Been having an intermittent starting problem lately.

Couple weeks ago tried to start it and got just a single click. Backed the key out, turned it again, started no problem. Figured it was a glitch in the matrix until it showed up again. Drove it again for a week or so with no problems

A few days ago I tried to start it and it did the same thing - one click. I backed the key out, then tried to start it again and it wouldn't go - no noises. I tried again and held the key forward as far as it would go for a few seconds, and it started up no problem out of the blue. At this point I was moderately worried I had a real problem. Drove it again for a couple of days with no problems.

Yesterday morning went to start it and the starter tried to engage - you could hear it do a quick chug. Then nothing - complete loss of power. No lights on the dash or in the cab or anything. Popped the hood, could see that the under hood light bulb was barely lit, but that it was gradually getting brighter. Checked my power and ground connections, banged on the starter with a rubber mallet for good measure. Tried to start it again with no luck, only this time if I held the key forward you could see the lights on the dash just barely flickering, like it was at least trying.

Got back out and decided to grab my jumper cables and hook it up to my other car. By the time I located the cables and got back to the truck, the under hood light was as bright as it had been that morning. So I decided to give it a go - started up with no hesitation. Drove it to my friends house and ran a couple errands with it, started up every time with no problem. Only thing weird that happened all day is when I pulled off of the freeway after it started for the first time, it was idling up a little bit higher than normal and almost revving, but it would only do it for a few seconds and then settle back down.

It only has had the problem on the first start of the morning, and it has been getting gradually colder here. Everything tells me it is time for a new battery but before I go sink $150 I figured I would ask you guys what you think first. Battery has a 6/13 sticker on it so it is about 3.5 years old. Fire away.

 

I'm sure you've checked and cleaned all your connections by now.
Maybe use a test light on the little push on wire on the fender solenoid to see if it's getting power from the (possibly faulty) ignition switch on the column. Pushing the key further forward was the clue on that one.
If you completely drain a battery down, it will pick back up quite a bit of it's charge if you just leave it for 20-30 minutes, which sounds like what happened while you were looking for cables. So what drained it though ?
I wonder if you could have something shorting to ground at the solenoid or starter that drains it without cranking ?
Just possibilities.
I hate the idea of throwing parts at a problem and crossing your fingers, but... Winter is coming. A battery, starter and solenoid would probably cost 200 - 250 but having those 3 parts fresh would give you a lot of peace of mind even if they're not the issue - so definitely not a waste of money if you don't know exactly when they were (recently) changed last. If it comes to that.
I don't know what they charge for rides in a tow truck there, but one trip on one here would go a long way towards buying parts.
That thread in electrical that I bumped up a few days back "good old ford starting problems" has the starting circuit diagrams and some pretty good explanations of the system for reference.

 

Well, you could swap the battery with the one in your other car and see if the symptoms follow it.

 

It's definitely something causing the battery to drain - the lights dimming and brightening have to be the evidence of that. But it "regenerated" itself in less than 5 min. And the starter never struggles - it either goes or it doesn't. Like it has enough power or it doesn't.

I'll investigate a little more today its pretty cold out this morning so I will give it another cold start try. Thanks gents.

 

Wire insulation worn and grounding out on something?

 

You have loose or dirty battery cable connections. possible but rare bad internal connection in the battery. A dead battery will not regenerate in a few seconds.

 

Just went out and she fired right up with no hesitation whatsoever. Coldest morning so far. I love electrical problems.

 

I think I figured it out but won't know for sure for a week or so of reliable starts, and I don't want to jinx it by announcing what it is. If it turns out to be what I think it was, it was something really stupid and I will come back and tell everyone so they can make fun of me for even starting this thread.

 

I had a few issues like this on my 95 that all happened separately. Once time it was the starter solenoid on the pass fender, another was a faulty new battery, and another the main cable from the battery to started had corrosion inside and had to be replaced.

 

I would drive it down to your local parts store. Let them hook it up to their machine. If everything checks out as good, then you have a bad wire somewhere.