I have a 1987 F-150 with dual fuel tanks. My truck starts and runs great, but I have to let it sit for anywhere from 5 minutes to an hour before I can start it again. It has also just stoped running while I was on the freeway.

I bought the truck second hand. It has had an electrical overload/fire (fuze block is melted on one spot), and it does not have a voltage regulator. It gives the syptoms of a dead/bad battery when starting, starter turn and then grinds to a halt. The + & - cables are very HOT after an attempted start. Sit and wait, starts right up. I have changed the solonoid and starter (both were bad). I have also changed the positive and negative cables to the heavy duty ones.

What do I do next. I don't want to just plug in a voltage regulator and see what fries.

Thanks.

 

You've replaced the starter and cables and solenoid. How about the battery? Have you had it tested? What fuses are in the melted area, and which is the most melted? The hot cables tell me that too much current is going thru them. Are the connections at each end of the cables clean (no rust/paint at ground attachment to engine)? What kind of condition is the alternator? I thought that they had internal voltage regulators in the alternator.
On another note, how hard is it to turn your engine over? If it is a tight engine, it would require a lot more amps to the starter to turn it over, also causing hot cables. I'd check that first.
Just a few thoughts.

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