Intermittant dead starter

[tomsuelaw]

I could use a little help figuring this problem out since the service department at my dealer is acting incompetent and impotent.

Over the last couple months I've had an intermittant problem where after driving a few miles and turning it off and then trying to restart the starter acts like it is completely frozen- battery's fine and the starter doesn't even try to turn. Up until last week after a couple tries over a few minutes it seemed to work fine. Had it towed to the dealer and all they can tell me is that my battery's only at 700-800 cca. It's <10 degrees today so of course it's going to crank slow after sitting out all night plus the problem happened at 35 degrees last week.

Looking under the hood while engaging the starter there's little click and the a/c compressor flywheel moved a little, but the belt didn't turn and the engine didn't crank. Now the dealer tech says it just starts slow but couldn't duplicate the problem. I know if I take it back and just start driving it again my wife or I will end up stranded in the cold. any thoughts?
thanks,
Tom

[Dixienormous]

i just had kinda the same problem the truck cranked over some times when it was warm but now that its cold it cranks and disengages just before its gonna start took the starter out and some junk is loose in there so im having rebuilt as i type lol,i think this is your problem

[Stef-man]

Hey there,

Might not be the starter at all, usually they work or do not at all. Try shifting into neutral and then start it. Sometimes my 02 7.3 doesn't shift all the way into park. If this happens, no starty. If you are mechanically inclined, get a truck manual and follow the troubleshooting steps for no start. Could also be the starter solenoid, can be ruled out with a meter tester. Hope this helps!

[RealdieselsRyellow]

Originally Posted by Stef-man

Hey there,

Might not be the starter at all, usually they work or do not at all. Try shifting into neutral and then start it. Sometimes my 02 7.3 doesn't shift all the way into park. If this happens, no starty. If you are mechanically inclined, get a truck manual and follow the troubleshooting steps for no start. Could also be the starter solenoid, can be ruled out with a meter tester. Hope this helps!

X2, we have an 01' F450 that does this randomly. Next time it's in the shop I'm going to check the neutral start switch.

When it acts up it seems like the batts are dead, it will try to crank for a sec. the just stop. If you shift to neutral it will then start fine.

[tipsyjack]

also check the cable to the starter,mine loosens up periodically.

[tomsuelaw]

Thanks guys. I'm picking it up today after, "we can't diagnose the problem since we can't duplicate it... it works fine." I'll check your suggestions and see if I can out do the dealer tech.

[mcgoo422000]

If it goes click-click when you try and start it ? It more than likely
is a bad selinoid switch . I had that problem after exploding the original starter . My loacal rebuilder was using cheap selinoid switches , he put a HD one on mine and it's been like 20 monthes since I've had a problem .