XPostFacto
VIP Member
Initially, the truck wouldn't crank so I went out and removed the battery leads off both batteries and painstakingly cleaned the terminals and the leads. The truck still wouldn't crank. The wife was outside and said she heard clicking. Since I couldn't tell where that was coming from, we traded places. I heard clicking toward the rocker arm cover. Then all of a sudden, the truck cranked up for my wife, but then wouldn't start. The truck is a stick shift. Then the wife was able to start the vehicle without mashing the clutch. Every time she mashed the clutch, it wouldn't crank. Then she thought she noticed that the truck was in gear when she mashed the clutch. She put the gear in neutral, and the truck cranked over. I told her to put the truck in gear and then try it. She did, and the truck started. We must have turned it off and then restarted 25 times, and it started every time so she drove it to her mom's house 33 miles away. She knows not to cut it off if she gets caught in a traffic jam. I told her to have it towed by AAA if it does this again. I know that cleaning the acid off the battery terminals didn't fix the problem, even though it was needed. At first, I thought it was the starter with a bad gear, but now, I'm not so sure it is the starter. All the idiot lights came on when we turned on the ignition and the "wait to start" light went off properly after the manifold heater warmed up. Cummins-Turbo diesels don't have glow plugs. I'm at a lost, but I don't believe in freaking magic that it fixed itself. I fear this problem will rear its ugly head again. Anyone have any ideas?