double post

 

His setup will charge just fine, that's how Ford has always done it with the diesels, on my 86, the standard alternator was a 60A, and the big optional alt was a 70A, it keeps the pair of group 31 batteries I have in that truck charged just fine. I intend on sticking a 200A 3G on there to deal with my winch and stereo once they've been installed though.

I'd lean towards a timing issue, or a bad cable, I've had both of those on my 460 as of late....

 

i had the same problem with mine. i replaced the starter, relay and wirs and still it cranked fine the first few times. then the same thing happened. i replace the alternator with a 140 amp from power master. now it dont have this problem anymore.

 

Now there's a story of troubleshoot (NOT) and repair that makes no sense what-so-ever.

A little troubleshoot skill is a lot cheaper than the shotgun approach. Just checking the battery would have shown it to be under charged. Then charging the battery and checking the starting again, which would have been fine, would have led you to test the charging system and then R&R the alternator with a standard sized (cheaper) alternator would have repaired the problem. Mainly because the alternator only charges the battery and as long as the battery is charged, has nothing to do with the starting system.

 

you know i thought this was a help forum and not a bust everyone elses ***** forums. all i merely state was what worked for me. its amazing that people come here to ask questions or offer tips. if you know everything then why do we even have this forum. oh , now i know, because not everyone knows everything. all hail bear, the mechanical genius.

 

Anybody with your skills needs to stop talking and start listening.

 

I've read the replies here,All good information. I had the same problem with my truck. It turned out to be a bad ground cable (mine looked good). It would start with a boost but still turned over very slowly.I would suggest that you check the ground cables and also check and make sure that the motor is grounded well. Battery to frame and frame to your engine.

....just a thought..............

 

Battery ground should always go from negative terminal of battery to engine first, then to body and frame. Why? because the only high current items are the starter and the alternator and they are both on the engine, so you want the shortest current path possible.

 

when i had my 460, i had long tube headers on it, and i would go through starters probably every 2-3 months. it would do the exact same thing. i replaced the starter and put header wrap on the starter and headers, and i never had that problem again. just my personal experience, but i thought i would share with you incase it helps.

 

My 460 used to do this with stock manifolds on it, backing off the timing would take enough load off that it would spin over hot, but, that was not the problem. When I put the headers on it, I put a heat blanket on the starter and it did get better, but was not 100%, what fixed it was to replace all the cables with 0ga, and I ran a new ground cable from where the one from the battery bolts to the block, to the lower starter bolt, no more problems. Ford, in their infinite wisdom, on the 300 I-6 trucks of this era ran the ground from the battery to the lower starter bolt, and, it just so happens that I never, ever had hot start issues with my 300 with long tubes on it. The shorter the path to the starter for the ground, the better.

 

Keep in mind Ford starters are not gear reduced like chevys. They take alot of amps to crank. And a 460 is alot of recipricating weight. Also I don't know why you have two batteries? Check all connections even ground.