I let my Bronco sit for a while and started at least once a week. It had problems starting and i jumped it after the 3rd time it happened i cleaned the battery terminals and problem solved(temporarily) I took it for a drive to drop some stuff off at the junkyard it started and drove great. I stopped at the gas station ($2.24 a gal) to get gas after i filled it up it wouldn't start again i had some one jump it for me still wouldn't start i tried about 5 time and kept hearing an irritating knocking sound i put my ear next to the area the sound was coming from and it was the starter solenoid. Well i bought a new one and now the battery only turns the light on anything related to starting doesn't work the fuel pump doesn't work my radio won't turn on there are probably other things that aren't working but i was too frustrated to check. i took the battery to Autozone to see if it needed a charge and it was fully charged i tried putting the old solenoid on and the same thing happens lights work anything else forget it the lights on the dash board don't even come on like rear abs and 4x4 etc nothing comes on. what could the problem be?

The first thing I would check is the battery (-) connection to to the engine block as well as the condition of the ground cable between them. Take it off and clean the lug and surface that it contacts on the engine block. Also there should be a braided cable from the back of the intake manifold to the fire wall, check it also. Nothing works well with poor grounds, you got to have a complete and electrical path from the + to the -.

Good luck,

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Sounds like the grounding problem I've been experiencing but haven't had the time to get out and work on it.... but of course mines an '82

Bad grounds are no respecter of vehicle year

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AMEN,seabronc...if your remember i had first hand experince on that problem....it can be a pain in the @##.....

Sounds just like the issue I solved by replacing the battery harness positive and negitive. The do an OHM test of the cables I bet they are bad.

Yep, i had to replace the negitive cable on mine...the connection at the frame was nasty and rusty...cleaned it up and new heavier ground cable did the trick....went from 6awg cable to 4awg...