95 explorer problem

my neighbor has a 95 explorer that worked last night and when she went to start it this morning absolutely nothing came on i told take the battery to autozone to get it tested and when she brought it back it was fully charged, i reinstalled the battery and tried to crank it again absolutelly nothing. now the strange part is that with the battery out and jumper cables hoooked up to the battery cables it actually tried just once to start. i am going to try and borrow a code reader tomorrow but while i do that if anybody has a suggestion please let me know. i beleive it is either a solenoid somewhere or the altenator.please assist me in finding the problem as my neighbor is a single mother with two kids and the one car

Wow that's a long sentence!

If the battery came back from Autozone charged, the alternator is not the issue. Do other items in the car work such as the interior lights and bulb tests when the key is turned to run? It sounds like you likely either have a poor connection somewhere (could be corroded battery cables, especially if they have the cheesy temporary clamp on battery cables) or you have a problem with the starter relay or starter assembly. If the lights don't dim significantly when trying to start the engine it's probably a faulty starter relay or starter motor.

Before pulling the starter motor though, try shifting to neutral to see if that has an effect. If it reliably starts in neutral, then the problem is the Transmission Range Sensor.

-Rod

nothing comes on and i mean absolutely nothing

Okay, then definitely focus on the battery cables and connections. It could also be possible to have an intermittent open in the battery that happened to be making contact when Autozone tested the battery, but that's not real likely.

Are the battery cables molded cable assemblies that don't have any splits in the insulation?

-Rod

nothing comes on and i mean absolutely nothing

Have you checked the positive cable for corrision (red cable that goes to the starter). Do you have a voltmeter or a test light? Have you tried the battery in a different vehicle?

friend is bringing a code reader tomorrow and we are going to check the starter and grounds and alot of relays

friend is bringing a code reader tomorrow and we are going to check the starter and grounds and alot of relays

There should not be any codes since you had the battery disconnected.

he is bringing it in case we get it started cause she also had a blown fuse the dmm is for checking everything else