We have an '87 f-150 300 I6 granny 4 speed.
When you turn the key to start, it will turn over one time, then about a second later it will turn over again, until it finally starts. It just had the battery charged and has had the starter replaced. It used to always do this then it got better, then it got back like it is. It irritating when you can't seem to drive and it keeps on dying and then the battery runs down and then it really won't start.
What is the problem?

 

I had the same problem on my 88 I-6. Problem was that the starter was getting too hot. Just to test this theory, I wrapped the exhaust pipe (near the starter) with aluminium foil. This cured the problem and now the truck starts reliabily all the time. Just need to come up with a more permenant solution.

Perhaps you should check your alternator while you are at it, put a volt meter on the battery terminals while the truck is on and bring the RPMS to about 1500, you should get around 13.5 or more volts.

ALSO I even have a new starter+alternator+battery (2 days old) and it was doing this to me.

Thanks,
Ian

 

Check your battery cables going from the battery to the starter solenoid, and from the solenoid to the starter. Also check the ground lead from the battery to the block or vehicle frame. Look for corrosion where the cable goes into the termination lug. Flex the cable at this point so you can peek down into the cable side of the connector itself. Replace any cable that looks suspicious with one of equal or larger conductor (not necessarily outside) diameter.

Remove each cable and clean up the connector at its contact surface with some emery cloth or 400 grit sandpaper. Oxidation on the outside of the terminals produces a high resistance connection, which limits the current (amp) capacity necessary for the starter to crank the engine properly. Pay particular attention to the ground (negative) connection directly from the battery cable where it attaches to the block or vehicle frame, and clean/sand the block/vehicle side of this connection to clean it up, too.

About 99% of the time you'll find the culprit is either corrosion where the cables are crimped inside the end connectors or high resistance connections at the attachment points. If, after checking all the cables, you still have the starting problems you described, replace the starter solenoid with a heavy duty one (I recently bought one at Autozone for about $6.00). After a lot of use, the contacts inside the solenoid are severely pitted and create high resistance points, too.

If you have high resistance points in the starting circuit, remember that it also means you have high resistance points in the (return) charging circuit going back to the battery. Consequently, the alternator can't fully charge the battery, either. Now you suffer "the double whammy" of an under-charged battery attempting to provide a high current (amps) to the starter through high resistance points that limit current draw capability. You solve both problems by having good cables and clean connections.

If everything is working properly, the starter motor should rapidly crank the engine over without any noticable change in starter RPM during the cranking cycle ("grunting") and the engine should consistently fire up within about 3 seconds of cranking ... 5 at most. Anything more than that should be unacceptable.

Please post back as to what you find.