good morning all,

i have a 94 ford 7.3 idi naturally aspirated truck. old farm truck when i bought it, i have done quite a bit of work to it. at the beginning of this summer, i started to experience this issue where i would go to the start the truck, it would crank for a second and then cut out. then i would get nothing when i would try to start again with the key so i would have to get out and jump the fender relay to get the truck to start. So i decided to install a push button start, i wired the push button with one wire to the positive terminal of the battery and one wire to the stud on the fender relay that goes down to the starter solenoid on the starter so when i turned the key to run and pushed the button the truck would fire. That worked but then was starting to give me issues again... the starter was still the orginal from 94 so i decided to replace that with a DB Electrical gear reduction starter that i seen very good reviews on. i also redid all the positive battery cables with 3/0 cable on the whole truck, i left the grounds alone as they seemed to be fine...

After installing the starter, the truck cranked faster than ever and would start almost instantly when i touched the start button i had wired. Great!!! However.... now as of the past two weeks or so all of a sudden the cranking speed of the truck has seemed to slow down quite a bit to where now it will crank over for a second or two before starting (when it was literally instantaneous before), as if it doesnt have sufficient juice to turn the starter over as fast as it was originally when i first installed it, like its losing power somewhere or something. I have done diagnostic tests, all batterys are good, charging system is good (and brand new as i replaced alternator couple months ago), everything checked out perfect battery and charging wise... as of a week ago, i started to get these intermittent starting issues again.. id crank the engine and mid crank everything would cut out... no power on dash, no clicking of starter when trying to start again, nothing... also tried jumping the fender relay and nothing would happen, it doesnt make sense to me though because crossing the fender relay should send 12 volts to the starter and the engine should crank! after checking some fuses and replacing one random fuse under the dash (not even sure if it had anything to do with starting) i still didnt have any power... i just kept hitting the push button and using a wrench to cross the terminals on the fender relay over and over after checking all cables and connections and finally all of a sudden it made connectiion and cranked.

i hopped in the truck and it fired right up. However, i still get this much slower cranking speed than when i first put the brand new starter in. So im stumped... im not sure where to start.. could it be the fender relay is getting worn out? with the push button start installed, i dont care if the truck starts with the key as long as the fuel solenoid opens when i turn the key and glow plugs cycle, which they do, so i dont understand where im losing power from through this push button start setup. Pretty much everything is new except for some ground cables and the fender relay so idk if its the relay or what. i dont think any wiring from the key should affect anything since i have this push button start hooked up. would it make sense for the fender relay to be worn out given the fact that i tried crossing the terminals on the fender relay and the engine still didnt crank? let me know hwat you all think, sorry for the long drawn out explanation im just a little confused and not sure where to look... the fact that i just lose all electrical power to the dash and everything intermittently really confuses me...

thanks all and appreciate any advice and help!

 

Replace your grounds. Even though they looked fine, I'm guessing one crapped out. Possibly just a ground to the body if they fender solenoid isn't working anymore. You did great going with 3/0 for the positive cables, maybe check the ends? Did you solder or crimp the connectors on? Possible that one came loose..?

 

i used a hydraulic crimper, it worked great! i used marine terminals thats go on the battery and then have a stud sticking up that you put the copper lugs on to, they seem fine i dont think thats the best connection but they are as tight as i can make them. i will try the grounds, should have done them anyway in the first place was just beig lazy i guess lol thanks!

 

Dirty terminal somewhere. Probably one of the ones you haven't worked on recently.