I think my starter is going on my 88 F150. If it conks out on me before I replace it and I'm stranded, what is the procedure to start my truck with a screwed-up starter. I've seen guys use a screwdriver or something to get the vehicle going. Can anyone tell me how to start it in an emergency?

 

Park on a hill. If the starter is really gone, you've gotta push or roll start it. The guys that use a screwdriver across the relay terminals have either a bad relay or a bad starting circuit.

What symptoms lead you to believe it's the starter? What engine? What transmission? Why don't you wanna just replace it now BEFORE you get stranded?

 

almost impossible to jump start an automatic transmission. fix the problem before it gets you!!

 

What you have seen is people jump the solenoid, not the starter itself. The solenoid is located on the drivers side firewall and connects the starter to the big fat red positive battery calbe when you start your car.

You want to make sure that indeed your starter is on its way out, not the solenoid. If it is only the solenoid, that is easy to change. Pull the old one, put the new one and ensure good contacts. Done. Can do that in 10 minutes, standing up, not even getting dirty.

If you want come back on here and describe the symptoms a bit better. There are hints that point to the solenoid while others do point to the starter.

The starter sits on the flywheel which is in the back of your engine. Once it is gone there is nobody getting you home, except AAA.

Cheers, Geroge

 

crawl under there and see if the starter is loose.ford are known for the starters coming loose

 

The reason I think it is going is that it will crank, hesitate, and then crank again. What Does this indicate?

 

Could also be the battery getting weak, or dirty terminals. Most good auto parts stores will test your battery for free. I'd eliminate that possibility first.

 

My truck would click the solinoid and then 2-3 seconds later the starter would turn. Found it was a bad connection w/ the wire on the starter. There could be a lot of possiblities other then the starter, time to diagnose.


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Justin - One Happy FTE Member

 

That truck had the battery ground cable running almost 6 feet and bolted to a starter mounting bolt. Do yourself a favor like I did and eliminate a bunch of problems. Get about an 18 inch length of #2 cable and ground the negative side of your battery to the alternator bracket. Then get another length of #2 cable and replace your positive cable to the starter solenoid. I even replaced the one from the solenoid to the starter with #2 cable. Mine was slow turning over and would sometimes hesitate to turn over. My radio would loose its memory when this happened because it dragged the voltage so low. I have not had a problem since I done that almost a year ago. The factory cables that came with the truck are barely big enough to carry the electrical load of that starter. Good luck!!

 

If for some reason you get stranded, you can hit the starter fairly hard with a screwdriver or other metal object of length and repeat the start. Should fire up. However, this is only good untill you replace the starter. Tried it on several friends trucks. Good luck.

 

I've got an 88 with a 300 and the starter was having problems cranking. I picked up a starter at advance for about 35 bucks. It was so easy to change. If you've got the money, give it a go. It may also be timing. My mom's 85 lincoln jumped timing years ago due to a bad timing belt or chain or something and it world crank really slow due to the messed up compression. But I'm guessing it's the starter. The guy at the auto parts store told me it was fluid that was leaking that got in the brushes.(I had a steering box seal blow on me and get all over the place) Hope I could help.:+

 

If it's the original starter and your in a snow state where they put salt on the roads in the winter, then it's a good idea to change the starter. I did mine last winter on my '91 F250 300cid 6cyl. It had been kicking out sometimes and got to where it didn't want to start. Dropped it out and took a good look. Half the zinc plated cover on the relay on the starter was gone. The relay was out in the weather. The actually starter case was starting to flake off in layers from the corrosion.

The salt corrosion also ate a brake line up. A few months later I was hauling some limbs on a trailer. Backed in to the pile and the pedal goes to the floor. Brake line had simply fell to pieces over several feet.