[masari.jones]

I don't drive the truck often, so I have a Battery Tender plugged into it. This past weekend I unplugged the battery tender so I could roll the truck back far enough to get my motorcycle out. I haven't plugged it back in, but the clicking sound is gone. So it may very well be the trickle charger!

Well, now I know why the clicking sound stopped, what ever it is that was clicking drained the battery and i couldn't start the truck up last night to move it back up. I plugged the charger back onto the battery and let it charge overnight. It's started right up this morning.

Still need to figure out the cause, I'll keep you posted.

 

[ViperDad]

Dangit, I thought you had solved the mystery! Maybe you just have a bad cell in your battery?

 

[Big81Bronco]

The only thing I can think to do ( AND PLEASE SOMEONE STOP ME IF THIS IS BAD) is while the clicking sound is happening, one by one remove fuses and or relays until it stops. You have a 04 RC so its a stick and shouldn't have any solenoids in the tranny so what I thought originally is useless. But please someone chime in if that's a bad idea. Just don't yank them all out at the same time

 

[VPRPWRD]

The only thing I can think to do ( AND PLEASE SOMEONE STOP ME IF THIS IS BAD) is while the clicking sound is happening, one by one remove fuses and or relays until it stops. You have a 04 RC so its a stick and shouldn't have any solenoids in the tranny so what I thought originally is useless. But please someone chime in if that's a bad idea. Just don't yank them all out at the same time

That is a good way to do it, it isolates the problem to a circuit and can continue diagnosis with that one circuit.

 

[ViperDad]

Call me crazy, but battery charger connected = clicking but with a working truck. Battery charger disconnected = no clicking and dead truck. Sounds like a battery issue to me.

 

[Big81Bronco]

humor me. How does something with no moving parts make noise? Then he could can try disconnecting the battery froom the truck but hook up charger to it and check results.

 

[TheOl55]

While that is a good thought a Battery Tender will not power up any of the systems in the truck like an old style battery charger will. It has to be connected to a battery or it does not put out enough power to run any equipment.

 

[Big81Bronco]

No, I meant hook up the tender to the battery and check for noises. I don't think the battery is the culprit, but others aren't convinced. He'd need a jump starter for the other test.

 

[seethrough]

Might try the large evaporator canister that sits under the truck. I believe it has some type of solenoid on it. Definitely has electrical to it. Any recent modifications to the truck?

 

[masari.jones]

Might try the large evaporator canister that sits under the truck. I believe it has some type of solenoid on it. Definitely has electrical to it. Any recent modifications to the truck?

No recent updates. The last thing I installed on the truck were the Satin Black Wheels last year.

I haven't had a chance to investigate the problem further, so I'm not sure what it might be. The battery is disconnected, so there's no clicking sound going on right now. I'll look into it further when I get a chance and post what find.

 

[masari.jones]

I know it's been a while but for those interested... The problem turned out to be the PCM was not shutting off and continued to send signals to a relay switch. Unfortunately the fix wasn't simple as OEM PCM are no longer manufactured. I spent the next few years pulling the fuse for the relay every time I turned off the car and plugged the fuse back in when I wanted to drive it (would not start without the relay fuse connected). I considered installing a switch under the dash to manually turn off (disconnect) the relay when I turned off the truck. I was getting really tired and annoyed having to open the hood and connect or disconnect the fuse everytime I wanted to drive the truck.

In the end and after a few visits to the dealer and several discussions on options the electrical technician suggested rerouting the relay wires to the ignition instead of the battery. When the car is on the relay is powered, when the car is off the relay is without power. Workaround fixed the problem, no more clicking, no more dead battery and no more having to mess with the fuse.