Replaced batteries with Optimas-still hard starting

[Badfish740]

Last night when I swapped out the old Motorcraft batteries and put in the new Optimas they started up just fine. The truck had been sitting for about 2hours after I had driven it home from work, so it wasn't cold, but wasn't all that warm either. After the WTS light went out I cranked it and the engine fired after maybe 5 seconds. I drove the truck about 5 miles to make sure that everything was all right, parked it, and shut it down. This morning when I came outside (ambient temp was about 70 or a hair below, but I park in the shade) I had the same hard starting condition that had prompted me to swap out the old batteries.

Could I have a voltage drain somewhere? My stereo/Sirius receiver is wired directly to the battery through an aftermarket fuse block I installed under the dash because my GEM kept shutting the radio off at random, so I know those aren't the problem. Any other ideas? I'm nervous that if I have some kind of electrical problem it could damage the brand new Optimas, but I guess that's where the 3 year free replacement could come in handy

[jfines@cox.net]

I leave my XM on all the time, and have never had a drainage problem. To me it sounds like it could be a starter.
I had issues with this at the beginning of the summer. I replaced both batteries and nothing. Took the starter to Autozone, and there was the problem.

Just my Good Luck

[Badfish740]

Hmmm...never even thought about the starter being weak. Did your truck only start hard when it hadn't been running for a while? Mine will crank right up if I restart it after stopping for a few minutes. Anything longer than about two hours and it's tough to start.

[smokin dually]

More than likely it is your starter. Mine did the same thing. I swaped batteries too. I put a DB Electrical starater on and it starts fine with the old batteries.

[jfines@cox.net]

Originally Posted by Badfish740

Hmmm...never even thought about the starter being weak. Did your truck only start hard when it hadn't been running for a while? Mine will crank right up if I restart it after stopping for a few minutes. Anything longer than about two hours and it's tough to start.

Yes, when it was cold it acted up more. I guess cause all that oil is thicker.

Took 30 minutes to remove, a short trip to Autozone. Then $189 later it was all better.

I now know that my starter had been dying for a while.

[CamTom12]

I had a similar issue that was an electrical problem... My Dome light assembly had a short in it and would kill my batteries after a couple of days or so

[Blue01F250]

I HATE ELECTRICAL SHORTS!!! Man so hard to find and a PITA

[rednek01]

Originally Posted by Blue01F250

I HATE ELECTRICAL SHORTS!!! Man so hard to find and a PITA

You and me both!

[vitalidle]

Put your meter on the battery and see what the cranking voltage drops to. If your batteries are fully charged and you drop below 10.5 volts then it could be in your starting circuit somewhere. If it does drop to close to that on crank put a load tester on the battery or use a specific gravity tester on the battery. Not sure you can with the optimas but worth ruling out the batteries first. I wonder if you hpop is leaking down after sitting?

[Performance Oil Products]

I'm not understanding the "Hard start" is it a slow crank or slow to fire?

I too wonder because of the HPOP leaking down. if it's a slow crank I would test the starter draw. Not too often to you get bad batteries from optima.

Please explain the Hard start

Shawn