A co worker gave me an 1986 F-150 5.0 302 with 225,000 miles that he had sitting for 1 year in driveway. He never put the new alternator in that he bought. I towed it to my house and put the alt. in jumped the battery and it started but idle was horrible. turned the idle screw to get bad gas burned off.

Whenever I shut it off or it died from idle I would have to jump it. So, I put new 56-3 battery new relay and it started right up. Drove it down the road to test drive, the truck would want to fowl out whenever I stepped on gas peddle hard. I put Sea Foam and Lucas in the tank and 20.00 premium on top. but now the truck will not turn over since it was shut off unless i jump it but needs jumping all the time. thought it was the starter so, replaced that and still tick, tick, tick, tick when trying to start won't turn over. Its going to start to make me drink, any Idea of what I can replace now or have checked? maybe its the Alternator he gave me with the truck? Please help!

 

Congrats on your new free truck! That's awesome. Wish I has folks giving me free trucks...

First thing that comes to mind is how many cold cranking amps does your new battery have? More is better, something like 600 to 800 should crank your motor.

Next is the battery cables. They can corrode under the insulation and may not be passing all those cold cranking amps to the starter. New cables are relatively cheap and easy to replace, just make sure all your connections are clean and tight.

Other ideas:

Did you check your voltage after installing the new alternator? Is it charging?

Also wondering if you have some kind of key off parasitic draw or battery drain that's discharging your battery.

To check for a parasitic draw, disconnect the negative battery terminal and check to see if you have any voltage between the disconnected negative battery terminal and negative battery post. If you do, that's a sign that something is draining your battery. Now it could just be a tiny draw like the radio memory, or a clock, so it might be better to check it with a test light... a test light won't light up if it's just a tiny draw, but it will if it's a big one.

 

Thank you,
He did have an aftermarket alarm put in and the thing always sets on its own when key is out of ignition, I hear it kicking even when I lift the hood. maybe it is drawing too much on battery. In order for it to start I have to click the number two on the key fob. no alarm sound just click, click, click...repeatedly until I hit the 2 on the key FOB..
Hey? would the drain on battery cause the truck Idle to increase and decrease and foul out periodically when gas peddle applied while driving...if lightly applied it doesn't foul but if i step on it it sure does...?????

 

I have never had a battery drain cause a fuel problem myself. If a battery is week electronics will not work, lights dim, etc. This will cause the engine to die unless the alt works. I have driven for a few miles, not by choice, with a bad battery, however my alt was fine. If your alt is not working you have something draining the battery while engine is off. I would start with fuel filter and cleaning of carb, injectors, tank, etc. I dont know if this helps any. I'm just a shade tree mech with little shade...

 

Starter relay? AKA solenoid

 

I agree with the starter solenoid. But disconnect the alarm system until you can figure out what is wrong. Some alarm systems trigger when they get a 0-Volts or over voltage (AKA Jumping the car/truck). I know counter intuitive but it is some sort of protection for theft.

 

This thread is about a year old, I'm sure he's figured it out by now.

 

Thanks Curtis,
Watch what happens when I wake it up again.
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