1998 f150 will not start, is it the primary batter fuse?

Asked by Rick Jul 09, 2016 at 10:45 AM about the 1998 Ford F-150 XLT 4WD Extended Cab SB

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

Everything seemed fine, but yesterday I tried starting my '98 f150 (77k mi) I heard what sound like a "pop".  Then NOTHING. No gauges, windows, doors, nothing.  The battery is only two weeks old, fluids are fine. I checked the fuse box, all seem fine.  Since there is no response when I turn the key, I would think the problem is between the battery and the ignition.  Need suggestions please!!!

2 Answers

103,215

May have blown the fusible link wire, on starter/solenoid (if it blows you have 0 power anywhere). If you have a volt-ohm meter, you can check for voltage along that cable, put the black test lead on the neg. batt. cable, and check with the red test lead along the batt. cable and smaller wire on the solenoid, you should be reading 12v. If you blew the fusible link where you need to figure out why, a dead short most likely, you need to fix that otherwise you'll keep blowing it.

1 people found this helpful.
103,215

I'm going from memory here, as I owned an older F150, you may have the starter relay mounted to the fender wall and not a solenoid on the starter, in which case, near the battery you'll see the relay, a big fat thing with 3 or 4 terminals on it and several wires connected to it, one fat cable runs to the starter, one or more of the smaller wires are fusible links, they protect the wiring harness from being damaged in case of shorts or excessive voltage. Use the meter to check these wires.

1 people found this helpful.

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