I have a 87 econoline 8 cyl 150 i'm looking to sell. It has been sitting fora year and i tried to start it the other day it struggled cranking but started and ran fine. Today i tried starting it, it sounds like the battery is dead it turns the motor just a bit and stops. I put a new battery and terminal cables in.

When i try to crank it about 5 or 6 times the terminal cables get hot. I was playing arouund with it and tried cranking it like 15 times, looked at the battery and the cables were melting.

A friend of mine told me the starter is drawing too many amps, which makes sence.

But for a van im going to sell for $400 i don't feel like buying a $100 starter if it doesn't need it.

Anything else it could be?

I would appreciate any comments, suggestions, similar stories.

Chris

 

Supplement the feed and earths with some jump leads (booster cables?) and see if there's any improvement in starting - if there is, then there must be a loose connection, or the new cables you've fitted are too thin.

After that, the only step is to remove and strip the starter - it may just need some brushes.

 

do you mean get cables and run them directly from the battery to the starter? and how would i know if my cables were too thin

thanks a lot


Chris

 

Yes - run a jump lead from the battery positive to the main starter motor feed in addition to the one already there, and run the other jump lead from somewhere on the engine.gearbox to the battery earth. This will double the wire thickness to and from the starter, so if it still struggles, it is definately the starter motor at fault. If it now works OK, then you'll need bigger wiring to the starter than is currently fitted, or will need to improve their connections.

As your mate said, either the starter motor is drawing too much current, or the wire can't pass enough current, causing it to overheat.