tweakeyjeep]

My dad has a 95 Dodge Ram... It has about 185,000 miles on it and it has not had any engine problems...

It has had 1 problem in it's entire life which were the hubs on the front dana 44...

It has a problem, but it is not very serious... Every time you try to start it, it won't start right off the bat... You turn the key and you hear the engine barely crank then nothing... (I'm not hearing anything like clicking sounds such as if the battery was dead... No sound just pure silence) then you turn it again, and it makes just the slightest crank and then silence again... I took it the the movies the other night, and after letting it sit for about 2.5 hours I tried starting it, I had the turn the key about 20 times before it actually started... My dad turned it about 35-40 times before it started for him...

I checked the wires that are connected to the battery, followed the red wire to the ignition which is in the worst spot ever... I have the frame on one side and the oil pan on the other and all the steering parts and axle are right below it, pain in the butt! But that looked all fine, no connection problems there...

Do you think it could be the ignition itself or is it a problem with the key (or something on the steering wheel console) I don't know.

I hope I gave enough descriptions... Thanks for the help (in advance)

 

[Caleb]

If I were to guess, I would say its either something to do with the connections (ground and/or positive) or a weak battery or possibly a faulty starter...my dads S-10 was doing the same thing and it ended up being his positive wire was totally eaten away except for about two srands of the wire...you couldn;t tell, they way I found it was I pulled on the wire and it tore apart right there...but his battery was also bad, we replaced those two things and now its all good...

 

[Caleb]

oh one more, I also had something similar happen in my boat and it ended up being the starter...it seized up, but that was due to the salt water....

 

[WayneXJ]

On my 96 I had the same thing happen, it was the starter. Take it off and go get it tested.

 

[bennett]

Sounds like maybe a grounding problem.
I would clean all grounding contacts and especially the body to engine ground strap connections.
Had a similar problem on my cruiser and it turned out to be poor connection on the grounds.

 

[tweakeyjeep]

Thanks guys...

I rememeber last time I changed the battery just a couple of months ago in it, there was just tons of corrosion around the positive terminal... I cleaned off as much as possible and hooked up the new battery... It's the one that Rocklogic sells the Orbital Exide battery, so it shouldn't be the cause, but I'll have to recheck the corrosion...

Does Autozone do starter tests with it still plugged in to the vehicle... Pulling it out is gonna be a huge pain... I'll probably have to remove the oil pan just to work on it!

Thanks again guys.

 

[Caleb]

check the wire the whole length for any corroded spots...also when you clean the terminal use baking soda and water mixture...it will neutralize the acid and clean it right off...

 

[tweakeyjeep]

Originally posted by supergper
check the wire the whole length for any corroded spots...also when you clean the terminal use baking soda and water mixture...it will neutralize the acid and clean it right off...

Thanks again... You know Caleb, Everytime I post a question or a problem, you are one of the first ones to answer it with a good answer... Thanks for all the help!

 

[WayneXJ]

The starter isn't very hard to pull off, there was 1 bolt that was hard to get to is all.

 

[tweakeyjeep]

Originally posted by WayneXJ
The starter isn't very hard to pull off, there was 1 bolt that was hard to get to is all.

I guess it was cuz I was on the ashpalt and uncomfortable... I'll get to it tomorrow, thanks Wayne!