Starting Problem

[JBronco]

My bronco has a hard time starting after its been running and engine heats up. This summer i had been running it for a long time around town and got engine really hot not so hot to be abnormal but very hot i stopped at bank came out and the starter was very very slugish and wouldnt start the truck also there was sparks (small sparks) and smoke comming from the starter realay that is bolted to side of engine comp. I have seen the smoke before when the truck is hot and i start but all i have to do is give it about 5 mins and she will start. Just wandering if i could just be that relay or something else it has brand new starter that didint fix it also has new batt. Any help will be appriciated thanks.

 

[Justbust1n]

it might be a bad ground on the startr make sure the ground connection is clean on both ends it might not be grounding out causeing the smoke and spark if it sint clean scrub it with some sand paper and make sure all the rust is off...... goodluck :-B

 

[Big Country]

sounds like bad contact you might want to check the connection. you never have a problem when it's not hot?

 

[JBronco]

Nope I only have the problem if the engine is hot it starts right up like it should if its cold and the smoke comes from the relay on inside of passenger fender it get so hot some og the plastic on the wires has started to melt but yes it only does this if the engine is hot

 

[Justbust1n]

Nope I only have the problem if the engine is hot it starts right up like it should if its cold and the smoke comes from the relay on inside of passenger fender it get so hot some og the plastic on the wires has started to melt but yes it only does this if the engine is hot

there was a post not to long ago about this problem ... and they checked the ground ... make sure you check the whole ground wire make sure there is no cuts or rust on the connections if it doesnt help its the relay goodluck here is the link http://broncozone.com/forums/index.php?sho...ic=8618&hl=

 

[broncobob58]

Nope I only have the problem if the engine is hot it starts right up like it should if its cold and the smoke comes from the relay on inside of passenger fender it get so hot some og the plastic on the wires has started to melt but yes it only does this if the engine is hot

Mine has the same problem,It can sit all night in January and crank over quickly but if you drive it for some time and shut it off (such as stopping for gas) it cranks very slowly.Mine also has a good starter and fairly new battery and starter relay.What I was thinking is maybe the battery cable from the battery to the relay or the cable from the relay to the starter is corroded inside the insulation and causing resistance and when the starter gets hot it requires more current to the starter.What I haven't done yet is replace the battery cables.You may want to check the connections on the relay for looseness(Iv'e found loose connections on brand new Fords).You may want to replace all the battery cables and upgrade to a larger size for less resistance.

 

[Seabronc]

I would suggest that the sparks you see are from a poor ground of the starter solenoid. The ground is through the metal to metal contact of the mounting hardware. Remove the solenoid from the fender and clean up tha area that it makes contact to then reattach it making sure you get a real tight connection. You may want to make new holes and connect it with a pair of grounding screws, they have fine thread and hold in the metal better.

Good luck,

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[swampthing]

check the ground!!!...also make sure all contacts are clean...change the wire going from battery to solenoid..i would suggest a good 2ga. wire and wire going from solenoid to starter..should solve your problems

 

[JBronco]

Thanks guys ill give those ideas a try tommorow

 

[swampthing]

good luck with it

 

[JBronco]

Hey guys i got one more question. On my Starter Relay i think i found the problem it is coroded a bit and rusted. However there is 3 sets of wires connected to the positive post on the relay along with the Positive Batt cable. In my haynes manual there is a picture of the relay and it only has the Pos and Neg cables on the relay posts i was wondering if those wires are supposed to be there it looks like they should be they have the little washer connectors that slide right over the pos post but those are the wires that started to melt. Im getting a new relay today and cleaning all the connections up good but i wanna know if those 3 sires are supposed to be connected there i did trace them they seem to go to the alternator and appear to be major wires. any info will be appriciated

 

[BLADE262US]

The relay may very well be the problem inside there is a very large brass washer that gets pulled down to make the connection to the 2 big lugs on the solenoid . The contact in there will get burned and wont be a good connection anymore and will cause heat . After you change it out look at the bottom of your old relay where the metal cap is . Take a drill and drill out the rivets that hold it together remove that cap and you will see how the relay works and any damage from the arching and heat buildup . The little wires on the battery side of the realy are normally fusible links one does go to the alternator it should be the biggest one of the bunch that is for chargeing tha battery . The next biggest should be the feed for the fuse box the others Im not sure just make sure there all hooked back up the same way on the battery side of the realay because the other side only has power while the relay in energized . My old plow truck did the same thing you are explaining and it was the relay totally cooked inside due to excessive cranking after years of use . If you do take it apart and it is burnt badly maybe take some pics so all can see , /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

 

[Big Country]

i agree with blade. i would keep the wires where they are unless you know thay are causing problems. after you have confirmed a good connection you could get some terminal grease or vaseline and cover the connection. it cuts down on them getting dirty and prolangs a good connection.

any thoughts fellas on the last suggestion?

good luck

 

[Seabronc]

i agree with blade. i would keep the wires where they are unless you know thay are causing problems. after you have confirmed a good connection you could get some terminal grease or vaseline and cover the connection. it cuts down on them getting dirty and prolangs a good connection.

any thoughts fellas on the last suggestion?

good luck

Actually the grease collects a little dirt, but the protection against moisture and corrosion far outweighs that problem /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" /> . I use it on most exposed connections as well as connectors.

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[JBronco]

Ok guys i got the new relay today however it does not look like the old one it is the kind that it shows in the haynes book and the kind ive seen on other broncos (i should have mentioned my relay looks different than the ones ive seen b4 but it used to work fine). Anyway i hooked the new relay up exactly the way the old one was and duoble checked that the sirws were all in right spot tried to crank it and cor alotta sparks and then no power. So i took it all back apart reconnected it and it did same thing over. So I ended up puting the old one back on and after closer inspection i realized that only one of the bolts that holds it to fender was in so i got another bolt hooked old one up cleaned and tightened everything down and ran the truck around a while to warm it up. I does work much better u can still tell its a bit slugish to start but no sparks or smoke. Really now im only wondering why new relay didint work its the standard one u get at advance auto with the 2 big posts and the 2 little ones and i even read instructions for puting it on but all i got was sparks.

 

[BLADE262US]

Too bad you couldnt see where the sparks were coming from . The relay is basically an on and off switch . The thing having a bad ground to the fenderwell should not have made sparks made intermitten no crank situation but no sparks , The big contacts on the other hand have enough amperage to cause sparks and smoke if theres a bad connection or a short . Have you looked at the starter side of the relay and followed the wire down to the starter to make sure it hasnt rubbed through on the frame or anything like that . /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

 

[Seabronc]

Too bad you couldnt see where the sparks were coming from . The relay is basically an on and off switch . The thing having a bad ground to the fenderwell should not have made sparks made intermitten no crank situation but no sparks , The big contacts on the other hand have enough amperage to cause sparks and smoke if theres a bad connection or a short . Have you looked at the starter side of the relay and followed the wire down to the starter to make sure it hasnt rubbed through on the frame or anything like that . /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

On the contrary, if the ground connection between the relay and the fender wall is corroded it can generate sparks between the two because that is the conduction path for the relay pick current. As such, a poor connection can generate sparks. Poor grounding at any point can generate sparks and heat depending on how much current is being drawn. I doubt that the sparks inside the relay can would be visible. The only way to know for sure is to have someone operate the key while the other watches. Personally, I'd check all the connections including the battery grounding and the starter grounding. A poor ground at the starter is another place that could generate sparks and cause the relay to get hot as could the battery to engine block / frame connection.

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[Big Country]

i had a similar problem with my truck. it was th cable from teh relay to the + battery cable. But mine just wouldn't start. spark up really good but wouldn't start hot or cold. Are any of your wires bubbling around the connection? If so those wires need to be changed.