Hi everyone. New to the forum. I had a 1988 F-150 many years ago. Bought a 1990 F-150 4.9 300 last week and I'm happy to have a truck again. I've only driven the truck about 75 miles so far. Ran into an issue on Sat and I'm wondering if anyone has input. Please let me know.

Left my house and drove about 30 miles. Stopped for gas. Truck wouldn't restart. Starter turned the engine over once and died. Tried again, same thing. Starter cranked once and died. Had someone come out and the truck fired right up with a battery pack on it. Drove it 30 miles back to my service shop (since it needs an inspection anyway). Shop called me to today and says battery appears to be ok. Battery test was ok. Truck started 15-20 times today, no issue. So I'm confused.

A few things I've noticed since having the truck... 1) the engine has always turned over slowly when starting, doesn't seem typical to me. When the truck was jump started, it turned over much faster (as it should in my opinion). 2) Previous owner has a trailer brake controller in the cab that is wired directly to the battery. Not sure if that is draining the battery, but I don't think it would explain why the truck didn't start again after getting gas. I asked the shop to disconnect it. The shop said the truck appears to be in very good condition. However, the EGR valve needs to be replaced and the throttle body has carbon buildup.

 

first thing i would do is clean all battery cable connectoins...at battery, and at other end.
sounds like you just have bad connections because it spins fast and starts after the jump start.
and i agree on disconnecting the brake controller, that should be on switched power source, not direct to battery.