Sooo I gotta go help this guy because I know his daughter and ehhh. Anyhow, he went to autozone and got a new battery, wonderful kid there crossed the leads and fried the battery. Think he said they put another battery in, correctly, and it started 3 times so he drove it home. He gets home, inspects the battery and finds the negative lead loose, he puts a shim in it to get it tight and gets in and "click".Says the hood light and dome light are on, nothing else works. I am thinking he fried the other battery which they didn't replace and between it and the new battery it had enough to start 3 times and then it just lived off the alternator, but slowly died on the way home until finally killing itself which is why he has nothing now. I am betting they fried the 120amp fuse as well. But that's as far as I know to check, as well as all the other fuses. It is a VP44 truck, dont ask me any more info lol. Gonna go over and kick it tomorrow but would like to know some more on what I should be checking before I go over and leave him without an answer as to what the issue is should my 12valver tactics not work.

Check for error codes if you can... Check the batteries condition (load test if you can)... Check main battery cable for voltage drop test... http://mopar.mopar1973man.com/cummins/general/voltage-drop/voltage-drop.htm If it runs check the charging ability (alternator fuse, charging voltage, etc)

Dont forget your hammer.lol No really smack the starter a little.

Dont forget your hammer.lol No really smack the starter a little.

Sure sign of failed brushes an/or contacts...

Yea it all depends on where the click is coming from, my starter will click every now and then, I know what the problem is maybe one day Ill get around to fixing it -Jordan-

Was in interesting day. I get there and nothing works but the dome light and hood light. No headlights, no nothing. After rewiring my truck I knew if nothing else, the headlights would surely work. Figured 24V's had some fancy stuff on them so called Mike to get the rundown on the wiring, same as my 12V though, nothing fancy. All the clear fuses were good but Mike says they can be burnt where you can't see and to ohm them all. I still couldn't figure out how it would make the headlights and everything else not work, it was like a master fuse was blown. While I am messing with all of this and pushing wires around, the guy is in the truck and suddenly everything turns on. Truck still won't start but just clicks. I know now we got something going on with connections, of course Mike is on the phone saying the same thing lol. We swap batteries with my truck just to make sure the battery isn't the cause since we didn't have a load tester and the crossed wire incident had made me a little shakey on the battery's condition. Same story, but the starter clicked multiple rounds, getting better. So I decide to take the terminal apart since it was an aftermarket one that smashed the wires. I get it apart and it looked like I just dumped a bag of sand. It didn't look very conductive We cleaned them all up, stuck it back together, truck started right up. I guess I am not sure why the dome light and hood light still worked when the connection was so bad it basically wasn't connecting. But I do have a new respect for corrosion. I am not one to think corrosion could cause a truck to be fine one day and completely dead the next. I think the crossed wires added some blackness to it but I still was doubting it would have that big of an effect. My batteries are in the back toolbox and never get corrosion on them so it never crosses my mind that it could be that big of an issue since I've never dealt with it. Lesson learned. All the more reason to keep your battery terminals coated with oil or something.

Lesson learned. All the more reason to keep your battery terminals coated with oil or something.

Just dampen with engine oil and they will never corrode or oxidize which happens to be the black coating you saw on the positive cable.

I had/have a cracked neg terminal on my drivers side OEM cable. When I cut the old terminal off and stripped it back, the cable was completely oxidized. I have a new cable from http://custombatterycables.com/application/dodge_ram.htm on its way; untilit arrives I have a cheater terminal installed

I always coat my battery connections with antiseize to prevent corrosion and it works great!-Jordan-

I always coat my battery connections with antiseize to prevent corrosion and it works great! -Jordan-

Interesting idea...

i cant say i have ever tried that one.

I made new ends usinf 1/0 cable lugs from napa, soldered them on to each cable, then used marine battery terminals which have great corrosion protection. makes for a awesome connection, and no corrosion issues.

I always coat my battery connections with antiseize to prevent corrosion and it works great! -Jordan-

I will have to try that as well! Just as long as you don't say to use Windex, like in the Greek Wedding movie! Dave

Yea we do that on all of our trucks at the rural electric company i work for. Learned that from the other older and wiser mechanic i work with lol. We use this stuff right here, works great for alot of things! http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/detail/PTX0/80078.oap?ck=Search_graphite!s!lubricant_1440064_358&keyword=graphite!s!lubricant -Jordan-

I guess I am not sure why the dome light and hood light still worked when the connection was so bad it basically wasn't connecting. But I do have a new respect for corrosion. I am not one to think corrosion could cause a truck to be fine one day and completely dead the next. I think the crossed wires added some blackness to it but I still was doubting it would have that big of an effect. My batteries are in the back toolbox and never get corrosion on them so it never crosses my mind that it could be that big of an issue since I've never dealt with it.

The reason that the dome and hood lights worked when nothing else did is that the lights require very little current to work. The starter, headlights etc require a lot more current and since the wires were corroded it wasn't letting the current flow through.

The reason that the dome and hood lights worked when nothing else did is that the lights require very little current to work. The starter, headlights etc require a lot more current and since the wires were corroded it wasn't letting the current flow through.

That's what I figured but as bright as they were I was surprised nothing at else even thought about working.

That's what I figured but as bright as they were I was surprised nothing at else even thought about working.

Glad it all worked out for you. That wasn't so bad!

--- Update to the previous post...

Yea we do that on all of our trucks at the rural electric company i work for. Learned that from the other older and wiser mechanic i work with lol. We use this stuff right here, works great for alot of things!

http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/detail/PTX0/80078.oap?ck=Search_graphite!s!lubricant_1440064_358&keyword=graphite!s!lubricant

-Jordan-

Permatex, great products!