Hi All,
I have a new-to-me early build '99 F-350 CC DRW 7.3 2WD with 153,000 miles. I had the luxury of borrowing this truck for towing for several months before it became mine. No problems with it during the borrowing months, but a few to start off my ownership era. Thanks to this board I was able to correctly get the fuel-in-coolant problem solved (guilty of using a dealer, first time doing that) and replaced a noisy belt tensioner that chewed up a belt.

Now I have a new issue where there truck won't start until 2 or 3 tries. Basically, the lights all look good, I turn the key nothing happens at all. I try again an it cranks. Now the delay is getting longer and has progressed until it takes 3 tries where I'm holding the key in the start position for 3-4 seconds. The batteries are at most 13 months old by the stamps on them, and I was assuming they are good, but who knows... Is there a voltage threshold that must be met before the starter will even try to crank the engine? After running, the batteries are at 12.8 volts and after half a day of sitting they are at 12.45 - 12.65v.
Is there something else that could be causing this multiple key turning event? A solenoid, relay, sensor, ignition...
I'm in Florida so cold isn't an issue. BTW its my first diesel.

 

There is an external solenoid on the inside of the passenger fender behind the battery that could be going bad. It has two large wires and one small wire. One large wire always has voltage and the other one gets voltage when the key is turned to crank. As long as the small wire is getting voltage when the key is turned, it should apply voltage to the other large wire. If its not doing that, you can use a screwdriver or jumper cables to connect the two large terminals and see if it will crank with the key in the run position.

If not, it is either a loose connection at the starter, the solenoid on the starter, or the starter itself.

If you are not getting power on the small wire on at the fender solenoid, try starting in nuetral and see if it will crank.

 

is it cranking over just not starting? if its cranking over check the gpr. you can use a test light to see if its working. if not use a screw driver to jump the 2 post on it and hold it for about 10 seconds then try to start..
what part of fl are you in?

 

Think I found the solienoid and the small wire has two splices with speaker wire, one of which looks rather shoddy. I will redo these splices in the morning with better, larger guage wire. I hope this is it as a starter for this beast sounds heavy.

---It doesn't want to crank, but it does start when it decides to crank. I'm in the Tampa area.

 

If the relay and starter solenoid check out OK take a look at the neutral safety switch. It can loosen and can cause intermittent no-crank. There are several threads on here that show where it is located and how to adjust it.

Also make sure your battery connections are clean and tight.

Chris

 

Welcome to FTE!
You've come to the right place.

 

Replaced the splice with fresh connections. I just held the key in the start position and when cold it takes 3-4 seconds before it starts to crank. After its warm it'll crank with a 2-3 second delay. Previously when I drove this thing, I don't remember a delay. It will fire up quickly once the starter gets rolling. Is this delay okay?

 

It almost sounds like the starter drive gear is binding up and the solenoid is having difficulty pushing it forward to engage the ring gear. I'm thinking that maybe when the engine is cold the tolerances are just a little tighter and that's why the delay is longer.

Another possibility could be a bad electrical contact, either in the starter relay or ignition switch, whose resistance decreases as current flows and it warms up. That could also account for the difference in delay, but most intermittent electrical contacts tend to get worse when warm, not better.

Chris

 

The battery connections are as clean as can be. After sitting overnight the left battery has 12.53v and the right 12.63v. The starter connections are tight and didn't see anything wrong with the cable runs.

With the ignition in the run position, I tested the voltage on the firewall solenoid and there was nothing on the second large post and 12.3v on the hot side. In the start position the second large post slowly increased its voltage until reaching 12v and it cranked. It took about 4 seconds for the voltage to get high enough. The cranking is kind of slow to start and then gets moving. I'm thinking this second post should go straight to 12v once the key goes to the start position? -

 

After the slowly climbing voltage reading on the fender switch I jumped it with a screw driver at it fired up. Autozone had it for $17. Fires right up.

Now onto the next problem.

 

Glad to hear you got it fixed. I guess some intermittent electrical contacts get better when warm!