3.4L 2WD 4R
190k miles
My parents offloaded their backup vehicle to me after deciding they don't need it anymore, now i'm trying to get it running after an overheating issue.
SHORT STORY
truck won't turn over, no clicks. New battery installed, but Heater & Starter relays are clicking away when the battery is hooked up. Also the horn fires off repeatedly. I disconnect the horn fuse for sanity's sake and try starting the truck and i get nothing. All lights, accessories, pwr windows work fine.
LONG STORY
Dad installed a new upper radiator hose, but didn't trim it, so the fan sliced away at it until the coolant was all gone. Truck seemed to go in to limp mode as he was driving it to my house to drop it off. I didn't know abt the no coolant issue until i got to messing with the truck after it was dropped off.
I added coolant, swapped out the hose and cleared the codes on my OBD2 scanner. Codes were P0115 (engine coolant temp circuit...assume this is due to the lack of coolant) and P0120 (throttle / pedal position sensor / switch A).
After i did all that, the truck started up fine, drove it about 2 miles and left it for the following weekend.
After about a week of sitting, the truck wouldn't start. I attributed it to the 7 year old Champion battery. Replaced it with a 24F 825CA battery.
The second i hooked up the new battery the horn started beeping again and the Heater and Starter relays started clicking non stop. I removed the horn fuse and checked the OBD2 scanner, no codes. Truck won't start either. All the accessories work fine (getting 12.5 volts from the new battery).
So, i started looking for possible issues, and the starter contacts / solenoid show up as possible culprits. Thing is, it seems too coincidental that the starter contacts would crap out so suddenly and right when these other issues were popping up...I don't think it has anything to do with the starter.
The only thing i did to the truck between the time it ran to the time i stuck the new battery in was:
- removed air intake assembly to clean MAF...truck started /ran fine after i cleaned the MAF
- Remove the cover to the transmission gear shifter in the truck to clean around it and tighten up the shifter lever cause it was rattling around too much. This did involve disconnecting a harness or two around the shifter, but everything is reconnected / reassembled.
ideas, comments apperciated...