OK.. I will try to keep this short... HELP!! I have a 1985 F150 with a 351 ...5.8 L ... We rebuilt the engine ... Everything was fine... Now we have had major cranking problems.. The battery was completely dead so we replaced it .. Now the same problems with it .. Ok. After it sitting all night , you go out to crank it ,.. fires right up.. YOu drive for 10 minutes or more ... (long enough for engine to heat up ) Then turn it off and try to crank and it is dead .. Alternator is fine .. Has a new starter .. It will crank after being jumped off... Or after letting it sit for hours to cool completely down... Anyone know what the problem could be... HELP ! I love this truck .. But lately all i wanna do is push it in a river ... HELP!!

 

Next time it does this *No starter turn over* thing.
Without touching the key again,
Take a piece of wire and run it from the + post of the battery to the S terminal of the starter solenoid and see if this turns the starter over.

Dennis

F.T.E. Assistant Administrator

http://www.clubfte.com/users/mil1ion/SigSanta.JPG
[font color=red]
"May The Spirit Of Christmas Be An Inspiration To You Throughout The Year"[/font]

[link:www.ford-trucks.com/guidelines.html|Club FTE]

[link: motorhaven.autoanything.com|How YOU Can Support This Site]

[link:www.clubfte.com/users/mil1ion/Mil1ion.html|My Website,"North Of The 49th"]

 

what if it does turn the starter over .. .whats the problem ? And what if it doesnt ? What am I ruling out? Thanks

 

You'd be testing the cranking circuit by eliminating it temporarily. If the relay clicks (and the starter engages), it would show that there's a problem between the battery, key, & starter relay.

If it didn't click, it would show that there's no power coming out of the battery, but not exactly why.

When it won't crank, do ANY other circuits work? Headlights, radio, door chime, courtesy lights? If so, then the battery ISN'T the whole problem. Get a voltmeter & make the truck NOT crank (warm it up - whatever). Then test from one BATTERY terminal to the other - don't test from the cable clamps ON the battery; go to the actual posts. (Always clean the spots you're testing with a file, sandpaper, or steel wool.) If it's above 12V, turn on the headlights & check again. If it's below 12, the battery is it.

If it's still above 12V, THEN check across the cable clamps (with the headlights STILL on). If THAT'S below 12, you have cruddy terminals - take them off & clean or replace them.

If it's still above 12V, go to the other end of each cable & test. If that's below 12, you have at least one bad cable - move one meter probe back to the battery. If it goes back over 12, then that was the bad cable.

If it's still above 12V, go from the engine block to the hot POST (not the cable or the nut) of the starter relay on the fender (this is ALL done with the headlights still on). If it drops, check THOSE ends of the battery cables.

Post what you find.

 

[updated:LAST EDITED ON 14-Dec-02 AT 11:24 AM (EST)]Yes.. you turn the key over , the radio, the inside lights .. the power windows .,. all of it works.. except it doesnt crank.. I will pass all of this to my husband and let you know what happens when he tries this .. .. I was wondering could it be anything to do with timing ?

 

No, it's not timing. That has nothing to do with getting the starter to spin. The starter is really independent of the engine & the start circuit is almost totally independent of every other circuit on the truck.

It sounds like you should replace the starter relay (~$12) and maybe the battery cables (~$18), but test it first. And make sure the little terminal that slips onto the starter relay is getting a good bite on the threads - you may need to crush it slightly so it makes contact.

 

well just my 2 cents... and i hope it helps

a good friend of mine looked into buying a truck an 88 f250 with the 351 fi and it has the manual trans the issue was it wouldnt start with the key but they could "pop start it" all charging sys components seemed fine but to make a long story short his problem turned out to be the ground cable where it goes onto the engine was very loose and corroded .

he bought that truck up cheep as he could and as soon as he got it home cleaned and tightened the neg batt cable a hit -0- the key and it fired right up

 

[updated:LAST EDITED ON 14-Dec-02 AT 07:00 PM (EST)]Thanks for all suggestions .. Will let you know what it turns out to be... Or if I need any more ideas .

 

 

Tried all of this and still same thing wont crank when hot...

 

Did you try the tests in my previous post? That should have ID'ed the defect. You have to do them at a time when it WON'T crank.

 

[updated:LAST EDITED ON 18-Dec-02 AT 08:25 PM (EST)]replaced cylenoid and battery cables...Bypassed the cylenoid and it wouldnt crank ... havent tried the one about the voltmeter... where do i get one ... i just need a new truck i guess
oh yeah... I keep burning up starters

 

If you put battery voltage straight to the starter and it didn't spin, then it's DEFINITELY the starter.

 

[updated:LAST EDITED ON 18-Dec-02 AT 08:28 PM (EST)]The starter gets unbelievably hot and i am going through starters like really fast.. keep burning them up. when you hook stragiht from battery to starter it as a weak turn over ,,, like a sick sound ., very weak.. but doesnt start unless the engine is cool

 

I'm just fishin' here but does this starter require any shims to keep it from binding on the ring gear? Do you in fact have the correct starter for a 5.8 engine? Did you plastigauge the bearings and use the correct torque settings when the bottom end was assembled? A bearing that is too tight can cause a real strain on a starter. Was any work done in the way of high performance mods like high compression or modified cam? If the starter is getting really hot either it is binding up or it's having to work too hard.