my wagon was a little sluggish on the start up. This would happen more and more frequently. Finally it got to where it would start fine if it had been sitting, say first thing in the morning. But after driving maybe half an hour, if I turned it off, and then wanted to restart it again it would not turn. Lights worked, radio, all that just a slow pull on the starter. I'm very confused having just replaced a battery, new alternator last year, and this past summer did the starter and solenoid. Well the other night leaving the store just seconds down the street, in cold December rain with two screaming kids, the thing won't turn at all. I unload the kids go back into the store to kill time until my wife can pick us up in her Camry. While passing through the frozen food section it hits me. Heat soak. I've heard of it, never experienced it. I bought a bag of frozen green beans. A big one. I went out to the car and packed the frosty bag around the starter best I could and drank 1, just 1 beer. (My kids were with me, so one is the limit) turned the key and slowly but surely she cranks up!!! I drove it right home! The kids had green beans for dinner and I changed a starter on a cold, wet, night, and now all is well!!!
Yup, and even though you replaced the starter, you now should consider cleaning, if not replacing, the main power and starter cables. They don't last the life of the car. I bet, if you had used a jumper cable to supplant the solenoid-to-starter cable, it would've fired right up.
Yeah! I replaced the main power cable and added one of those quick release terminals. Now hang with me I'm a little slow, but you say use a jumper cable and clamp on the starter and then to the solenoid up top? Leave the grounds from the jumper cables free? Or just a single jumper wire? Gawd i hope I don't catch hell for this. Also, the failed starter was a re-manned lifetime warranty, should I have upgraded to new? I also shopped around for a mini starter. Thoughts? Feelings? Insults?
I think I'd better explain--what I meant was that if, before you swapped it out, you had used a jumper cable to help out the starter cable, it likely would've fired off. I'm not saying "Do that now." I am saying you likely have bad main cables. The Ford ground cable is notorious for getting so bad, that it causes these problems. Change it and change the solenoid-to-starter cable. If you want to go to a factory mini starter, that's also doable. I've done it on Babe's 351W, and it works beautifully.
Yeah I got that haha. Cool, thank you. I did not do the ground cable. I'll do that this weekend along with the power steering pressure hose that's leaking. easy $$. Good info. Scanned through a jegs catalogue and saw mini starters that applied but were over $200. Got any better leads?
Ford stock permanent magnet gear reduction (PMGR) starter. '92-'96 F-Series/E-Series and Bronco with 5.0 or 5.8L V8 and '95-'00 Exploder 5.0L V8 trucks have them, and they are a direct bolt-up, although you will need longer bolts, as the factory bolts for your current starter are too short. I installed one in Babe, used a positive cable from a 4.0L Explorer that I salvaged, along with the starter trigger wire, and it works beautifully! I pull only about 55 amps cranking (yours likely pulls 2-3 times that amount), and man, it spins fast! I have a quick write-up on Ranchero.us in the tech projects section. But yeah, check that negative cable, because I can't tell you how many cars a good ground cable fixes, and not just starter cranking problems.
I had the same issue last spring with my low mileage Catalina. I had always heard of the problem but had never owned a car that had it before. And I had owned this car for about a year with no issues. I decided to have the starter rebuilt (with a new Solenoid) and replace the battery cables, and add a heat shield. While doing that work I found 2 additional things, the passenger side exhaust manifold was cracked, and blowing hot air directly onto the starter, and the manifold to downpipe gasket was shot, also blowing onto the starter! My old ears could not hear the exhaust leaks while inside the car, but I could hear them when I started the car and stood on the passenger side. Just something else to keep in mind. But I would definatly replace the cables. They have about a 10 year Life Span.
