Automotive 87 ford ranger 4 cyl hard starting battery neg post heats up

won't start Addam, verify weather it has spark, if has spark try a little starter fluid in carberator. If runs then quits after starter fluid, the carberator or pump is still the problem. I will post some touble shooting links that may help you.
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Ign. switch appears to be bad , change it

My 1994 ranger was having intermitent starting issues where sometimes I would just hear a click but no turn over and sometimes would die while cranking up. I replaced battery terminals and couple relays with no luck. Only to find out the wire that goes from the battery to the starter was corroded at the connection right before the starter, I replaced this connector and problem solved.

Put a draw meter on the starter lead to see how much juice it is taking to turn the engine. Sometimes bad injectors or even a leaking carburetor can flood cylinders and in effect hydro-lock the cylinders. Was the water level constant or can bad head gaskets drain into the cylinders?

Add a ground strap to the block. Could be that frame ground fails and it affects starter. The strap is not that expensive to try.

Hello, If the Starter Relay is bad, it will do this. There should be 1 or 2 small wires going to the Starter relay. Take off the small wire(s) and then try connecting the Battery. If the engine tries to start, the Starter relay is bad. If the Starter does not crank, good.

Now you know that the small wires are supplying power when they should be off. You need to trace the power back to its source. You can use a Voltmeter or testlight to do this.

There are several switches which supply power. Your Ignition switch is one. It is possible for the Ignition to show one position and actually be in another. There is an Interlock switch under the dash at the top of the Brake pedal lever and sometimes on the clutch lever for stick shifts. When entering or exiting your vehicle these switches can be hit by a foot and dislodged or broken.

Once you find the mystery source of power, fix it and then reconnect the small wires on the Starter relay.

Make sure you are putting the Battery cables on the correct posts. Sometimes the Battery is for a different brand of car and the posts are reversed.

I hope this solves your problem.

If it acts like it's starved for fuel, it probably is related to that. I would check first though. If you have a carb, you can spray starter fluid inside and then crank it. If it tried to start, then it is fuel related. Probably a fuel pump, fuel filter, or fuel relay, or perhaps a fuse. If it doesn't start for a second, it could be many more things. If so, you should check your ignition system, spark plugs, wires, distributor, coils, ect. If your battery and starter are fine, start looking to see if your car is getting fuel. Hope this helps. Being broke down sucks!

Check to be 100% sure that you battery cables are tight.

check the body ground and fuesable link!!!

Starter solenoid???? 2 large posts and 2 small posts on old one or 2 large and 1 small? the one large wire goes to the starter(rear post), all the others goes on the front post. little wire goes on the little post, if the old one has 4 posts, then you have the wrong solenoid.

yes you need to replace the starter because most likely the seliniod is attached to the starter and you have to buy the whole thing