1992 F150 4x4 5.8L E4OD

I have a new starter, alternator, and a less than 3 years old battery in my truck. Most of the time it is slow to crank when the engine is hot. I have had the alternator and battery checked a few times at Advance Auto Parts and they always show to be good. Yesterday I got home from work and needed to pull some codes (because of a tranny problem I am having) and it barely would turn over enough to start. We have had some hot weather lately (mid to upper 90's), but it always seems to do this when it is warm.

Any thoughts?

 

Have you checked voltage yourself during the hard to start days? What kind of battery did you get? Might be time for a new starter solenoid on the fenderwall. Cheap and easy fix if thats all it is.

 

Sounds like the battery is fried...

 

I forgot to mention that I replaced the solenoid less than year ago. The battery is the Titanium from Advance Auto Parts. I took it back to them about a year or so ago thinking it may be bad. They gave me a loaner and charged it for at least 24 hours, then tested it, and told me it was fine.

I checked the voltage yesterday while it was warm. Before starting, it was like 12.6V. While idling it was 13.8V or so and climbing to above 14V. I did not check what it was while cranking. I am hoping to do that by the weekend.

 

Definantly not the battery.....Check the starter brushes....They sometimes wear out...And can cause a dragging starter...Then they will go completely out....$25-30 fix if thats the issue...

Had it happen on my 94....

 

Well if the batt and alt are good I would suggest checking cables. I would check the the connection at the block to make sure it isn't loose.

I had a bad engine ground and found it by using a jumper cable from the neg post of the battery and connecting the other end to the engine.

 

The starter is just months old. The cables are old, probably original, but they all seem tight and not very corroded. The red one connected to the starter has the insulation pulled back an inch or so, but is not in danger of touching anything.

I will have to try the jumper cable thing. Did you just connect the cable then start it to see if there was any change?

 

Shouldn't be cables if he's getting a good reading while running. If it didn't start at all then id say cable terminals at the battery. Mine did that. Need to have a load on battery to properly test amperage tho.

Have you tried jumping the truck when its like that? See if it acts differently. That should tell whether its battery or not and cables.

 

Well I had a loose/oily ground at the engine (main cable). Over the period of a couple of months 2 or 3 times after short trips (5 - 10 miles) it wouldn't start, it would barely turn over. I would jump it and get it home and the battery would need charged. Then I noticed the battery light coming on occasionally at low rpms. The alternator and the batt. checkout. So the next time it happened I put a jumper from the negative post of the battery to the engine and it started charging. I took a look at the ground connection at the engine. It was loose and grimy, you could move it back and forth on the bolt. I cleaned it up and reattached the transmission line bracket which was completely off and didn’t have any more problems with it.

I was thinking connection might be loose when it is hot . . .

 

I will definately check all the cables and take off the grounds and sand the surface a little before putting them back on. It has done this for a long time. It has always started, but sometimes really dragging before doing so and I just thought it should not act this way. Thanks for the tips. I will report back.

Thanks.

 

The cables and terminals are known to give trouble as the truck gets older. Every year I have to sand down the battery and relay terminals.
If you replace the fender mounted relay get a good one, the cheap ones don't seem to last. My son got one from the "zone" for his truck and only paid 25% of what I paid at Napa but it only lasted a year.
To test the cables you can do a voltage drop test on the cable when its under load. Don't forget the ground wires.
regards
rikard

 

The postive cable on the battery was loose. I am going to have to replace the main cable soon. I would like some quality cables and preferably the kind that you heat with a propane torch to solder in. Where can I find something like that? The ones at Advance Auto seem kind of universal and they never have the combination that I need. Also, what is with the small terminal on the negative post? I bought the titanium battery from Advance, but they had NO terminals to fit the small negative. I actually had to buy a lead adapter that fits on the post then the terminal fits on the adapter.

The positive that was loose was the type that you tighten the two bolts and clamp down the wires under the clamp. I have the one going to the starter and another one that I think goes to the solinoid but they were not quite big enough to make the clamp hold them good. Over time it got loose so I stripped one of them out longer and doubled it up so it would tighten down. I just dont like having to do things this way and would like to find more permanent cables and terminals.

 

Hmm Idk. You could prolly order some but you'd have to know how long each wire is. The battery clamp issue is common on these trucks wires usually aren't the issue.

I have some titanium clamps on another vehicle that were made for sound systems. Have four openings 2 big 2 little. Each has an allen screw to tighten them individually from the bottom. Looks nice but Idk if that's what your wanting.

 

It is still starting great after getting warm. It was definately the loose positive cable on the battery. I have been working on another problem (ended up having a worn out distributor), but I am going to replace the cables.

Thanks for all the help.

 

92will, I found your thread after joining the forums and performing a search. I'm having this same 'slow crank when hot' issue with a 1996 F250 460 gasser 4x4.

I just replaced the battery and battery clamps, but left the original battery cables. After the battery replacement I'm having the same issue as before.

Did you find a good lead on over built battery cables? I was going to head to NAPA and see what they had on hand but wanted to see if you found anything in your search that was nice.

Thanks!