When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
79 f150 custom/302/manual trans.
I have had some issues this summer of the truck starting just fine on cold start getting to the dump and a near by store, then when coming out to head home I get a really slow crank and it will not turn over. I sit and smoke a couples cigarettes and try again it will crank and go on down the road. I just bought a starter solenoid and starter today to throw at it and also found some corrosion on the cable from the starter to the solenoid which will be fixed. Battery bench tested good but may need other ideas.
Beware el-cheapo solenoids! More trouble than they are worth. If ignition base timing is too far advanced, this can cause trouble with higher compression engines. If any of the starting and ground or battery cables are original (or old enough to buy tobacco) they should be replaced. Heat soak is a problem but can be minimized with good cables of adequate size. If you can check starter current draw, about 100 or 150 amps or so is all they should pull.
Had bad hot start issues with my big FE starter, just put in a power-master hi-torque mini starter, this thing starts the truck before I can get my hand off the key, and I can get it in and out without removing headers or tranny, unlike the big hunk of metal that was stock...
Well after the first post I did what I do best and Started tearing the beast apart. First item was the solenoid. Cleaned the frame and all connections, trimmed cable to the starter that had green crusties and fitted a new connector. (Will replace when I can find a nice roll of 2ga wire for all battery connections) and installed. Fired right up first crank. Let run untill engine temp got up. Normally at that point is when it gets dicey starting back up. Shut her down and fired right back up again and again. Have let run a few times while sipping a cold one or two and was able to shut off and crank up no issues. Now the question is do I go ahead and change the starter out too since I'm already in the mood and have the parts on hand. Or let it fly. I do not know how old the starter that is installed is.
See if you can find someone to borrow one of those clamp on ammeters, if you don't have one, they are slick. Most people don't have the tools to measure a couple hundred amps. No sense spending money replacing a perfectly good part. Problem today, "new" or "rebuilt" doesn't mean too much.
Could easily end up installing a shiny new defective starter to replace what you have on there now. One clue to a defective starter is they start drawing way more juice than spec.
Now the question is do I go ahead and change the starter out too since I'm already in the mood and have the parts on hand. Or let it fly. I do not know how old the starter that is installed is.
If the starter is not a problem I'd leave it alone.