I got a special gift from Ford Motor Company this morning.........

A truck that won't start!

Looks a starter problem or starter wiring problem with only 87,XXX miles. I got plently of juice in the battery. Clicks while attempting to turn over.

I'll check the wire connections before replacing the starter. I hope it's a bad connection.

A very special gift on a rainy x-mas eve morning from Ford.

I'm thankful that I have a reliable Honda Accord to jump in to get to work on time. I'll have to wait until after the holiday to haul that trash.

Only problem with the Honda, if we get a lot of snow, I can't get home without 4WD. Looks like a possible 2 mile walk home tonight on our rural gravel road from the main two lane paved road.

Truck is a 1998 F150 xlt w/ 5.4l auto, reg. cab.

How many miles or years did you get out of your starter?

I had a GM truck before, the starter went out at 91k.
My Toyota Camry starter didn't go bad until 156k.
The Honda Accord has about 138k with no starter problems yet.
The Older Honda Civic didn't have problems until 174K.

 

On my '99 I had the starter wires corrode right off... I was getting my hair cut at the time, and I came back out to the truck. The thing wouldn't do anything! So I was like... WTF... and I called my dad, and he told me to just keep the key in run and push start it. So I did, and it started right up and I brought it down to the service center. $200 later a whole new starter harness.

What I did on my '07 is I sprayed them with rustoleum.

Let there be no rust! haha

 

96 f150 5.8l
166,000 miles original starter,alternator,master cylinder.

 

Sigh. My GF's Acura (Honda) will randomly not start and leave her stranded. Has happened 5 times. Required a flat bed. It's a 2005 Acura RSX.

So by your STUPID logic, I guess Honda/Acura isn't reliable either.

Yet another vicitim of stopping at GED/high school math... so much can be learned from a basic college stats class...

 

Too bad on the Acura problems. You should check the battery and starter cables for her. I would be surprised if it was any other problem. But, judging the way to talk/write about and talk/write to Honda owners I'm sure you don't care.

Got my truck starter fixed. I did have to put on a new battery to starter cable along with the new starter. The old power cable almost corroded off, and would have been unwise to reinstall. The new starter actually had a memo enclosed saying Ford's orginal wire terminal for the starter was a poor design. The new starter also came with a new terminal end to be install to correct the Ford OEM problem. Oh, by the way the top bolt for the starter is real fun to get to.

20 miles after fixing my truck, I had a COP go bad. So the truck is out of service again waiting on some new COPS to install. So back to driving one of those reliable Accords you love to hate.

Its OK to not like Honda or Toyota, but that doen't make you better or smarter then eveyone. But just because you don't like them, it's not a reason to attack a fellow Ford owner and member or be mean. Lets try to keep an open mind here and be an adult. It is possible to not agree and be respectful. If you can't do that, it says a lot about your personality.

Have a nice day everyone.

 

Gee, sounds remarkably similar to the attitude you displayed with the post you made to start with, huh ?

Please post a picture of this "memo" Ford included saying they had a poor design or whatever on the starter that has been installed in MILLIONS of vehicles that haven't had the problem you had. Curious minds want to see and read...

He didn't say anything about hating - he simply pointed out the flawed logic you are using to make huge assumptions.

Why don't you sell the 10 year old truck and buy one of the Honda truck-wannabe things (I can't remember what it's called).

Go to the Honda forum and hold hands and sing Kum-by-ya with the other Honda fans.

Before you try to shovel a load of crap on Lumadar for calling your STUPID logic out, why don't you go back and re-read that pile of crap you wrote on a FORD forum.

Just for fun, I Googled "Honda car problems". Low and behold, I picked 1 of the 392,000 hits Google offered and it had all kinds of write-ups by Honda owners who were unhappy with their cars, dealers or both.

Just for grins, I selected the Accord and the following statistic popped up:

2002 Honda Accord

Automatic Transmission Problems

Typical Repair Cost:

$2,137.00

Average Mileage:

83,585 miles

Number of complaints:

119 complaints

This may not sound like a lot, but how many Honda owners have been to this web site and bothered to write up their problem for others to see ?

The same site has the Top 20 Worst Vehicles. Honda has 5 of those slots, Ford has 3 and they are all Explorers.

The 5 Honda models (Accords and Civics) identified ALL have TRANSMISSION problems as the single largest issue of all problems reported. Using your logic, you should be prepared to push your Honda because it is going to have EXPENSIVE transmission issues...

Last I checked, a transmission is a lot more headache to repair than a cable and a starter. As far as that top starter bolt being hard to reach, how many bolts on that Honda transmission are hard to reach ?

The point to all of this is ALL VEHICLES have their issues. Since they are man designed and man made, they will continue to have issues.

If anyone needs to "act like an adult", it is YOU.

 

Anything that is man made, & mechanical will have problems from time to time!....People need to realize that!...........Whether foreign or Domestic!......

 

1997 F 150 4.6 185,000 miles - original starter
living in AZ the grease dries out in the planetary gears- so every couple years I take off the starter and regrease the gears.

if you think out of the box the starter is no big deal to remove.
take off the right wheel and remove the inner housing- maybe a 10 minute job.

using a long extension and a flex socket or universal the top bolt is a piece of cake. when I say long extension I mean over 12".

If the starter ain't out in 20 minutes it is because somebody came over with a six pack.

taking out the inner fender housings works equally well for the 02 sensors.

 

Lots of very swell comments. We have some very nice folks here.

Looks like the Old Ford is about ready to go back on the road. It seams to run a lot better with the new COPs. I think the gas mileage will go up too.

As for the memo thing with the starter, I'll try to dig it out of my F150 repair file. It would be good info for anyone dealing with the same problem. I think that is a great suggestion!

Not able to sell the old Ford for a couple reasons. Mostly money is the main reason I can't sell my 11 year old truck. With only about 86k, the resale value is low enough that I wouldn't be able to replace it very easily.

As for buying a Honda Ridgeline......It's a little light for my needs. But for some who lives in the city and doesn't need the capacity of a heavy 1/2 ton or 3/4 ton its a nice choice. If you have to tow a lot or haul a lot the only choices are from Dodge, Chevy, Toyota or Ford. That's why I drive a Honda, and own a Ford for heavy hauling.

I'm sure Honda and Ford owners have had trouble with tranmissions and other high $$ parts along with Dodge, Toyota, and Chevy owners. In my personal experience Honda and Toyota have always given me less trouble than the other Ford, Chevy and dodge cars and truck I've owned, but that's my personal experience. I'm sure other people have their own stories and experiences to share.

I like my Ford. It gets the job done most of the time. But I will speak up when it gives me trouble, breaks down, or gives me problems.

The top starter bolt is hard to get to in the F150. I would recommend several extensions and swivals. As for the Accord start bolts, I'm not sure I haven't had to replace it. But when I do, I'll talk honestly about the problem on a Honda Forum just like the Ford starter I just replaced.

Keep an open mind out there. This forum is a valuable tool and entertaining also. Good news and bad news should all be considred regradless of what else is parked in your garage or driveway.

 

B-Man,
Well done and well written. You backed it up with some excellent facts.

Good Job !

TJKinCNY

 

This guy has some good info. These are the kinds of posts that make this forum fun, interesting, and informative.

The comment about using rustoleum was interesting. I had never though of that.

 

To be fair, Nissan should be included too. A Titan is no worse than a Tundra.

 

Actually this part is correct. -What that OP is referring to (sry/it's a little dirty) -



It's that small post on the solenoid. I'm @ 257,750 miles on my 98. Not once has a starter gone bad, but that little post has corroded up a few times. When you attempt to clean it up, they break. The replacement starters incorporate a pigtail w/a crimp fit heat shrink connector coming from said solenoid post.

This is fairly new, maybe you haven't heard of it yet.

 

FWIW, when I remove the starter I let it hang from the wires. Keeps it out of the way and no terminals to fart around with.

 

never had a problem with my starter!