5.0 Battery Issues

[voodookills31]

when i start my car, it runs fine. but if i turn it off and try to start it within 30mins, it wont start and acts like the battery is out of juice. when this happens i notice the power terminal is extremly hot and so is the cable from this terminal. if i let it sit for about 30min- an hour, it starts up fine like nothing ever happened. my question is what the heck is this? ive already replaced the battery and its still doing the same thing.

[1BigBad4d]

Starter ? My old stang did that on occasion with the silinoid on the rt apron before it went to gear reduction starters. Something wld stick and cause it to send a signal to my battery continuously. I am pretty sure that that's what the part was but I may be calling it the wrong thing. Basicly it was in between the starter n battery on the apron.

[90gt]

ive seen this happen when the starter or cable is in poor condition. Or if either one was replaced with a "cheap" replacement. Either way good luck.

[voodookills31]

do you mean the cable to the starter? my buddy was suggesting that maybe my starter ground is bad as well as maybe my starter. im going to check those out today along with replacing the battery cables and terminals today for good measure.

[90gt]

yessir...good point as well check the ground cable & all of the connections

[voodookills31]

will do. hey in your avatar, are those new rims? what kind are they?

[John#21]

check and replace the grounds. I have had symptoms like this on most of my fords. 88 bronco, 96 f150 and my 95 gt ( all are 5.0's not that that matters.). the grounds always corrode inside the insulation.

[voodookills31]

ok so i replaced the terminals on the battery and cut the nasty ends of the cables connecting to them. it ran fine for about two weeks of constant daily driving. well yesterday, i turn off the car waiting for my BK. i turn the key to the KOEO and the fuel pump primes. i get my food and turn the key off and then back on to where the pump primes again, but when i try to start it, it smells like fuel and cranks over but doesnt start. it sounds like it wants to start but nothing. and after a while of trying to start it, the battery gets weak or something. funny thing is that when i jump the car, it starts like nothing ever happened and has started this morning without issues.

IDK if it matters but i notice that when i turn on anything electrical, the volt meter dips a little and only goes back up when whatever i powered is powered off (i.e windows up or down,headlights,BLINKER, radio etc) Im going to test the battery and alt today. al the wires leading to te battery from the alternator looked fine and the power terminal doesnt get all hot anymore, but the issue still persists. any ideas?

[Aerocoupe]

Have you pulled the starter and taken it to an alternator and starter rebuild shop? I don't trust parts stores checking these as far as I can throw them. Take your alternator with you and have it checked as well. The last time I had my mini starter and 3G alternator checked the guy went through them just for maintenance reasons and the total cost was about $75 for both. This was brushes, bearings (bushings), etc. and cleaned up in the bead blaster. About the only other thing you are looking at is the starter relay on the inner fender like 1BigBad4d suggested. No real check for them but if you have never replaced it I would think it could not hurt but I hate to toss money at something if you don't need to. Another thing you need to check is the battery to chassis and chassis to block grounds.

One other note, if the car will crank and it acts like it is flooded then hold the gas pedal to the floor. Under cranking this will stop the injectors from firing and usually the car will start up. This worked for me a couple of times when the Coupe had some leaking injectors.

Darren