hey fellas alittle mystery for ya,

got a 2003 fx4 with 5k miles on it and never had any problems until this morning when i went to warm it up and it wouldnt start. in didnt even turn over, and i was thinkin' "left my damn lights on" but when i checked my headlight switch and dome light switch none were on??? hm....so i had my girlfriends dad jump me, and at first nothing, after 5 min ....nothing. all the dash lights came on(which did before i jumped it) but thats it, then i was like well hell one last time. and boom she started up like the first day i got her. no retard in the ignition. just started right up.

what in the world could be the problem. i also have keyless entry, and it worked, would it not if my battery was dead??

 

It could be a few things.
Loose/corroded battery connection.
Dead battery (possible, but doesn't sound like it)
Cold sensitive starter motor.
Neutral safety switch.

Failure of Most of the electrical parts that could have failed can be ruled out because it did eventually start. Start with the battery connections. Most auto part stores will test the battery with load to determin if you have a bad cell. It will save you the aggravation of having to wait a day on the dealer to get the infamous "could not duplicate".

 

Is it cold as heck when you tried to start it?

 

had no problem the rest of the day and my battery connection wasn't the problem. I guess i'll wait this out until it happens again. Thanks for the input

 

is your truck standard or auto? if you had bright head lights before you jumped it you can rule out battery. as pickup man asked, was it really cold when you tried to start? i.e. how cold

 

Could be a dead spot in the starter. If so, it could happen again no matter what temperature.

 

Ford starters do not have dead spots. There are 2 sets of brushes in them that prevents this (2 pos and 2 neg).

My guess is either the battery was a little weak and couldn't crank over or ignition related. Battery may have warmed up a little when tyring to energize the starter. As it warms up, it produces more current.

A tell tale sign that it is starter related when you can hear the pinion hit/engage the flywheel and doesn't do anything else. Older trucks you can easily hear this, but not sure on the newer quieter trucks.

 

im in cincinnati ohio, it got down to 10F pretty cold but not that cold, i was in a long sleeve shirt jumping it, and wasnt that bad cuz not a much wind. but anyway the truck in an auto. i dont know if the headlights worked or not, but when i opened the door the dome light came on and it made that annoying ding noise cuz my keys were in the ignition. not characteristic of dead battery huh?

thanx

 

Power to run dome lights and door chime = 3 - 5 amps.

Power to run a starter at colder temps for F150 = ~240 amps.

Power enough to turn on simple things but not enough to turn over vehicle = priceless.


Kidding aside, your starter will draw well over 200 amps while cranking your vehicle, the colder it gets, the harder it is to crank your engine. Your battery needs to be in better shape in the winter vs. summer. Did your starter engage the flywheel like I mentioned but not crank? If not, you have another issue.

 

I just had the battery on my 2003 replaced under warranty on Monday. For the past 2 months, when the temp was under 40 degrees, it sounded sluggish turning over and when it did, all the gauges would max out and then return to normal. I did some research on here and some said that is a sign of a weak battery. I took the truck in on Monday for service and state inspection and asked them to check the battery and alternator and described what the truck was doing. After they looked at it and started it several times, the service manager said, "It's supposed to do that, that is how it is designed". I told him it didn't do it when it was new and it only did it when it was cold, TEST THE BATTERY. An hour and a half later, the battery was found to be weak and was replaced under warranty.