Hi guys
I'm mostly a lurker. Haven't posted much. But I'm concerned something bad is about to happen to my truck. I just got it out of the shop. It blew its head gaskets for the second time since I've owned it - and it was bullet proofed/studded and fire ring heads the LAST time I fixed it. I never thought it would be here again. But it started pressurizing the coolant again a few months ago and when we took it apart the heads were destroyed again. I think it happened again when a production company I was working for filled it up with unleaded and I then drove it for a hundred miles or so and got it hot. - 6 months later - I was buying heads again.

Now, about a month or so out of the shop I've got some electrical gremlins starting. Ever since coming out of the shop the starter was dragging and I had some hard / long starts. About two weeks ago, the FICM blew up... and it was a Bullet Proof Diesel 6 phase power supply on the FICM. It died while driving. Blew the 50a fuse. After replacing the FICM under warranty it seemed to still be starting a little slow - with GOOD HPOP pressure (500 to 600 while spinning the motor. I had the batteries tested (they are decent AGM batteries that were less than a year old) and both tested bad so I replaced them both under warranty. To me, it seems like it is STILL spinning a bit slow for new batteries but it is charging up to 14.5 when running. I found my 1/0 ground straps could use some tightening at the battery lugs and they also needed some cleaning up.

It has some minor modifications. EGR delete, Head Studs, Fire Ringed heads, 58v FICM, state 1 turbo kit with a wicked wheel, Air Dog 165 fuel pump, programmer/monitor on the highest tune, 4" Turbo back exhaust, cold air intake, aluminum intercooler piping, coolant filter, 250a alternator, 1/0 ground straps to both batteries, frame, body and alternator.

So, yesterday I hopped in it to head home, hit the key and nothing - ignition/stereo came on, fuel pump running, key to start and no joy. Running a mental check list and immediately thinking neutral safety I pulled it down into neutral and it fired right up. - So I immediately looked under the dash to see if the shifter bolts were coming loose - and they were NOT. It started fine the rest of the day yesterday (shut it off for fueling then at a friends house). This morning I jumped in to start it (it was cold this morning) and nothing again. Pulled it into neutral. Nothing. (same - stereo on, glow plugs cycling, fuel pump running). Put it back in park, wiggled the shifter, tried neutral again - nothing. It was dark and I couldn't remember where the starter line ran on the passenger side so I climbed underneath with a screw driver and shorted the terminals with the ignition on and it spun up and started. Now the rest of the day (I just tried it again after its had time to get cold) and it is starting fine.

My diesel guy says I need to put a new motorcraft starter in it. He said hes heard of the windings going bad on the starter and it starts taking out electrical components. This is scaring me with the recent FICM blow up, the batteries, etc. But before I go buy a $400 motorcraft starter I figured I would ask here and see if anyone has any suggestions and/or agrees/disagrees. He also said the neutral safety may be going bad inside the transmission here - though I read on here that those hardly ever go bad. I DID spin the starter until I killed the batteries the night the FICM died so I guess its possible that I've damaged it. Plus its at 250k miles on the original starter. So, maybe I'm due. I'm just looking for some suggestions/recommendations on other things to check.

thanks for reading

 

 

Can you explain that one a little further for me? I was chocking up the head gaskets / head damage to the truck being run with unleaded mixed in the tank and it getting hot. It hasn't ever gotten hot before (or after for that matter) I always run it when I get where I'm going until everything cools down (never shut it off hot) and I really don't "dog" it. I do like having the extra power on tap when I need it. I've been looking for a custom tune to load in it, I just haven't gotten around to it.
Some ideas! Thank you. Will do!

 

It's possible you damaged the starter. You stated you ran the starter one time until the batteries went dead?
That was probably over a minutes worth or so?
Windings do go bad and can do funny things. I've seen it on several large 4 wheel drive tractors over the years.....not pretty when it takes out the GPS

That is long enough to overheat these starters, which is why we tell folks when priming the oil system after work on the HPO side you don't go over 20 seconds cranking with cool down time in between....just sort of a rule of thumb.

Find yourself a good used 6.4 starter

 

Not all at once no. Never spun it more than about 15-20 seconds at a time. I just kept trying until the batteries died. I will just go ahead and replace it and the relay and the ignition switch. It worked fine when I shorted it out at the solenoid and has been working ok today ever since this morning. I was going to just go pick up a new one on the way home from the dealer. I have a wholesale account. I think it was $400 plus core. I'll go ahead and swap the relay too. I'm just worried having had several electrical things start happening at once. the FICM popped before any of this starter trouble. It seemed to kick the problems off and after what my diesel guy said about bad starter windings causing other components to fail... thats why I started asking for some opinions on here.

Is the 6.4 starter any different than the 6.0 starter? Is it an upgrade? Like using 6.4 oil fittings and such?

 

Anyone that has done the 6.4 starter will tell you it's a good upgrade, spins the engine faster .....quicker start up
Direct bolt up, nothing to change really

 

 

Glad it worked well

It's really nice up here in these parts when it gets down to zero or colder. Kids truck pops off in 2 seconds.