Ford F150 1998 4.2L Auto Starter going?

I'd have a battery load test done to ensure the battery is actually OK.

Then clean up the terminals, battery cable clamps and the rusty end of your battery ground cable.

Once you've ensured the starter is getting full current, if the problem persists it could be a sticky/worn bendix or possibly worn starter gears.

Some tips here:

Good info thanks.

Whats your take on when he turned the eng a little by hand with the belt or fan pulley?

It started perfect after he did that, said the eng was TDC ?

Dead spot on the commutator. You'll find out when it happens again.

Sadly our alternator and starter rebuilding shop closed down during Covid.

--scott

I agree. But he should confirm battery health and connections anyway.

See 'answer' here:

Your friend may be right that the starter is on its way out, but the "engine stopped at TDC" explanation doesn't really make sense. A good starter should be able to crank the engine wherever it stops. Engines stop against compression all the time, and the starter is designed to handle that.

The part that stands out most is the clock resetting, flashers buzzing, and the key chime going dead. That points strongly to low voltage, a bad battery, bad battery connections, or a bad ground. Even with a booster pack hooked up, dirty terminals or a bad cable can still keep enough current from reaching the starter.

The earlier issue where moving the shifter made it start could have been the neutral safety switch, but it also could have been coincidence or vibration moving a weak connection. Since you now get a click and everything acts like the battery is dying, I would look at battery and cable condition before blaming the neutral switch again.

If the battery tests good and the terminals, positive cable to the starter, and engine ground are all clean and tight, then the starter becomes the likely suspect. A single click can mean the solenoid is engaging but the starter motor is not turning. The fact that it started after the engine was moved slightly could mean the starter hit a bad spot, or possibly there are worn teeth on the flexplate/ring gear, but it is not simply because the engine was at top dead center.

So I would not just assume "TDC did it." Have the battery load-tested, check the terminals and grounds carefully, then test voltage at the starter while trying to crank. If it has good power and ground and still only clicks, then yes, replace the starter.

This response appears in the discussion at:

Spoke to him last night to explain more, he says the starter is engaging the flywheel but cant spin it, and thats because the eng is in a compression stroke, I suppose he means multiple pistons....he says the starter has a tough time spinning the flywheel due to the added resistance. Makes sense to me, as this could be the original 1998 starter in there for almost 30 yrs.

I guess it can explain why the battery lost its power, starter is drawing a decent chunk of amps each time you turn the key and hear the click. Eventually I didnt even hear the click because the battery went down lower than enough to do that anymore.

Advance auto tested the battery after we got it going, the readout said good with 13V and that was after I ran the engine a while to recharge the batt, plus the drive to the place to check it. That night I put my DMM on it and it said 12.7V just sitting in the parking lot.

When the neutral switch was changed, they ran tests on the battery , charging system and starter, passed ok.

I saw my friend under the passenger side with the hammer so I went under there last night for a peek, the large red wire has some insulation peeled back a little, both nuts have a lot of rust on them, so that could be the original starter in there from the Ford factory. Theres 2 bolts, not sure what size but they seem rusted. So I dont think they took the starter out for any testing.

I'm thinking of trying to change it myself, this morning was pretty cold for a parking lot fix on the blacktop, the other shop it was at is trying to pencil me in for this afternoon.

Hope all goes well with it.

This response appears in the discussion at:

Well progress for sure.

It died again with same symptoms, I have the new starter with me in the truck so was gonna do it in a strip mall parking lot, however one wire terminal is already on the starter with a note to splce it to the exisgint wire with the heat shrink already sleeved over it. I dont have a heagt gun or room to splice so I went back to trying to revive the old starter.

Got a breaker bar on the crank nut and moved it a little cw past the compression stroke I assumed it was on...kept the Noco booster on the batt, but not even a click anymore.

Hammered the starter, and that seemed to do the trick....but I did put my fingers on the large copper stud with the nut and terminal on the starter and moved it a little before hammering it.

Drove to Sunoco and it died again.

Turned the crank with the breaker bar, nothing. Tapped the starter with the sledge, nothing.

Twisted that copper stud with the red terminal , I guess thats main DC to the starter and started up.

I remember seeing my friend with a For Ranchero use the sledg trick till one day it stopped helping and he twisted that stud and got it to start.

I think the copper stud directly hits the amrmature like a brush in there and it gradually moves away from the armature contacts if I remember right.

So twisting it may have got me some better contact temporarily...as it died again at the mall.....

Too hot in there to grab it without gloves, but I let it kool down and it still only clicks. But will try twisting the stud again.

Other thing I dont get is when it does this , the cabin looses power and the key in ignition chime sounds like a relay buzzing with not enough power.

Battery reads 12.3V on my DMM, but its possible maybe the battery current is lousy. Alternator when running says its taking 14V, I think usually it should be 15?

So far I always had to have the Noco booster on it to get it to start.

How this starter works: Starter has a solenoid attached to it. The ignition switch applies power to the solenoid. The solenoid then pulls in the steel plunger. When that happens the plunger, via a lever, moves the starter gear drive into the flywheel gears. Inside the solenoid is a copper disk or ring that the solenoid pulls / pushes against the large battery wire terminal inside of the solenoid and against the starter motor terminal and activate the starter motor. The copper parts in the solenoid usually burn or wear out over time preventing the ring from making contact to both terminals.

Other possibilities are: The large battery wire is corroded or dirty at the solenoid or battery. The battery is not sufficiently grounded to the engine AND truck body. Or the solenoid is working ok but the starter armature contacts have worn out or burned. I would take the starter, drive, and solenoid apart to see exactly which part has gone bad then either replace that part or just replace the entire starter, drive, and solenoid and be done with it. Clean all the electrical connections while you are at it. I don't have a heat gun but find that a Bic Lighter works just fine. Just don't catch anything on fire.

Thanks thats more or less how I thought it works.

So I had Firestone replace the starter and the alternator. I warned them about the batt but they said it did not fail on them and like (2) other places that tested the battery, they too said it is "ok".

He said the starter and alternator are the originals in there from 1998 at the factory.

Sounds like they tested the charging system, so I drove it out of there around the corner and parked it where I work. I decided to try starting it after turning it off and of course we are back to the same problem, a click and loss of power in the cabin.

I took the Noco booster thats suppose to deliver 1000A and maually placed it into the boost mode, bypassing the relay clicking in it which again says the battery its attached to is low.

Thought for sure the 1000A extra would make it turn over, but to my amazement, same thing.

So the battery is out and back on my trickle charger like it was this morning. Soon as I put it on, it drew over 5 amps which was probably why the Noco reacted like it did.

Gonna let it charge overnight so it barely pulls any current at all, then put it in, start up and drive to a place that stocks a new battery.

Then back to Firestone to have them double check its charging....maybe a regulator is bad. Else the battery can only hold a charge for a few startups, but I would have thought they let the engine run to charge the battery and be sure.

I would look at the battery cables and connections, especially the ground ends. Ensure they are all clean and well secured and look for cracks/fraying/corrosion of the cables.

If you have an amp meter then undo the neg battery cable and put it between the battery and the neg cable to see what the draw is. With everything off, doors shut, key off, the draw should be very low, an amp or two at most. A ten amp draw for 8 hours would likely drain the battery.

Here in Houston the 100F/38C temps from May through October will destroy a typical battery in 5 years or less. Up north the cold cranking for months does the same.

Well it died on me after I parked in a strip mall so took the bat out and let it trickle charge overnight, topped off good.

After I put it in, still dead, but yea the negative batt clamp no matter how tight , seemed to be loose now so maybe that was it...tough to figure.

After I moved it so there was some resistance it started.

Immediatey drove to a battery shop and they put in a 5 yr battery, tested charging with headlamps on etc....all good, so far no more problems.

I put an ammeter in series with the + terminal, about half an amp when you first connect the ammeter, then it goes to about 160mA....

I have read it should be only a few mA?

I agree, multiple issues. Thanks for your input, at least I can rest assured this new batt wont be bled out before its time.

Thanks to all who contributed comments to this epic ordeal, I believe its solved.