Please Help
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Please Help
Hello All, Looking for your assistance.I have this really weird issue with my Truck, hopesomeone can shed some insight
I own a 2000,F-250,Super Duty 5.4V8.. NOT a Diesel. has 220K miles on it
A month ago issuesstarted
Went to start mytruck and it wouldn't start, it would click and die.. seemed like the batterywas dead.. had it jump started and it jumped immediately. Figured battery justdied
about two weeks ago same thing.. would click and then thennot start, all the lights would go off/die.Jumped it and it jumped IMMEDATELY . took it to the shop had them test thebattery and alternator all checked out good.
Last week same issue, I went to jump it like usual and thistime it would NOT jump.. it would click and then all the lights and power wentcompletely dead. played around with the jumper cables, reset it, spent 20 min doing andit finally started.. was told bad connection,loose wires to the battery etc. etc. .. nextmorning I played around with it again and it finally started. to it to the shop, they cleaned the battery,checked all the wires/connection, didn't find nothing.. to make it worse.. as soon as itgoes to the shop it starts up so they can’t figure out what to do.
Yesterday same thing happened.. would not jump so had to getit towed to the shop.. they played around with it.. tried to jump it and itstarted.. the mechanic said that he pressed the gas a few times and then itstarted.. however he thought it was a coincidence. They checked everything, battery.. wires, the ground on the starter allrelays.. said couldn’t find anything.. he said let’s start with replacing theStarter.. that MAY be the issue..
Can anyone help… I don’t mind doing the starter but the mechanicdidn’t seem confident… and I really don’t have $300 to replace something thatmay not be the issue.. I don’t understand if it’s the starter why is itdraining the battery.. also my radio acts weird now.. give me an errors andswitches to AM.. not sure if that is related.. any advice would be immensely appreciated.
I own a 2000,F-250,Super Duty 5.4V8.. NOT a Diesel. has 220K miles on it
A month ago issuesstarted
Went to start mytruck and it wouldn't start, it would click and die.. seemed like the batterywas dead.. had it jump started and it jumped immediately. Figured battery justdied
about two weeks ago same thing.. would click and then thennot start, all the lights would go off/die.Jumped it and it jumped IMMEDATELY . took it to the shop had them test thebattery and alternator all checked out good.
Last week same issue, I went to jump it like usual and thistime it would NOT jump.. it would click and then all the lights and power wentcompletely dead. played around with the jumper cables, reset it, spent 20 min doing andit finally started.. was told bad connection,loose wires to the battery etc. etc. .. nextmorning I played around with it again and it finally started. to it to the shop, they cleaned the battery,checked all the wires/connection, didn't find nothing.. to make it worse.. as soon as itgoes to the shop it starts up so they can’t figure out what to do.
Yesterday same thing happened.. would not jump so had to getit towed to the shop.. they played around with it.. tried to jump it and itstarted.. the mechanic said that he pressed the gas a few times and then itstarted.. however he thought it was a coincidence. They checked everything, battery.. wires, the ground on the starter allrelays.. said couldn’t find anything.. he said let’s start with replacing theStarter.. that MAY be the issue..
Can anyone help… I don’t mind doing the starter but the mechanicdidn’t seem confident… and I really don’t have $300 to replace something thatmay not be the issue.. I don’t understand if it’s the starter why is itdraining the battery.. also my radio acts weird now.. give me an errors andswitches to AM.. not sure if that is related.. any advice would be immensely appreciated.
FTE Leadership Emeritus
Joined: May 2014
Posts: 27,344
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From: Lake Hartwell, GA
If I were you, I would disconnect the battery and then trace out every ground and main power cable I could. Check to ensure each connection is clean and secured. Clearly you have an intermittent problem related to the power and it getting to the right mechanisms to start the truck.
Frmr Ford Trans Engr
Joined: Aug 1999
Posts: 24,695
Likes: 2,616
From: SE Florida
A bad starter CANNOT make this happen. You have either a bad battery or a battery cable problem. You should take it to a real mechanic, not someone that guesses with knowing, which is where you took it. If he thinks it's the starter he has no idea how all this works, he just changes parts.
Senior User
Joined: Nov 2015
Posts: 397
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From: Nortern FL
Sounds more like a battery cable issue or ground strap issue.
If you have the tools and capability I would replace the battery cables and go from there.
Cables can go bad inside of the insulation and have intermittent conductivity issues and look fine on the outside.
If you change them yourself it won't be that expensive.
Or, if you don't want to throw parts at it you can remove the cables, hook an ohm meter to the ends with alligator clips and wiggle and bend the cable while watching the reading on the meter. If the cables are deteriorated inside the sheathing the resistance will go up and down as you move the cable.
If you have the tools and capability I would replace the battery cables and go from there.
Cables can go bad inside of the insulation and have intermittent conductivity issues and look fine on the outside.
If you change them yourself it won't be that expensive.
Or, if you don't want to throw parts at it you can remove the cables, hook an ohm meter to the ends with alligator clips and wiggle and bend the cable while watching the reading on the meter. If the cables are deteriorated inside the sheathing the resistance will go up and down as you move the cable.
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thanks All, much appreciated. The Mechanic did hook up the car to a meter, gave it some gas turned on the headlights etc. to check voltage etc.. I also do believe it is not the starter however as per the mechanic, he stated maybe the starter is not turning fully.. so confused.. not sure what to do...the frustrating part is the truck not starting and not knowing what to do to get it to start.. very unpredictable.
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New User
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thank you.. that what I am thinking as well..
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Cargo Master
Joined: Oct 2015
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From: West Virginia
The reason your radio is acting weird is due to a loss of power. It would do the same thing if you intentionally disconnected the battery.
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Senior User
Joined: Nov 2015
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From: Nortern FL
Exactly. Lots of items on newer vehicles will act very strangely if you have poor battery cabling, bad grounds, a weak alternator, or even a bad battery. But, your starter isn't causing any of that.
FTE Legend
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 80,535
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From: Norlina NC
actually it can.. happened with my last truck.. starter had a dead spot in it.. any time it ended up in that spot itd kill the whole truck just as if the battery was disconnected.. wouldnt click, wouldnt get any dash lights or anything.. all the connections were all tight.. banged my head on it for a month trying to find the issue.. even took it to the "experts" to figure it out.. they couldnt find the cause either..
i ended up replacing the starter since it sounded horrible anyways.. after doing so i never had the issue again..
but like the others here are saying start with the simpler items and move your way up from there...
i ended up replacing the starter since it sounded horrible anyways.. after doing so i never had the issue again..
but like the others here are saying start with the simpler items and move your way up from there...
Senior User
Joined: Nov 2015
Posts: 397
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From: Nortern FL
actually it can.. happened with my last truck.. starter had a dead spot in it.. any time it ended up in that spot itd kill the whole truck just as if the battery was disconnected.. wouldnt click, wouldnt get any dash lights or anything.. all the connections were all tight.. banged my head on it for a month trying to find the issue.. even took it to the "experts" to figure it out.. they couldnt find the cause either..
i ended up replacing the starter since it sounded horrible anyways.. after doing so i never had the issue again..
but like the others here are saying start with the simpler items and move your way up from there...
i ended up replacing the starter since it sounded horrible anyways.. after doing so i never had the issue again..
but like the others here are saying start with the simpler items and move your way up from there...
That's odd. I could see it sucking all of the battery power with the switch in the start position and killing everything, but just sitting there without trying to start it? But, stranger things have happened. LOL
FTE Legend
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 80,535
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From: Norlina NC
i had ran through the fuses several times. tested the wire harnesses, replaced the battery, cables, even the ignition switch... every couple days itd do it again.. couldnt get power anywhere.. on that truck though the positive cable went directly to the starter and ground had a small wire to the body and the larger to the alternator bracket...
i know it had a bad spot in the winding inside the starter.. if it landed in that spot of the winding i just couldnt get it to crack but would have power.. if it wasnt in that spot and you went to crank it over you could hear it. it would sound like an engine with the timing 180* out..
my guess with it was that the solenoid finally went intermittently shorting the whole truck out..
i know it had a bad spot in the winding inside the starter.. if it landed in that spot of the winding i just couldnt get it to crack but would have power.. if it wasnt in that spot and you went to crank it over you could hear it. it would sound like an engine with the timing 180* out..
my guess with it was that the solenoid finally went intermittently shorting the whole truck out..
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i had ran through the fuses several times. tested the wire harnesses, replaced the battery, cables, even the ignition switch... every couple days itd do it again.. couldnt get power anywhere.. on that truck though the positive cable went directly to the starter and ground had a small wire to the body and the larger to the alternator bracket...
i know it had a bad spot in the winding inside the starter.. if it landed in that spot of the winding i just couldnt get it to crack but would have power.. if it wasnt in that spot and you went to crank it over you could hear it. it would sound like an engine with the timing 180* out..
my guess with it was that the solenoid finally went intermittently shorting the whole truck out..
i know it had a bad spot in the winding inside the starter.. if it landed in that spot of the winding i just couldnt get it to crack but would have power.. if it wasnt in that spot and you went to crank it over you could hear it. it would sound like an engine with the timing 180* out..
my guess with it was that the solenoid finally went intermittently shorting the whole truck out..
How were you getting car started before fixing the starter.. I try jumping it however it does not jump immediately anymore.. takes anywhere from 20 min to an hour. and I don't even know if that does the trick
Mountain Pass
Joined: Dec 2010
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All my old cars do that. I see this question on the internet and it seems so confusing to me that I will have no idea. I finally realized when it happened in real life, somehow, it's not confusing.
It's caused by corrosion and/or loose connections on the battery terminals or battery cable. When I start fooling with the battery, they come back to life. I have always fooled with old cars so this happens to me reasonably often.
In fact, it happened to me yesterday, but only the starter was offline. Everything else had power. I had a suspicion that the nut on the starter post was loose (and that was true). I guess I forgot to tighten it up.
It's caused by corrosion and/or loose connections on the battery terminals or battery cable. When I start fooling with the battery, they come back to life. I have always fooled with old cars so this happens to me reasonably often.
In fact, it happened to me yesterday, but only the starter was offline. Everything else had power. I had a suspicion that the nut on the starter post was loose (and that was true). I guess I forgot to tighten it up.