A month ago my truck wouldn't crank over, I could hear the solenoid click and engage the gear but it wouldn't make the contact to power the motor. I replaced it with a used starter, I made sure to clean the contacts and cable good and I made sure they were tight, then I put grease on them. The starter has worked flawlessly for a month or so but now it started acting up again. Sometimes it will crank over, sometimes you have to turn the key multiple times before it will crank, or sometimes it won't do anything at all. I have cleaned all my battery terminals and made sure they were tight. I tried swapping the starter relay with the ac relay since they are the same but that hasn't worked either. I'm not sure what is wrong now, the ignition switch is fine but I don't even hear the solenoid clicking anymore.

Also in the mean time could I just turn the key to the run position and run a wire from the solenoid terminal to the battery to jump start it or would this make the computer go crazy? Sorry for the long post.

 

Is weather a factor? Does cold make it worse?

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Sounds like the same probleam I am having.In cold weather the starter will engage roll over a quarter turn then disengage than re engage or sometimes only the solenoid will click in. Some times the truck will start but after it has warmed up the starter will not engage. It sounds like the batteries are dead but they check out fine. I have done everything you have done to cure the problem with no success. I have put new batteries and a starter in. The dealership has checked out the alternater and it is fine

 

I found the wire that activates the solenoid up near the firewall. I stripped the wire and connected it to the hood light to see if I'm getting power to it. I am getting power but the starter still won't engage. so now I just run a jumper from this wire to the battery, leave the ignition in the run position and tap the starter. has worked everytime since I posted this. I guess this means the starter is no good.

 

I think I expierenced this today. I waited for glow plugs after driving the truck for 8 minutes across town. Went into a store for 15 minutes and came out and twice had turned the key to start an nothing happened I put the truck in neutral and tried. Same thing. Put it back in park and tried one last time am it started as normal. Drove it home 30 mins and shut it off. It started up right away. With the 97 that is

 

Though maybe not related to the OP issue the OBD-II 6.5 will sometimes lock the ctank function. If you pull the "CRANK" and "GAUGES" fuses check them and put them back in it will then crank. It usually happens in relation to an Oil Pressure Switch issue (like momentary low oil pressure while driving or the engine running) or the Wait To Start relay and circujt. It is a harmless PCM programming glitch you can do nothing about if the fuse pull and replace works