93 7.3 idi slow cranking

[brinkmanj]

Hey all, this is my first post here but I've been reading the forums for awhile now. I recently bought a 93 F250 7.3 and have been having issues with it. I did search but could not find what I needed.

Originally it would not start cold, 2 new batteries, new GP's and GPC took care of that. Recently the starter mounted solenoid died and was replaced. After that the truck started and ran fine for a couple of days. Today I went to start it in about 20 degree weather and it cranked over incredibly slowly. I checked all of my starter wiring and connections, battery post connections, engine grounds etc and determined the starter to be bad. I replaced the starter and it made no difference. It cranks over so slow it is scary. I would say somewhere around 60 rpm. Can you guys think of anything I need to check before it goes to the shop?

Thanks for any advice!

 

[97idi]

well this happens to me when i goes from a mild temp like this week it was 40 and i woke up this morn to find it to be 8* when i plug it in it turns over fine but when its cold and not pluged its ultra slow so i would guess its the cold weather, and welcome to the site!!!
and btw when mine cranks slow it still starts after a few cranks and a good long burn of the gps

 

[icanfixall]

Did you buy a quality solenoid or a "parts hose brand".... Really the oem Ford solenoids are made so much better. This was proven once at a past rally. Is there any corrision around the cables. Sometimes it gets between the wire and the cover. That will kill the currant and amps.

 

[brinkmanj]

thanks for the welcome, i think i will be spending alot of time on here. The truck did not start this morning, it may start if i keep cranking but i was afraid of overheating my new starter. I guess I will run out and crank it up and see if it will actually start.

 

[brinkmanj]

Did you buy a quality solenoid or a "parts hose brand".... Really the oem Ford solenoids are made so much better. This was proven once at a past rally. Is there any corrision around the cables. Sometimes it gets between the wire and the cover. That will kill the currant and amps.

It was duralast junk from autozone, but the starter was replaced today and that came with a new solenoid as well. So I had the exact same issue with the factory starter(and az solenoid) and the brand new starter and solenoid. The cables look good and I cleaned most of the connections, they are not factory cables they have been replaced at some point and are in good shape. Not saying that cant be the problem but I want to make sure Im not missing something else.

 

[fx4wannabe]

Make sure the starter is getting a good ground. Seems simple but I thought for sure that my starter or batteries were toast and turned out my ground wire is coroded on the inside and it just broke off completely. Spun like a banshee when I was messing with the ground wire so I am pretty sure that was my problem. Just to look at it it all looked good but when I started messing with the wire it started turning faster.

 

[brinkmanj]

forgive my ignorance but where is the starter ground wire? I thought it was grounded directly to the engine block.

 

[93cc7.3]

i belive they are talking about the wire from the front of the engine block to the battries

 

[fx4wannabe]

My start has 3 wires on it and I just assumed the one that broke in half was a ground. I have the big red wire, small red wire and another that looks black but they all covered in oil so they are all black at the moment. I guess I will have to confirm this when I get it all cleaned up and fixed.

 

[brinkmanj]

ok I'm with you now. i will keep going through the connections. thanks

 

[brinkmanj]

is it normal to have to plug these trucks in around 20 F or less? that still seems pretty warm to me and I've read of guys starting at 0 F without plugging in. If its normal then I can deal with it I just want to make sure nothing is wrong.

 

[fx4wannabe]

It will start without plug in if everything is up to ***** but it will still take a couple cranks. I usually plug mine in just to ease starting. It doesn't get that cold here that often though.

 

[jim_22]

My truck came from a sub-zero winter climate and the guy told me he plugged in below zero. I plug in below 20 because it makes for an easier start and a warmer truck faster, and we don't see that too often where I live. Figure most of the wear on your engine comes in the starting process. Light weight oil helps a lot and antigel additive with cetane boost too.

 

[brinkmanj]

Turned out to be a bad battery the whole time, 2 new interstates and it cranks hard and fires up instantly. Thanks for the help everybody.

 

[97idi]

good to hear u got it figured out! atleast u didnt go to start and u had no cranking power hope fully that doesent happen to me maby i need new batts