I have a 97 f150 5.4. I believe I shorted my truck out with jumper cables. I had one end hooked up to my battery and the other end laying on the sidewalk. I got in my truck to crank it and it just clicked once. I unhooked the jumper cables and checked all of the fuses with my multimeter. I did not find a bad one. Also without the key in the ignition the instrument panel relay makes and breaks constantly. I would really appreciate some help.

 

Did the cable ends touch each other while on the sidewalk? Have you checked the condition of the battery? It is possible that low voltage will cause the relay to turn on and off.If cables did not touch, having the cables on it did not have any effect on the truck.

 

No the cables didn't touch. I don't really understand what could have happened. Within 5 minutes I cranked my truck and moved it in line with the car I was going to jump start. I killed the truck and tried to start it. I have had the truck for two yearsand I haven't changed the battery so it probably does need changing. I checked the voltage it is 12.4v, and I cleaned the battery posts, but the problem is still there.

 

Try tapping on the starter to see if it might start then. We have a lot of Ford starters just quit.

 

Thanks for the help. I took the battery out this morning and got it tested. It was bad, put the new one in and it fired right up.