03 F-250 5.4
Standard Transmission


Thought my battery was no good , so changed it.
Didn't help it just kinda bumps the motor but doesn't turn over.


Thought it must be my starter then , bought a $200 starter and changed it , still doing the same thing.
It did start after changing the starter but wont now.


Any ideas?


Nuetral safety switch?

 

A neutral safety switch should keep the starter from doing anything, not "bumping" it. Do you have a way to check for voltage? You could have a high resistance in a battery cable as one thought. You could check voltage when cranking, maybe doing a voltage drop test if warranted, make sure you have a start signal to the starter from the ignition switch. Just some thoughts.

 

Do newer Ford truck have starter relay? My old Class A with Ford chassis had starter relay and it went bad and it did the same thing. I used a screw driver to bridge the two points to get it started.

 

I just looked at my truck. My truck is 2001 F250 with 5.4 and it does have starter relay. Its almost right next to the battery. You can follow one of the positive wire from the battery to the starter relay then from the starter relay, it goes to the starter.

 

Im off to look ..........................

 

So I couldn't find anything that looked like a relay to jump across?


I unplugged that wire with the yellow on it close to the battery.
I jumped it to the battery and truck started?


So Im trying to figure out iof the problem is between the battery and the ignition or the battery and the starter?


Any guess's?

 

The 01 still has the "old" style starter relay and observations of it don't apply to the 03.

The 03 has a lower current starter relay in the Central Junction Box. The high-current switching is done directly within the starter motor/solenoid assembly.

 

Darn it. The next thing I would check is the clutch switch. Since you have manual transmission, that means you must depress your clutch pedal to start it for safety reason. That switch would be the next thing to check. I don't know where it would be, but it has to be above the clutch pedal.

 

Its almost as if the motor is seizing? It just bumps until battery goes dead. That happens fairly fast , so somethings sucking the life out of battery quickly.
It wont start even jumping it with that wire now.

 

Don't guess, use your voltmeter and see where the voltage is going. A quick field kind of test is crank while headlights are on and see if they stay bright, or dim out all the way.

http://www.aa1car.com/library/voltage_drop_testing.htm