My mother has a 95 F150 Supercab that is her daily driver since my dad passed away, lately there seems to be a lot of things that have needed replacing. She was complaining of starting problems well the battery was going so we replaced it along with both cables. the starter has been changed within the last year. Sometimes when she tries to start it it will turn over but sounds like it is dragging. rrrrrr,rrrrrr sometimes for over a minute but will finally start. sometimes she has to let it sit 10-15 minutes and try again before it will start. My husband is trying to fix it for her since she's on limited income but he's confused at what to try next. We don't want to keep replacing parts and not fixing the problem, so any ideas on what to check next? We would appreciate any help. Thanks

 

when it does the rrrr---rrrr sound, feel the battery cables and starter, anything hot is bad. Without a good volt meter its hard to say whats wrong. The engine must be grounded to the body, the body must be grounded to the battery, and the starter must have a good connection.

 

my husband has a voltmeter, what should he check? Could the solenoid be bad? it has never been replaced.

 

its not the solinoid if the starter is trying to go. Battery voltage 12.5 at least. Check for battery voltage at starter when trying to start, should be the same as battery. Does jump starting help? solinoid test=battery voltage on one side of big terminal, when starting the battery voltage on the other big terminal should be the same. slow turning engine sounds like bad wire or bad starter.

 

Also, make sure the cable connections at the battery, the starter, and the frame are all clean and tight.

 

ok we replaced the solenoid and the cables from that to the battery and to the starter. still having same problem, i guess we're going to go have the starter checked and make sure we dont have a bad spot. any other ideas?

 

What is the voltage of the battery at rest, while starting, and while running? I'd also make sure the GROUND wire is clean/tight at all of its connections.

Adrianspeeder

 

Just because a wire looks okay doesn't mean it is. Anything that looks even remotely questionable, replace.

Put the pos end of the voltmeter on the soleniod terminal, the other somewhere on the frame. Record the voltage. Then measure the voltage directly off the battery. They should be identical.

Another thing you can try is to disconnect the negative battery cable, set the voltmeter to ohms, and test resistance. Put one end(doesn't matter) on the disconnected negative cable, and the other at various points along the way of the ground. Test to the engine case, the solenoid, everywhere the ground current will flow. If there's a spot with more than 1-2k ohms, there's something causing resistance. Ideally there should be so little that it doesn't even register on an analog tester, the needle always pegs. If you find a resist spot, you found your culprit.

 

well took the starter to be checked and they said it was like it was sticking, but that it sounded strong but it did get awfully HOT so they replaced it.
put it on and wow it starts just like its supposed to.

thanks for the help!

 

Well, glad you got everything working. Possibly the last starter was an incorrect rating, or was a poor reman. Starters can last 20+ years, there was one from '71 in my buggy, it lasted 32 years until I had to replace it.