Hey all, At witts end here.
99 250 sd
245k miles

Went out to crank the truck the other morning (first cool morning 45)
The starter hung up. dog slow and would not disengage. By the time I got the cable off the Batts the starter was smoked.
I had the starter rebuilt 2 months ago so I took it back thinking it was the solenoid hanging. they replaced the burnt field, bench checked it and the it worked perfect. nothing wrong w/ the solenoid.
I installed it. Same thing except I was ready and got the cables off in time to save the starter. W/ cables off I ohmed the solenoid terminals. It was closed, so I assumed something was wrong w/ the solenoid. Replaced it. I wired the starter and let it hang under the truck, I grounded it w/ jumper cables and it worked perfect from the key switch. In-staled it and the same near dead turn over w/ starter not disengaging, I yanked the cables to save the starter.
Batts are good.
The only thing left is the engine must be locked or near as I never got a 1/4 rotation (guessing) out of the starter.
This is another reason to not like auto trans...
what to do next? If this was the old 7.3 I'd pull the injectors if hydro locked...if this was the old 7.3 I'd drag start it!
My oil looks fine. Water level looks fine...what would cause a lock up?
Since the new starter she had been starting fine, running great.
I know NOTHING about the PS. The old 7.3 was like a marine engine...easy.

How do I ascertain the freedom of the engine? Clean out the front and put a wrench w/ a cheater bar on the main? I have no idea how to get to my injectors...

What could have locked the engine up? I had not run it in 4 days. Had I been geting water in a cyl. I would have seen the steam (i think)
The Auto Trans would not be doing anything right?
Thanks
distressed Chris

 

The first thing I would do is remove the belt and try cranking it. Maybe you have a froze up accessory.

 

The tranny should not be holding back your engine, but you can try cranking in with the trans in neutral, if that makes a difference.

Try turning the engine at the flywheel with a breaker bar. I'd check your oil and coolant for evidence of fuel or water in either. Consider pressure testing the cooling system and see if it will hold pressure - if not, it could be filling a cylinder.

Also, drain a small qty. of oil to see if water has pooled in the bottom of the oil pan. You may not see this water on the dipstick and it may not have emusified yet, so it won't be otherwise visible in the oil.

 

I've seen starters turn over fine on a bench, but not be able to turn over an engine. I think its either that or an electric issue like a bad battery or cable

 

Well...
I turned it over much easier than I thought I could even w/ the belt on. I did seem to hit a few hard spots and I was thinking Coolant...
My son came out and tried to spin it and it did want to but laboriously. I yanked the cables, but it (solenoid) seemed to disengage.
I pulled the Escape over and boom, she jumped right off.
I should have run around to the exhaust to see what was happening at that point...but did not and when I did I did not see anything in particular.
I let her idle 20-30 minutes and then did a restart and she spin like a hot cat.
My alt was pushing 14.5 at the batts.
They were discharged a bit from the earlier melt down and I had pulled the lower of the two (10.7) and charged it overnight. the other batt had 11.5 which is low, but I did not think enough to draw down the fresh charged batt w/ the intermittent attempts I was doing. I would like to load test them...they are 2 years old and have been stone dead 2x from kids leaving the dome lights on when searching the back seat at night.

I have good headlights, wiper and horn all at the same time.
This seem odd. If this was a boat I would be looking for corroded ground wires. I cannot fathom the surface charge of the batts dropping on a load... not enough to not disengage the solenoid. I have had very weak batts before but never like this( the point of locking up the solenoid). The Yellow Escape simply cussed at the 250 for 2 minutes via cable and she spun like crazy.
I'm still very suspect.
I did not look at the dip stick after it ran it. ill check in the AM
I very VERY glad it is not locked up.
Thanks for the replies
Chris

 

This is an easy thing to check Chris, just take the truck to your local auto parts store or Wal-Mart. They will properly load test your batteries for free.

 

I'm guessing its a battery issue too.

 

Why is the solenoid sticking? When you let off the key the starter should stop no matter what. I'm going with bad starter, even being rebuilt it may just be time for the starter to be scrapped. Even a junk starter will spin and look good on a bench but put a load on it.

Now if your dead set on everything but the starter you will have to start at the batteries and work your way to the starter. Check for good batteries (both of them), have them tested. Check both cable from both batteries, their contact at the batteries should be clean and tight, as well as their connection to the next battery or ground. The grounds on the block should also be nice and clean and tight. The cables themselves should be in good condition, often spots that get bent or worked allot can break the copper wire inside of the casing. So the wire still looks good but has a break within itself. From there check the solenoid on the starter itself for positive engagement and disengagement (what sounds like your problem). Then the lest thing is the starter motor itself, after being toasted a couple times it may be to weak to do its job any more.