Unable to start 2003 Explorer Sport Trac

[twoldham]

Hello, this is my first post.

I was driving my Sport Trac from Ok City to Austin. Pulled over to make a call. When I wanted to leave...nothing. A jump from another driver did not start the car. We popped the clutch and I made it home. There was a pinging noise when trying to start the truck with jumper cables. We thought it might be a starter. We removed/tested/replaced both the starter and the alternator. The battery was still showing green - good.

Once all back together, same thing. No start except from popping the clutch.

Any ideas on what is actually wrong?

The tests on the alternator showed it was bad and the starter was marginal. The truck has 107,000 miles and has performed well up until now.

Thanks.

[phantom_smack]

The green eye is only hooked up to 1 cell in the battery so you could still have a bad one.Take it in and let them test it. Are the battery cable ends good?

[twoldham]

Yes, Mr. Phantom. The battery cable ends are in good shape, no corrosion and I sanded them shiny before tightening the ends back on.

The dash lights and overhead lights fade pretty fast once the door is opened or the key is switched to on. Plus after driving 400 miles, you'd think the battery would have a charge. So it could be the battery.

Will check it at the auto parts store.

Thanks.

[twoldham]

Update: Yeah...just $380 later, new starter, new alternator and new battery am good to go. Just need to tighten the serpentine belt a bit and we're back in business.

The guy at the auto parts store said oftentimes those 3 components are interrelated....if one goes, the others might too. Not bad for 100k+ miles.

Thanks for your help.

One last request, is there an efficient way to tighten that belt? Not sure where to get leverage in that space. The truck starts, but the belt squeals. Is the best way to just muscle it up?

Thx.

[twoldham]

The pulley is self tensioning. So we are good to go. Thanks.