Truck not starting, help!

[matt-jenkins]

With the jumpers it actually started pretty quick but thats after I let it sit and cool down for about an hour and a half.
I need to replace the batteries as stated the previous owner installed 650CCA batteries. I'm going to get a pair of 900's.

Starter sounds healthy and cranks over fast, Alternator charges up the batts good they just dont have enough juice to crank it over for a long time. I think I'm going to look into return lines, how much are they for a set?

 

[Silver91Hatch]

Typ4 sells them very reasonably. I don't remember the price, I bought his injectors, return line kit, and Viton o-rings. I use 2 Motorcraft 850CCA batteries, part number BXT-65-850, they are the best batteries I have ever used personally, I seel them and Interstate but the interstates are 75 CCA less.

 

[timothyr1014]

check out russ for the kit as he will get you the viteon rings...they survive much better. The other thing to check is you cables...factory ford cables tend to corrode from the inside out, and even when I tested mine it loocked good, but it becomes a whole different story when you frop a 200+ amp load on it

 

[matt-jenkins]

So, once again after my truck died in my garage my friend with the trusty old first gen came to jump me. Truck fired over on the first crank I'm going to look into the batteries and possibly the return lines.

 

[Silver91Hatch]

If it died, then fired on the first couple turns with a jump, I would swap in a couple batteries, check the grounds, and give it a shot. You can look at the return lines and see of they are wet. If they are not wet/leaking then I wouldn't worry about replacing them, unless your dead set on it.

 

[timothyr1014]

^^Agreed
just out of curiosity, which side are you using to jump off of?

 

[matt-jenkins]

I'm going down to PDR today, my best friend is a mechanic so we're gonna hook it up to there computer and run a charging system test. I've been jumping it off the passenger side. your not supposed to jump off the driver side.

 

[timothyr1014]

the only reason I was asking about the side was cable resistance...on one of mine the cable looked and acted fine, but when you put the load of the starter on it the drivers side battery would drop out. The theory can be tested by trying to jump off the drivers side.

 

[matt-jenkins]

So, if i try and jump it off the driver side and it doesn't start then I should be looking at replacing that battery cable as well?

 

[timothyr1014]

its not a completely bullet proof test, but if you cant jump off of the drivers side I would be looking at them.
The reason to go off of the pass side has to do with the effeciency of power transfer getting from the jump vehicle to the starters. The other way is to see if your starter speed changes with the 2nd battery in...when I had the issue on mine the speed with the speed was the same with either one battery or two, but i could power the whole cab from just the drivers battery...it only showed under load

 

[fields_mj]

its not a completely bullet proof test, but if you cant jump off of the drivers side I would be looking at them.
The reason to go off of the pass side has to do with the effeciency of power transfer getting from the jump vehicle to the starters.

The cross over cable between the two batteries is smaller than the one that goes down to the starter, which effects the efficiency a lot.

I just went through this problem on my truck. For me it was my starter. I didn't even know it was going bad. The truck sounded like most other old diesels that I've heard start. I put the new starter on, and she cranks over a LOT faster now (as fast as my straight six gas motor), and she fires right up now. Yours sounds like a battery problem. Check the battery clamps too. I once spent my anniversary evening laying under my F150 changing out the starter in a wall mart parking lot only to find out that I had a cracked battery clamp.

I don't have a ton of experience yet (only owned the truck for 6 months) but the return lines are probably not your issue. I would think that they would exaggerate your other problems (like the batteries), but if your only issue is the return lines, you'd still be able to start the truck. It would just take a few seconds longer.

 

[timothyr1014]

agreed...I just figure start with whats easiest to test before he starts spending money on parts

 

[fields_mj]

That's what I thought until I started pricing a full set of cables. At $160, my starter was about the same prices as a decent set of cables. Cheapest postive cable I found was $80 from Oreily's. Still, batteries are pretty salty, so take the old ones in and have them tested.

 

[matt-jenkins]

So, just a little follow up. I swing by Piers Diesel today and had my friend hook my truck up to there battery tester.
Both of my batteries are rated at 650CCA, The driver side batt is only making 469 and the passenger side battery is only making....






68cca @ 13.10V!

 

[timothyr1014]

Um...I is thinking you found a big part of your prob....did he test your alt output as well?