Grasor

Hello everyone,

My Dad asked me to sell his 2001 F-150 Lariat for him a few months ago and I have been in possession of the truck since January. Yesterday, a nice couple came by and after test driving it and some discussion they agreed to purchase it and would come back tomorrow afternoon to complete the sale.

It was all pretty easy right up until they left. Then I went to move the truck and it would crank but would not catch. I was beside myself, it never had a problem the entire time I had it in my possession and Dad says he's never encountered the problem before.

So - it must have been something I did!

Here's what happened.

The night before the couple came to test drive the truck, I tried to start it but the battery was dead. It is only a four year old Interstate battery which has 85 months on the warranty. It was really cold here for a few weeks since the last time I started it so I figured the cold got to it. So I pulled it out and charged it on a 6 AMP charger then took to an Advance Auto to have it tested - and it was good.

I then reinstalled it and the truck started fine, but the PIAA fog lights that had been installed weren't working. So after 15 minutes of fishing around I found out the PIAA 12V wire wasn't connected to the battery post (the installer had cut the loop-end in half so it fell off without my notice earlier). I put a new end on it and reconnected - lights worked fine and started up fine.

I let it idle for about 30 minutes.

An hour later the couple arrived and fired up the truck a couple of times without problem. Drove it and reported no issues.

They agreed to buy it and then left.

I immediately went to move it out of my drive and it would crank but not start

I checked all of the fuses in the compartment and they were all good. I then checked the fuses in the power distribution box in the cab and the 40 Amp ignition fuse looked totally hosed. The link inside was clearly severed and burnt. I was confused, because the truck was still cranking. So I pulled it out and tried starting to see if the starter was on a different fuse but it would not crank as expected. I then tested it for continuity and it was perfectly fine on the meter I bought a new one at Advance and put it in. It would still crank but not start.

After another hour of head scratching, I disconnected the battery negative for five minutes then reconnected. It started straight up after that.


Anyone have any idea what is going on? I don't want to sell a truck that could leave these folks stranded but I have no idea what needs to be fixed or if anything is broken at all. The only electrical oddity I can think of that could mess with the starting system was an aftermarket alarm with a remote start system that dad added years ago but again, he's never seen this issue.

Marc D

I would suspect the alarm system has a great deal to do with this and it's just bad timing. All add on items like the PIAA's and any other electrical devices are always suspect, especially where they were connected and how.Make sure the battery is charged and the alternator is putting out 13.5 + volts and sell it. Also if it won't start again try another key, it could be a bad chip in the key.