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Hey, folks I’m having a problem and I could use some help or advice if possible. So I have a 1983 F350 351W (2bbl) 4speed manual (W/Granny). So my current problem I’ve been dealing with for about half a year now is when it’s real cold outside the truck will crank and crank but will not start. I have fuel, air, and spark but it still will not start. I’ve found if I let it sit in the sun with the hood open for a few hours it sometimes might start. This leads to the next problem though. If it does start I can run it however long need be and have no issues but as soon as I cut it off, it will not start back up for at least another 40 minutes after being turned off. Same thing too I have air, fuel, and spark but still nothing. It’s puzzled me for a while now but I still can’t figure it out. When I got the truck I replaced the old duraspark module with a new one and everything was fine for about 3 months. I also replaced the ignition solenoid, voltage regulator, battery, heater core, heater core fan motor, and all fuses in fuse box (All electrical things I have replaced since having the truck). If yall have any idea what could be causing these problems help would be great. Thank you !
How many small terminals does your starter solenoid have? 1 or 2?
It’s the same one most fords have in those years. 2 large posts for Postive/Negative and 2 small posts for Ignition/Starter. Although I will say if you look in picture below it has nothing on the ignition post and it was like that when I bought the truck so when I replaced the solenoid I copied exactly how it was when installing. The tiny rectangle box (to the right)has a wire connected to the postive post I have never been able to figure out what that was, maybe you know?
Something has to be missing for it not to start, fuel / air / spark.
How fast is the motor cranking over normal speed like when warm out?
Before starting / cranking are you pressing the throttle to the floor at least once or twice if really cold?
You need to in order to set the choke if it is working as it should.
Pull the air filter off, move the throttle and check if it closed.
If not you need to adjust it so it dose.
If the choke is closed open it and look down inside and move the throttle you should see fuel squirt if not the accel pump needs looking into maybe a carb rebuild?
What happens if you spray a little starting fluid down the carb?
Dose it even try to fire up or nothing?
Nothing then it could be a spark thing.
Did you replace the plugs and if so I hope with good old copper plugs that the truck was meant to have.
Them fancy plugs have been known to cause issues with some and could be the issues with you?
You did cap / rotor and wires as part of a tune up, if not do a tune up.
When doing a tune up do a compression test and post them up.
As a test, run a jumper wire from the battery + side to the coil + side and see if it will start / run?
Before you do the jumper wire pull the wires off the coil and check if they are clean and tight when installed.
Do each of the above test 1 at a time so you know if that made a difference or not.
We need to find what the cause is so we can fix it.
Dave ----
Something has to be missing for it not to start, fuel / air / spark.
How fast is the motor cranking over normal speed like when warm out?
Before starting / cranking are you pressing the throttle to the floor at least once or twice if really cold?
You need to in order to set the choke if it is working as it should.
Pull the air filter off, move the throttle and check if it closed.
If not you need to adjust it so it dose.
If the choke is closed open it and look down inside and move the throttle you should see fuel squirt if not the accel pump needs looking into maybe a carb rebuild?
What happens if you spray a little starting fluid down the carb?
Dose it even try to fire up or nothing?
Nothing then it could be a spark thing.
Did you replace the plugs and if so I hope with good old copper plugs that the truck was meant to have.
Them fancy plugs have been known to cause issues with some and could be the issues with you?
You did cap / rotor and wires as part of a tune up, if not do a tune up.
When doing a tune up do a compression test and post them up.
As a test, run a jumper wire from the battery + side to the coil + side and see if it will start / run?
Before you do the jumper wire pull the wires off the coil and check if they are clean and tight when installed.
Do each of the above test 1 at a time so you know if that made a difference or not.
We need to find what the cause is so we can fix it.
Dave ----
“Something has to be missing for it not to start, fuel / air / spark.
How fast is the motor cranking over normal speed like when warm out?”
Usually when it is warm outside it cranks over at a normal speed. When its cold i throw the battery on a charger to make sure its up to 100% then i usually get 2-4 good cranks before the engine starts turning over pretty slow.
“Before starting / cranking are you pressing the throttle to the floor at least once or twice if really cold?
You need to in order to set the choke if it is working as it should.
Pull the air filter off, move the throttle and check if it closed.
If not you need to adjust it so it dose.
If the choke is closed open it and look down inside and move the throttle you should see fuel squirt if not the accel pump needs looking into maybe a carb rebuild?
What happens if you spray a little starting fluid down the carb?
Dose it even try to fire up or nothing?”
Yes of course, I always pump the gas before hand at least twice or 3 or 4 times when starting. The carb is functioning as it should, I bought a brand new 500$ one for the truck about 2 months after owning because the previous carb was having problems. But yes the carb shoots gas in as if should and the choke is working as it should. Starting fluid does not work when spraying it down the carb, it doesnt pop or sputter at all.
“Nothing then it could be a spark thing.
Did you replace the plugs and if so I hope with good old copper plugs that the truck was meant to have.
Them fancy plugs have been known to cause issues with some and could be the issues with you?
You did cap / rotor and wires as part of a tune up, if not do a tune up.
When doing a tune up do a compression test and post them up.”
Yes, I did replace the plugs with nice and new copper plugs. I checked each spark plug and each one is getting a big and bright spark on all cylinders. I dont believe I replaced the plug wires or the dist cap. I have to find my compression tester but I will post them up when I get to it.
“As a test, run a jumper wire from the battery + side to the coil + side and see if it will start / run?
Before you do the jumper wire pull the wires off the coil and check if they are clean and tight when installed.”
yeah thats another thing ive been thinking about doing and i will 100% do that when I get a jumper wire. My truck is currently at a different house and stuck there so I have to go back and forth an hour just to get tools to work on it.
Usually when it is warm outside it cranks over at a normal speed. When its cold i throw the battery on a charger to make sure its up to 100% then i usually get 2-4 good cranks before the engine starts turning over pretty slow.
Well that is a big issue. If it cranks slow all the power is going to trying to crank and not to the IGN for spark.
In the "How To" up top there is a "voltage drop test" you need to run that to see why it cranks slow and replace what is needed. https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...w-starter.html
Yes of course, I always pump the gas before hand at least twice or 3 or 4 times when starting. The carb is functioning as it should, I bought a brand new 500$ one for the truck about 2 months after owning because the previous carb was having problems. But yes the carb shoots gas in as if should and the choke is working as it should. Starting fluid does not work when spraying it down the carb, it doesnt pop or sputter at all.
Ok so the carb / choke is working as it should so good.
But nothing happening when you spray starting fluid and the answer of the carb / choke tells me it is a spark issue and slow cranking.
Yes, I did replace the plugs with nice and new copper plugs. I checked each spark plug and each one is getting a big and bright spark on all cylinders. I dont believe I replaced the plug wires or the dist cap. I have to find my compression tester but I will post them up when I get to it.
when I get something new I do a full turn up so I know everything is good from the start. After you get it to crank at normal speed I would replace the car / rotor & plug wires. I know you said nice blue spark but weak wires and compression can blow the spark out when installed.
yeah thats another thing ive been thinking about doing and i will 100% do that when I get a jumper wire. My truck is currently at a different house and stuck there so I have to go back and forth an hour just to get tools to work on it.
When the truck is not close dose make it ruff to trouble shoot.
Get it to crank normal all the time first and go from there is what I would do.
Good luck
Dave ----
That little square box is a aftermarket circuit breaker. Someone has added a circuit for something, you will have to follow that wire and see where it leads.
Your solenoid has the extra I terminal, so we can try an experiment and see if it cures your cold starting problem. Take a wire and crimp a terminal on it and put it on the i terminal of the solenoid. Run the wire around to the ignition coil. However you can do it, hook the other end of this wire to the + wire of the ignition coil. The + wire is the red/lightgreen wire usually to the coil. If you can tie that in, see if that makes your problem go away.
That little square box is a aftermarket circuit breaker. Someone has added a circuit for something, you will have to follow that wire and see where it leads.
Your solenoid has the extra I terminal, so we can try an experiment and see if it cures your cold starting problem. Take a wire and crimp a terminal on it and put it on the i terminal of the solenoid. Run the wire around to the ignition coil. However you can do it, hook the other end of this wire to the + wire of the ignition coil. The + wire is the red/lightgreen wire usually to the coil. If you can tie that in, see if that makes your problem go away.
Yep that square box is a circuit breaker and being I see it is black and I see a white would the truck be wired for a electric trailer brake?
Both of them wires need to be wired back to the battery as per the install paper.
I dont know why but they use black for power and white is always used for low voltage ground.
If that is what it is for a pro wired it and used the right color wires from the unit to the battery.
Home / driveway installers use only 1 color wire for everything.
The controller should have a red that goes to the brake light switch on the switch side and a blue that goes out to the trailer brakes.
Newer trucks / SUV's that have tow package are pre-wired so you buy the controller and a pig tail and just plug into the pre-wired plug under the dash.
My 86 K5 had wires under the dash but was before "pre-wire" so no plug and just wires out back.
My 02 Durango had the under dash plug and the 7 way out back real easy to wire / install the controller.
DaveF's way of wiring the solenoid if it works you could leave it, running the wire from the "I" lug off the solenoid as that is what the "I" lug was for when they ran points.
My way from battery to coil was just a fast way to test.
Dave ----
Yep that square box is a circuit breaker and being I see it is black and I see a white would the truck be wired for a electric trailer brake?
Both of them wires need to be wired back to the battery as per the install paper.
I dont know why but they use black for power and white is always used for low voltage ground.
If that is what it is for a pro wired it and used the right color wires from the unit to the battery.
Home / driveway installers use only 1 color wire for everything.
The controller should have a red that goes to the brake light switch on the switch side and a blue that goes out to the trailer brakes.
Newer trucks / SUV's that have tow package are pre-wired so you buy the controller and a pig tail and just plug into the pre-wired plug under the dash.
My 86 K5 had wires under the dash but was before "pre-wire" so no plug and just wires out back.
My 02 Durango had the under dash plug and the 7 way out back real easy to wire / install the controller.
DaveF's way of wiring the solenoid if it works you could leave it, running the wire from the "I" lug off the solenoid as that is what the "I" lug was for when they ran points.
My way from battery to coil was just a fast way to test.
Dave ----
Today I replaced the Duraspark Module, Negative battery cable, ignition solenoid, and spark plugs. I’m starting to think it has to do something with the starter motor. When I bought the truck I had to replace the starter motor because it was having similar-ish problems. Today I noticed that my exhaust leak (which is on the driver side, right where the exhaust connects into the exhaust manifold) is pointing and directly above the starter motor which is causing the starter to heat up significantly. Today after I installed all of the new parts she started right up and I drove it around for about an hour… I cut the engine off and within 30 seconds I tried to start it again… all of the sudden it’s turning over really slow (note: I just bought a brand new battery group 65 850 CCA). I hook up leads to my battery and it’s pushing 12.3 volts and the battery charger says it’s at 98% charge. Fast forward to about 20 mins ago I came outside to try and start it again… sadly the engine is still turning over pretty slow and it won’t start. Maybe it’s the starter ??? Because again I have spark, fuel, and air but I’m assuming it’s not building enough compression to fire up because of the starter.
all of the sudden it’s turning over really slow (note: I just bought a brand new battery group 65 850 CCA). I hook up leads to my battery and it’s pushing 12.3 volts and the battery charger says it’s at 98% charge. Fast forward to about 20 mins ago I came outside to try and start it again… sadly the engine is still turning over pretty slow and it won’t start...
In the kindest, most gentle manner I can muster, please stop throwing multiple parts at the poor truck. Even if you replace one part that was indeed bad, you may have unknowingly installed a bad part elsewhere. New parts bad from stock is more common than you might think, and can be a troubleshooting nightmare.
12.3 volts from the battery charger? That is VERY low. Typically you'd see 13.7+. Either the new battery needs a good charge (commonly not fully charged at time of sale) and the voltage will slowly come up to normal, or your charger is kaput.
What kind of charger do you have? Is it a battery maintainer or a trickle charger? Neither will have the oomph to charge a depleted battery. Ideally you'll want an automatic charger with a minimum 10A output. Let the charger run overnight and try again. If any doubt about the battery's state of charge, nearly any parts store will charge it for free.
Once you're sure the battery is fully charged, yet the starter remains sluggish, run this simple test to pinpoint why:
weak battery, after you next round at an attempt to start, when it doesn't run, jump under the truck and feel the starter. tell us how many cranks, how long you cranked each time. my last starter went bad and over time it started cranking a little slower and slower. a few cranks and a no start, i couldn't touch it very long. when i brought it to the parts store for a core, she was still hot to the touch
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