The problem is that it starts good, and then you will drive it around for a while or even jus let it idle for a little and then shut if off. Come back in about 10-15 minz later to start it and it takes a good amount of time to crank but does start very weak. Then it will run fine. Also since this has happened the gas mileage has been bad. Took it to ford today and they didnt see anything wrong. PLEASE HELP!!!!!!

 

mine does that too occasionally... not sure why

 

check your best bet is to start checkin these first:

starter selonoid
altinator and voltage regulator
battery for week cells
starter for worn barrings == worn bearings eats batteries just replaced both of mine and i gained 2.3 mpg have them tested at your autparts store with a load tester

 

Wait, do you mean it cranks over weak, or the engine is weak once it starts??? Mine cranks fine, just the engine takes a while to start sometimes...

 

yep mine acted like it had set for 3 months in dead of winter.. drains battery till it fries a cell or 2 then strains on your starter bearings and makes it go bad.. already been down that road... dont buy a reman..starter... i went thur 3 in a week before i got smart got a new one... cost 30 bucks more but you live and learn.. and got bigest autozone batter made for my truck duralast gold 1000 cranking amps.. now its starts on a half a crank.. instead of motor turning over for 30 secs before it starts

 

It cranks strong but just starts weak. The idles will be really bad when first started and then goes ok. It only happens to me when the motor is warm/hot and sits for 10-15 minz. I had it at ford today and the only thing they saw was that my alternator was running at like 13.6v when it should be at like 14.6 or 14.4v.

 

If it cranks strong, it has nothing to do with the charging system or the battery.

 

Yea i thought so, mostly common sense in a way. I think it has to do with something in the fuel department maybe. But of course it didnt show codes for it and i dont know if it will. But the guys at ford told me to come back next week and they will run it on the computer again for free. What im goin to do tomorrow is order a new fuel filter, because i have ran my truck once or twice pretty low on fuel. My truck is a 1998 with only 36,000 miles on it, so it should not be anything serious with so few miles.

 

Well if you find the problem let me know, mine does it about twice a month... Nothing I worry about, id just like to know why.

 

I went ahead and changed the fuel filter and it seemed to be running good. The gas mileage went back to where it was when i first got the truck. Then towards the end of this week it started to get sucky gas mileage again, and now it's more prone to doing the longer cranking. Tomorrow im probably going to look at the injectors and plugs. I have been running Super in it.

 

With a 10 year old truck, I'd be suspicious of a vacuum leak in either a rubber hose for one of the system idle or fuel controls or an intake leak after the throttle body, have you done any tests with a can of starter fluid to check for intake leaks? Any error codes from a reader?

BTW, for the forum, nice to find a 150 site, looks sweet so far here!

 

Try spraying the Mass air meter with Electronic cleaner. The Mass air meter gets dirty or for those that use K&N filters sometimes oil from the filter contaminates the meter causing rough starts, bad idle, and poor fuel economy. This can also eventually cause the sparkplugs to foul from a poor air fuel ratio. So you end up with multiple problems. Check your plugs also. Good luck.