I have a 2000 montero sport 2wd,3.0, 24, valve. My question starts over a period of 3 days when iwentto replace a broken ac belt,and do some mantience on an aging acid coated battery. I put the belt on,pulled the battery,cleaned it and the surrounding area of the engine put it back in,started the truck only to notice it wasnt idleing right and was going dead unless given gas,so i replaced the battery only to later learn my computerdidnt read my throttle plate right because it was dirty,so i cleaned it,and what do you know all was well throttel was back and truck was running awesomely...well that is until today,when i got in the truck and it suddly out of the blue itwont start or even turn over,i could hear a one click from the starter everytime i turned the key,so my natural assumption was that my starter had now gone out on me,so i replaced it,but to no avail,it still wont start..can anyone help? when i do crank it i notice the dash lights and clock dim almost totally out..could this be my new battery which by the way is reading good when checked for voltage,or is it the alternator,computer,voltage regulator? one mecanic told me to check my ground but all seems to be well there too..CAN ANYONE HELP ME i have a new born baby to be born tommorrow,and right now we are carless.if it werent for family i dunno what id do..please help

 

starter solenoid could cause this as you said it only click.
the dash light went out still a wiring problem to me.try spraying lubricant to all grounding point and if possible try search for current leakage point.could be a split open wire somewhere.

 

On my '99 the clock and other dash lights always dim/go out when the starter is engaged. The ignition switch is designed to cut most other circuits to insure maximum current for the starter.

Still sounds like poor connection with the battery ground lug or between the positive post and the starter. Does your truck have ablack box(ABS Relay) bolted to the positive terminal of the battery? The connecting bolt between this device always and the battery terminal oftenworks itself loose on mine.

Try using jumper cables and another car so see if you have a bad battery or poor connection.

Good luck.

 

Ok what i have done is: Jump the car,replaced the starter AND SOLENOID,checked and cleaned THE GROUND,checked positive:battery reads 12 volts,and none of this has worked so far.

The ground wire is grounded by two pointsfirst the chassis ,then i followed it on down to where it actually inserts into a hole in the engine block i sprayed both with carb/throttle body cleaner,if they were dirty id imagine it would clean it ?,especially after wiping it with a shop towel as well...but being inserted as opposed to being bolted to the block or something, nearly makes it impossible to clean the actual naked wire,and im kind of scared to pull it out of its hole in the block

the positive cable does have a wire attached to it,but no box that i can see other than the main fuse box which is close by

it has a brand new starter,new battery with clean cables,new acbelt,and a recently re cleaned throttle body..Why wont it start ,ran fine for several days after battery was installed,and throttle cleaned now nothing

Can a ground go bad in a battery itself??????? Can disconnecting the battery with out a battery saver cause this????? could walmart have caused my issue?????? i dont get it anymore ive tried everything guess imma have to retrace my steps and try it all again who knows maybe second times a charm

BTW i had my little girl 7pds-3ounces Named Skylar Paige..wish me luck..lol

 

Ok you can consider this thread closed i suppose..I fixed it!!! it was either the ground where it meets the chassis or those two little wires connected to the positive that i spoke of earlier,i took a wire brush to them and she cranked right up,now she should run better than ever.With a new starter battery a clean throttlebody and a new ac belt..lol..thanks guys i know where to come next time as well..much thanks