Last night I was out and my truck had died on me. I figured it was the battery so I tried jumping it, but that did nothing. And I had tried to arch the started cyloniod (sp). That did nothing, although there was a spark coming from one of the poles. When I did this I could hear a click coming from the starter down by the tranny. I also tried tapping the starter, but did nothing. So it got towed home, and today I went out to start the truck, and it fired right up. I cut the engine while I went to go get some jacks for some extra head space under the truck. When I went to start it back up, the same thing as last night, just a clicking noise. Well I disconnected the battery, and started to pull the starter, but a bold stripped, and I couldn't get it off, so I hooked the battery back up, along with the starter. And I went to see if it would start, and bingo, it did. I'm still gonna try and get the starter out to get it tested, but does anyone have any other suggestions? Could it be a relay in the wiring somewhere? What seems to be my best bet?

loose or bad ground could cause that.
check all your connections thats were id start:D

I agree 100% w/ALX. Could very likely be your batt cables or a bad ground. CAREFULLY inspect all batt cables, being sure to peel back the insulation a little and check for corrosion.

Ok, I did notice that the Neg. connection on the battery was loose. I tried to tighten it up, but it was so damn corroded that it won't turn. And I am not sure if it would be a good idea to use a penatrating lube on it. Would that be ok? I wouldn't think so.

Originally posted by Joshua J. Allan
Ok,
it was so damn corroded that it won't turn.

Well, I took care of the problem this morning. I went out and got some new battery terminals and hooked them up. Truck turns over fine now.
Nobody: I spent about 30 minutes cleaning the damn thing this morning, and it still wouldn't turn. Must have fused the bolt and nut together.

corrosion is not a good thing. Clean them terminals. Sounds like a bad ground to me. Once you clean the terminals...realy good with a wire brush, i'd spray something on them. I use humi-seal, stuff they spray over electronic circuit boards...i get it from work not really sure where you can just buy it outright other than electronics catalogs. That stuff works great and i've never had a corroded battery temrinal since.