Hello,

I have a 1993 Ford F350 that I bought well used with a recently rebuilt transmission. I use it only for plowing and occasional hauling wood.

I park it outside, and the past few times I've tried to start it up in about 15-20 degree weather it doesn't want to move. When I have it in drive and 4wd, and I step on the accelerator, the truck tilts but doesn't move. It's as though some tires want to move, but others don't. I flip it around the various gears and 2wd, 4wd, 4wd low and it still doesn't want to move. After doing this a while, I'll hear a pop and it will proceed.

After it gets going, it seems fine (although in the most recent incident, for the first 5 minutes it almost felt like some tires were going and others weren't causing the truck to yaw sideways, but that could have been the slippery snow).

The local mechanic suggested putting a quart of atf additive to help lube things up as a first step.

Any thoughts or suggestions from others on this forum about what it could be or what I should try next to test it?

thanks!

JP

 

How long has it been sitting between uses? Have you verified that the brakes aren't the source of the problem?

 

Brakes would get my vote too. Do you apply the parking brake when you leave it? What transmission do you have?

 

Thanks for the replies.... brakes, very interesting!

It sits outside in the cold for about 3 weeks between uses. I have been noticing the brakes being a bit weaker than I'd like lately--I filled the bed with logs for snow-traction and thought it was a combination of the increased weight and the wet disks (typically on the downhill slope).

I don't notice any significant leaks (except the plow atf), and the last time I checked the fluids, I didn't remember the brake fluid being low, but perhaps I missed that one.

Also, I'm probably stepping on the brake pedal once during shifting when I start it up, so perhaps I should be pumping them a bit more? Could there be something in the line like air or frozen water? I leave the parking brake on when it sits (and I definitely don't have it engaged when I'm trying to get this beast moving), but I have accidentally driven it on my driveway before with the parking brake on and it doesn't stop the truck from moving altogether.

What do you recommend as my next step?

thanks!

JP

 

Jack the truck up and try turning each wheel by hand. It sounds like one or more of your brakes may be rusting/freezing up from sitting. What kind of climate are we dealing with here (you haven't listed your location)?

 

I'm just under 10,000 feet in the Rocky Mountains. It sounds like you recommend waiting until the problem appears again? Maybe I'll try starting it on a day without a foot of snow to deal with.

I know this is the classic mechanics' problem, but is there a way to diagnose this when it seems to be working fine? Could it just be ice buildup somewhere on the wheel? I didn't have this problem all last snow season or this summer when I used the truck to haul felled trees.

In any case, I'll likely have some time to look at it tomorrow, but it may just work fine.

Thanks for the feedback!

 

I leave the parking brake on when it sits

Don't do that!

Least not till you determine if that is the cause or not, based on what you stated I lean toward it is.

Might be both to an extent based on what you said sounds like one side just doesn't let go very easy, shoes need adjusted out over travel of hardware and or deep groves worn in drum and shoes hang up in them, bad combination of both condtions.

 

For what it's worth (probably not much), here are some pictures of the front left/right inside wheels after today's plow. Looks like ice could be a factor. I'll go release the emergency brake to see if that makes a difference.

Passenger-front:




Driver's Front:

 

Please make it go away..............I will have the same kind of weather in a few weeks

My parking cables are very slow to release these days on my '92 F350 4x4. I bet yours are the same.

 

So I've plowed a few times in the past 3 days (10F, and 0F) and have no problems whatsoever. The only difference from the previous few start-ups is that I did not set the parking brake, and I pumped the brakes about 5 times before putting it in to gear. So it appears like it was a brake issue and they just need some TLC before asking them to get going on cold mornings.

Thanks for the help in diagnosing this problem.