Sometimes slow turning starter.
#1
Sometimes slow turning starter.
1988 F350 460.
The truck would turn the starter very slowly once in a while. Usually after a drive.
So I pulled the starter, alternator, 3 battery cables. Had the starter and alternator check, they passed. Replace the battery terminals on both +/- cables, checked for damage and cleaned all the connection points.
Just did a test drive. About 10 starts after a full warm up (testing the new thermostat housing and other fixes to the cooling system). Sat in 85F heat for about 1/2 hour. Pulled out and did about 10 starts/stops and it was perfect.
Drove about 3 miles, parked at a fast food, when leaving it started doing a slow turn, but this one only lasted about 5 seconds vs the 15~20 that it lasted before, so a big improvement.
So now I THINK it's down to bad cable and/or heat soaked starter.
If I make or buy a heat shield, where would I put it? There's no headers. Would a heat shield go between the engine block and the starter? Maybe a fan that blows across the starter?
Note: I cleaned all the bolts that would connect to the engine in order to get a good ground as well as cleaned the bolt where it grounds from the battery to the frame.
The truck would turn the starter very slowly once in a while. Usually after a drive.
So I pulled the starter, alternator, 3 battery cables. Had the starter and alternator check, they passed. Replace the battery terminals on both +/- cables, checked for damage and cleaned all the connection points.
Just did a test drive. About 10 starts after a full warm up (testing the new thermostat housing and other fixes to the cooling system). Sat in 85F heat for about 1/2 hour. Pulled out and did about 10 starts/stops and it was perfect.
Drove about 3 miles, parked at a fast food, when leaving it started doing a slow turn, but this one only lasted about 5 seconds vs the 15~20 that it lasted before, so a big improvement.
So now I THINK it's down to bad cable and/or heat soaked starter.
If I make or buy a heat shield, where would I put it? There's no headers. Would a heat shield go between the engine block and the starter? Maybe a fan that blows across the starter?
Note: I cleaned all the bolts that would connect to the engine in order to get a good ground as well as cleaned the bolt where it grounds from the battery to the frame.
#2
The excessive heat comes from the exhaust manifold. The engine only gets in the 200-300F area, the exhaust gets 500-up.
The 460 is famous for the exhaust gaskets leaking and the exhaust manifolds cracking. If there is a small leak, it can puff hot exhaust down in the starter area. If you have a loud exhaust system, you may not hear a small leak. You can test for a small leak by lifting the hood on a cold morning start, start the engine and quickly run out and feel around the exhaust manifold for any exhaust leaks. Of course you have a limited time to do this before the manifold gets too hot. It may take a couple of morning starts to be confident you do not have any leaks.
The 460 is famous for the exhaust gaskets leaking and the exhaust manifolds cracking. If there is a small leak, it can puff hot exhaust down in the starter area. If you have a loud exhaust system, you may not hear a small leak. You can test for a small leak by lifting the hood on a cold morning start, start the engine and quickly run out and feel around the exhaust manifold for any exhaust leaks. Of course you have a limited time to do this before the manifold gets too hot. It may take a couple of morning starts to be confident you do not have any leaks.
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