I have a 1997 F 150. Recently I have been having some problems that no one seems to be able to figure out. Sometimes when I turn the ignition over the solenoid on the firewall makes a popping sound. Then engine will not start all i hear is this pop. Other times I go out and the truck fires right up with no problem. I have had the local ford dealership put 3 starters on the truck in the last 4 months and they keep saying that it is the starter. Well I am starting to have my doubts. I can see maybe one starter being bad, maybe two, but three in a row, no. I also replaced the solenoid on the firewall and it did not help. I had the flywheel looked at and I was told that was fine also. Any suggestions?

 

Check all power cables you may have a loose connection. If you have time for troubleshooting, try pulling the terminal off of the solenoid going to the starter and check the voltage coming off the solenoid while someone turns the key (take all safety precautions first) make sure it is strong enough for start (around 13.3 volts)

 

Sounds like a bad/weak battery to me. Have you had it tested out of the truck with a load tester yet? I've had the same issue with a couple of vehicles... 1) the battery shows good voltage when the vehicle wasn't running and then 2) when testing with a load tester the voltage dropped significantly when the battery was under a cranking load. Any of your local parts stores Pep Boys, AutoZone, O'reilly's, etc should be able to do this.

 

I noticed that my truck has a rather small battery in it today. I am going to go buy me a new battery tomorrow and try to put it in and see what happens. I also will check the voltage. Il let ya know how it turns out. Just sometimes I wonder about the people who work on the trucks at the dealership.

 

I vote for the battery.

 

I would also check negative ground cable connections (from battery to engine block, frame...)

 

Well I went to autozone today and bought a Yellowtop Battery for it. The one I bought has 1000 crank amps. I hooked it up and it fired right up. I just am wondering if this was the problem or if it is just a coincidence that it fired this time. Does anyone think I should continue to replace ground wires or should I just wait a couple weeks and see how it plays out. I just don't want to get stranded somewhere.

 

You could wait a few days to see if the problem comes back, if it does check those other items, if not, the problem may have been solved. Of course, it wouldn't hurt to check those items anyway. No harm in verifying that everything works as it should.

 

I hope the battery solves your problem. On the other hand, you can never have too good of a connection when it deals with your electrical system. IMO I would clean all the connections as added protection.

 

Hopefully the battery got your covered Did you get the old one load tested?? Usually that's a tell-tale sign...