VR Sluggish to start, suggestions?

[Vee-ard]

Not really much of a problem, more of an annoyance just wondering what it could be. My 5.0L ute is normally just a bit sluggish to kick over, it will always start first turn of the key, but it just takes a while to turn and fire into life. it also sounds a bit weak while doing so. Is this normal for the 5.0L or would it be the battery, or am I looking at the starter motor? Just wanna know before i throw $120 at a new battery :P

[Vee-ard]

also I should add that the voltage of the battery seems to be ok, 12.8V first thing in the morning, and about 13.5-14V while running..

[admir87]

mate, i got the same problem? does yours get worse the hotter the motor is?

from what ive been reading its the starter motor but im not 100%

[Vee-ard]

yeah mate, its worse when the motor is hot. Very interested in this now..

[Vee-ard]

bump, anyone have any idea?

[jokerflingo]

HAHA, my VS V6 Ute is completely the opposite, in the morning its sluggish to start especially when cold but when hot it fires up instantly?

[Vee-ard]

Some mornings its fine, but often even in the morning, its a bit of a bitch, but when its hot its even worse.

[admir87]

hey mate, have you found any solutions to this problem?

i just went out and got a brand new starter... will be putting it in sometime this week

on that note, i had a look down at the current one in there, and the nut on the solenoid has that white corrosion stuff on it... why is this??

have i made a mistake buying a knew starter? should i have just cleaned this stuff off?

[spirto]

hey guys,

just to clarify, are you stating it is (A) cranking slow or (B) takes a few cranks to kick over?

(A)
if it's slow check your battery cables, and the selenoid has a wire that gets fed via ignition, if this is low on voltage it will seem like you have a low battery but it's actually the loom sucking the voltage.

(B)
most likely if it takes a few turns to crank - you have bleeding injectors which is same as an old carby flooding, best way to check this is to remove the "fuel pump" fuse and crank it, if kicks over quicker then you've got a bleed.

hope this helps.

[admir87]

i think me and the original person who wrote the post are experiencing the (A) slow crank

its alrite when the motor is cold but once it heats up its very hard to crand over

[Vee-ard]

yeah, its most definitely (A). Its like a flat battery but the battery is fine. I'll have to look into the loom soaking up the voltage.

Also, you mean "solenoid" dont you? what solenoid is this?

[centy]

it's a different model but the old falcon had a real problem with the starters not working when hot.
they always got hot to, ford made a heat sheild to bolt on that helped a hell of a lot.
to test get it hot so it is slow to carank then hose the starter to cool it and try again.

[vnss_1]

yeah i had this with my vn ss.
i got told by few people the extractors run close to starter and as is gets hotter it cranks bit slower. mine would almost not start on a 40 degree day if i had air con on etc and drining through traffic. even wit a brand new battery. i was gonna wrap the pipes near the starter with that heat tape but never got round to it
prob good idea to check all the wiring and connections too.

[spirto]

yes I meant solenoid (sorry typo).
You can have an electricain or auto parts store show you how to wire in a booster relay.
This will increase the voltage to the solonoid on the starter motor, as suggested earlier some engine looms drain power from the ignition, as such when it reaches the starter motor it is weak, which appears to be like a flat battery.
You can also test this by making a long wire from the solonoid, put a speaker flat connection on one end and plug it onto the starter(remove the loom one) switch your ignition to the on position, then hold/ tap the "Stripped end of the wire" onto the positive terminal and see if it cranks faster, if it doesn't then you have a bad starter motor, or solonoid - get a new one and problems all solved.

hope this helps.

[admir87]

hey mate, just an update on what ive done....

put in a new starter yesterday, while taking it off i noticed the wiring was slightly loose on the starter, but as it looked old and had corrosion around the solenoid stud i took the wiring off, changed the starter and guess what... starts first go every go.. no more slow crank, not even when hot! im happy with the result

i should have tried cleaning up the corrosion and tightening the nut properly and see if that fixes it, but since i had a new starter i just thought i'd change it.

[spirto]

great to hear,
on most starter motor issues, it's the solenoid, sometimes boosting the power works, but when they start to get loose, it's from over heating in that area, if you have extractors you could try thermal tape to keep the heat away from the starter.

but a new starter motor isn't costly.... just on some motors it's a real pain in the neck to replace.

case closed LOL.