A good starter won't pull more than 250A on a gas engine, and it should be closer to 100A with no load (don't do that for more than a second). Many parts stores have a portable meter that will work in the parking lot (free), so call around.



But a quick way to check is: turn on the headlights before you crank it. If the headlights go completely OFF, then the battery is dead or the terminals are dirty. If they just get dim but hold a particular level (they don't continue to dim), then I'd suspect the engine is hydrolocked or otherwise mechanically seized.

 

I couldn't find an ammeter that would monitor 600 amps, so I changed the starter, solonoid, starter cable and got a giant gnd cable. Been a couple of weeks with no problems, but this morning after 25 mins on road i stopped to run into a store and the problem is back. I also took the old gnd cable and bolted one end to starter bolt and the other end i grounded to the frame.
I guess i'll find a amp meter that will monitors that kind of amperage.
Any other good ideas will be appreciated. That battery is about 4 years old, autozone tells me its good so its a expensive guess. I still think the heads may need to be adjusted. Anyone second me on that?

 

Coloredred, i don't know if this applies to you, but i know that when i was having starting issues it turned out to be the six inch piece of ground going from the (-) terminal to the fender. The exposed wire that was crimped into the original ring terminal had corroded, so i just cut the wire back two inches, and crimped a new ring terminal on & sealed it with some heat shrink. I would've never thought that this was my problem, but it was.

 

Had the battery check done by one of those "we'll check it for free store", and they told me my battery was good. After a month of not starting, I took it to another store and they told me my battery was bad, now truck cranks over even when hot.