>I've had this twice before, but not this bad. I would go to start the
truck
>and instead of the starter trying to roll over, it almost sounded like an
>electrical discharge somewhere. It was coming from the middle/bottom left
>side of the truck. A friend could not see anything (I was in a parking
>garage and lights were dim).
>After about 10 minutes of trying briefly and letting it sit, it ticked for
>about 3 seconds and turned over. No problems since. This happened twice
in
>the past month, but it was only on the first two times turning the key.
>I've been told that my battery is also due for replacement, as the dot is
no
>longer visible in the view window. My gauge reads a hair under 1/2.
>Is this a bad battery or a bad starter?
Going back to High School auto shop, and that's been a while, there is a
field test you can do to tell if the battery is bad or if the problem is in
the starter. First, get out your voltmeter. Check the voltage on the
battery with the engine off. It should be close to 12 volts. If its low,
then the battery is probably bad. Any decent battery shop should take your
battery, make sure it is fully charged and give it a load test for free.
To continue troubleshooting at home, get in the truck, turn on the
headlights and try to start the truck. If the lights go entirely out, the
starter is probably bad. The lights turning completely dark indicates the
starter is drawing so much voltage trying to turn that it kills everything
else. Shut off the lights and try to start the truck. Once it is running,
take your voltmeter and check the battery voltage again. With the engine
running slightly above idle, the voltage should read between 14-17 volts.
This is figuring that the battery is taking a large charge since the engine
was just started. If you suspect the starter is bad, call around to some of
your local parts stores. Several, such as Auto Zone and Advance Auto Parts,
will bench test the starter for free. Its been a while since I've had to
replace a Chrysler starter and I can't remember if the starter solenoid is
integral to the starter or not. If you do end up having to replace the
starter, and the solenoid is separate I suggest replacing both at the same
time. I just replaced the battery in my 98 at 75K miles. It went with very
little warning, just started turning over slowly for a couple days then
started dying once the engine was running due to lack of battery power. I
swapped it out and I haven't had a problem since. Good Luck with it and
let us know how it turns out.
HTH
Ray
Dover, DE
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