Starting Issues
12-13-2016, 03:50 PM
#1
Starting Issues
Hey,
I signed up for this forum in an attempt to diagnose an issue I've been having with my 2008 Ford F150. The truck has 14X,XXX miles on it. The problem started on a Friday afternoon after I came back from a hike. I go to start the truck and nothing happens, no crank, no start. I asked someone for a jump but that didn't work. I decided to try and swap out the battery since it was at least 2 years old but I still couldn't get the truck to start. At this point I decided to call a tow truck but the wait was 90 minutes. 60 minutes into waiting I decided to try and coast down the mountain a bit because reception was bad but when I put the truck in neutral I realized the steering and brakes were extremely difficult to control. While in neutral and coasting I decided to try and start the truck and it worked! I cancelled the tow and drove home. Btw my truck is an automatic.
Once I got home I parked the truck and waited until that evening. I came back to the truck and it started. I drove to Autozone to have them test my starter. After I turned the truck off and he attached the cables to the battery, the truck would not start. He said the starter failed. I expected this was the problem but at least I had confirmation now. I bought a reman Duralast starter but was still stranded. We tried hitting the starter in an attempt at starting the vehicle but it wouldn't start. I figured since I was rolling down the hill last time maybe I could rock the truck and start it. I rocked the truck while in park and it started! I drove to a friend's house and parked the truck.
On Sunday morning I took out the old starter and replaced it with the reman starter. The truck started up without a problem and I tried it a few more times just to be safe. I ended up leaving that evening and had no problem making it home. Monday morning I drove to Fry's and didn't have a problem but when I came back out the truck wouldn't start. Naturally I assumed the alternator was the issue so I asked for a jump. The truck still would not start. I called the tow truck to get a tow to my friend's house. When the guy got there he asked if I installed the starter correctly. He checked the wires and said everything seemed fine but he could smell something burning. We couldn't get it to start but just before they were about to tow it I said we should try rocking it again. Me and another guy started rocking the truck in park while the third guy tried starting it. We heard it try cranking so we rocked harder and it started! He said the burning smell went away and that it's possible I got a bad reman starter from Autozone, bad relay somewhere, or the neutral safety switch is bad.
I drove the truck to a friend's house and now I'm trying to diagnosis the problem but the truck keeps starting. It would be helpful if it wouldn't start but I've tried driving a short distance and coming back and it keeps starting. I've tested the battery using a multimeter and it was 12.66V and read over 14V with the lights and heater/defrost going. With this information I know the battery and alternator are good. My thoughts are that it could be the
-battery cables
-faulty starter
-neutral safety switch
-ignition switch
Is there anything I can do since the truck is starting? I know I can check the starter using a multimeter but will that tell me anything if the truck is starting? I know I can check for resistance in the cables which is next but is there anything else I can do? If I could recreate the no crank it would be helpful but I'm kind of at a loss at this point. Should I take the starter out and have it bench tested? I tried bench testing my old starter using a battery, jumper cables and a screw driver. It sparked so I immediately stopped but the bendix popped out and started spinning. This makes me think the starter might be okay so I'm gonna take it to Autozone tonight and have them bench test it. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks!
I signed up for this forum in an attempt to diagnose an issue I've been having with my 2008 Ford F150. The truck has 14X,XXX miles on it. The problem started on a Friday afternoon after I came back from a hike. I go to start the truck and nothing happens, no crank, no start. I asked someone for a jump but that didn't work. I decided to try and swap out the battery since it was at least 2 years old but I still couldn't get the truck to start. At this point I decided to call a tow truck but the wait was 90 minutes. 60 minutes into waiting I decided to try and coast down the mountain a bit because reception was bad but when I put the truck in neutral I realized the steering and brakes were extremely difficult to control. While in neutral and coasting I decided to try and start the truck and it worked! I cancelled the tow and drove home. Btw my truck is an automatic.
Once I got home I parked the truck and waited until that evening. I came back to the truck and it started. I drove to Autozone to have them test my starter. After I turned the truck off and he attached the cables to the battery, the truck would not start. He said the starter failed. I expected this was the problem but at least I had confirmation now. I bought a reman Duralast starter but was still stranded. We tried hitting the starter in an attempt at starting the vehicle but it wouldn't start. I figured since I was rolling down the hill last time maybe I could rock the truck and start it. I rocked the truck while in park and it started! I drove to a friend's house and parked the truck.
On Sunday morning I took out the old starter and replaced it with the reman starter. The truck started up without a problem and I tried it a few more times just to be safe. I ended up leaving that evening and had no problem making it home. Monday morning I drove to Fry's and didn't have a problem but when I came back out the truck wouldn't start. Naturally I assumed the alternator was the issue so I asked for a jump. The truck still would not start. I called the tow truck to get a tow to my friend's house. When the guy got there he asked if I installed the starter correctly. He checked the wires and said everything seemed fine but he could smell something burning. We couldn't get it to start but just before they were about to tow it I said we should try rocking it again. Me and another guy started rocking the truck in park while the third guy tried starting it. We heard it try cranking so we rocked harder and it started! He said the burning smell went away and that it's possible I got a bad reman starter from Autozone, bad relay somewhere, or the neutral safety switch is bad.
I drove the truck to a friend's house and now I'm trying to diagnosis the problem but the truck keeps starting. It would be helpful if it wouldn't start but I've tried driving a short distance and coming back and it keeps starting. I've tested the battery using a multimeter and it was 12.66V and read over 14V with the lights and heater/defrost going. With this information I know the battery and alternator are good. My thoughts are that it could be the
-battery cables
-faulty starter
-neutral safety switch
-ignition switch
Is there anything I can do since the truck is starting? I know I can check the starter using a multimeter but will that tell me anything if the truck is starting? I know I can check for resistance in the cables which is next but is there anything else I can do? If I could recreate the no crank it would be helpful but I'm kind of at a loss at this point. Should I take the starter out and have it bench tested? I tried bench testing my old starter using a battery, jumper cables and a screw driver. It sparked so I immediately stopped but the bendix popped out and started spinning. This makes me think the starter might be okay so I'm gonna take it to Autozone tonight and have them bench test it. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks!
12-14-2016, 11:36 AM
#2
No one on an F150 forum has any ideas??? This is seeming like a waste of my time. I will give this a couple more days but I figured someone would reply by now. I took my old starter to Autozone last night and it passed the bench test. I'm guessing I didn't need a new battery or starter then but what's done is done. I did a voltage drop test and the negative battery terminal to body of starter had less than a 0.25V drop and the positive to positive had a voltage drop of less than 0.5V. When I connected the negative terminal on battery and ignition switch on starter it showed like 11V instead of 12V. This leads me to believe the neutral safety switch or ignition switch is most likely my problem. Anyone have any ideas?
12-26-2016, 12:48 PM
#3
I'm surprised I haven't received any feedback yet. Hopefully someone weighs in soon because this is rather frustrating. I replaced the neutral safety switch this morning. Truck started right up in park, checked reverse lights (working), put in neutral and turned the truck off, restarted the truck in neutral (no problem). I turned the truck off and restarted in park two more times I think before grabbing my stuff for a test drive. I drove around for maybe 20 miles before coming back home. During this time the vehicle warmed up and the temperature gauge was in the center. I assumed my truck was good but when I got home I tried restarting the truck and it wouldn't start. I went inside for maybe 10 minutes, came back out, it started right up! I'm not sure what's next...
03-24-2017, 10:07 PM
#5
Super Moderator
Welcome to the forum !
Post a pic of your truck
This is an introductions thread, not a lot of traffic here.
If you had posted your questions in the 2004-2008 section you would have received more feed back.
Glad you got it fixed
, electrical can be frustrating !
Post a pic of your truck
This is an introductions thread, not a lot of traffic here.
If you had posted your questions in the 2004-2008 section you would have received more feed back.
Glad you got it fixed
, electrical can be frustrating !
03-27-2017, 12:12 AM
#7
Welcome and glad to see you found the problem
