OK guys, I am helping a friend with his truck. Here goes: He has a 1988 F150 2wd, 302 EFI, Auto Trans.
He claims that the truck will start just fine when cold, but after he drives it say 30 minutes and then shuts it off, it won't restart. The engine will barely turn over. The starter drags as if the battery is weak. He has replaced the ignition module (don't know why) and had the battery and charging system checked. Everything is fine. Once he lets the truck sit for 45 minutes or so, it fires right back up. . .no drag on the starter.
Has the starter seen better days? Time for a new one? I appreciate the help guys. I need an answer because it will be me doing the repairs. Thanks.

 

Either the starter is on its last legs or the engine ground cable is not making a good ground (neg battery to engine block) once the engine heats up
007BRONCO

 

i vote bad engine ground also but i think it is the engine to frame ground cable.

 

Any chance that this has headers? I've seen this symptom plenty of times on cars with headers where they cook the starters. :-)

 

Nope. This thing is bone-stock. I will look at the ground connections first prior to sending him to the auto parts store for a new starter. Thanks for the suggestions.

 

I also have a 89 F-150 but it's a 300/6 4x4 stock everything, starts great cold, but after 15-30 min of driving it cranks like the battery is about dead. I've had this prob since I bought the truck 3 years ago. I'm on my 8th starter it works great for about one day then it starts doin it again. This week I put a new bat, cables, starter, alt, starter sol, basically the entire starting system. I still have the same problem, I've put heat shields around the starter and the manifold (which is stock but only 2" away from starter) also using a 850CCA battery. I've been to Ford dealerships and garages and they just say it's a line of bad starters. But 8 in a row? that seems too funky to me. Anyone got anymore ideas of what I might have missed? Also been gettin starters from different places. But now no one will give me a new starter cause it works ok and tests ok cold.

 

Is 850CCA enough of a battery? How old is your battery?

 

all the auto parts stores call for a 650CCA on that make and model, but I've always gotten a little bigger battery then what any book calls for just to have the little extra. It's a week old. I've done load test on it to make sure it's good and it passed just fine.

 

A quick question for you. Does this truck, by chance, have an aftermarket alarm system? I had a similar problem with a pontiac and it turned out that the installer used the wrong guage wire on the ignition cut-out for the alarm. They removed the ignition cut-out wires and I had no further problems with it.
Just food for thought.

trgrhappy

 

No aftermarket alarm at all that I have seen. All the wiring looks like it's never been touched (thank goodness) I also have checked the timing it was 3 degrees advanced, so I fixed that and took it for a drive and same thing still. No change
Still won't crank fast enough to start when engine is warm/hot.

 

Wow, there not much left but ground wires. Have you cleaned the grounds and maybe replaced the block to frame ground cable? Also clean where the starter meets the block, thats how it gets ground - right thru the case to the block!

Other than that bring your tools & a towel/hotgloves and take a leisurly drive the parts store and let them test a hot starter. I did have a problem with Autozones lifetime warr rebuilt starters and eventually got them to let me upgrade to a newly built unit and have had no problem since.

Best wishes!
Tim

 

Actually the main ground wire bolts right on to the starter so I don't see a problem with a ground really, though I have cleaned and used dielectric grease on them when I put them back togeather. But I think your right as many times as I've changed it I'm pretty quick at it, but that still won't help me too much cause the next day when I go to work if I stop to get gas I'll be in the same boat again. I been readin on some other sites and they also suggest vapor lock might be a problem, but not on EFI vechicles(so that didn't help me out) Only other thing I can think of is gettin the header wrap and starter wrap and then put a new starter on it and see if it's a heat problem. I read on a site somewhere that the bearing in the starter got hot and expanded enough to slow down the operation of the starter but after 20 min it would start right up, not sure of this is really a possiability or not, but what else is there left to try?

 

If a new one works for a few days then I think that rules out anything enginewise and leaves it back at the starter. You could probably drop the hot starter and see if it engages without pulling the wires. Also smell it, if it smells burnt then it probably is. As I mentioned, I went thru a few myself and finally got a totally new which has worked fine since. They charged me $50 over what I had already paid for the rebuilds.

Another Idea would be to to take it to a starter repairer/rebuilder if you have one near you. They may be able to do a better job.

Lastly, put a wrench on the engine crank nut and get a feel for how hard it is to turn by hand and compare it to when its cranking really slow

 

I would take the starter to a good rebuild shop and have it checked as they can put under load and test it. as for using a higher cca battery that is not muh use because your alternator can only put out so many amps and it never gets fully recharged

 

Well it seem to have gotten fixed, I have done amp checks, and also carried a wrench with me and tried turnin it when hot, felt the same as cold if not a little easier. So today I created a heat shield out of tin and went to the hardware store and got some reflective heat tape and covered the shield. Drove it 15 miles shut it off for 2 min and it fired right back up, though it was still a little doggy it did start without havin to wait 15-30 min. So I do think I'm heading in the right direction. The next thing will to be cover the manifold in header wrap and that chould completly fix the prob. Thanks all that gave advice and help along the way.