Dear Tom and Ray:
I have a 1991 Ford F-150. You could use up this entire section of the newspaper on this hunk of junk. But perhaps you can just help me get it started. It won't turn over, despite numerous attempts. I've taken the battery to AutoZone, and they say it's good and it's fully charged. I even put it on the charger overnight to be sure. When I turn the ignition, it just grunts at me. After two or three grunts, all systems are unresponsive. Neither the headlights nor the radio will go on. Any ideas? --Steve
Tom: We'll assume that AutoZone is right, and the battery is fine. In which case, you have either a bad connection at the battery, or a bad ground.
Ray: There are two cables that run from your battery. One is the positive cable, which runs to the starter. The other is the negative cable, which is the
ground. That wire runs to the frame of the truck, and from the frame, another wire connects it to the engine block (the engine sits on rubber mounts, so it has to be grounded to the frame by wire).
Tom: And after nearly two decades, those connections could be in worse shape than my brother's 401(k).
Ray: Or you could have so much corrosion around ANY of these connections that the resistance created by that corrosion is simply stopping the current from getting through.
Tom: So start with the terminals right at the battery. Give them a good cleaning with some sandpaper. If that doesn't fix it, follow the ground wire. Check all the ground connections, and clean or replace as necessary.
Ray: Or, as we like to say, you can "break new ground," and simply run new ground wires to the frame and the engine block. Getting yourself properly grounded ought to clear this up, Steve.
(Car Talk is a nationally syndicated column by automotive experts (and brothers) Tom and Ray Magliozzi. Write to them at the Car Talk Web site.)
3 Comments
By Mike Martinez on June 15, 2009 1:40 PM
We bought a 2008 2500 Diesel Duramax with Allison Transmission.
We just took in for it's 5000 mile oil change (June 2009) and have a few concerns (see below) that the Service Mgr. said were just "Allison Transmission" quirks.
1. Sometimes very hard to put into drive once it's in park with our without emergency brake on. This is on flat roads.
2. The truck rolls back 5-8" after been put in park with or without emergency brake. Very dangerous and frustrating when hooking up trailer.
The Service Mgr. said their was nothing they could do and I want to know if other drivers had/have similiar problems.
What do you think we should do?
Please help!
By Geoff Reed on June 26, 2009 12:23 PM
It sounds more like a e-brake problem to me. if the e-brake is working properly you wouldn't roll in park at all, usually when an auto tranny vehicle when you shut it off and not set the e-brake it will roll a little bit, then the parking pawl will fully engage and essentially lock your tranny so the vehicle can't roll, this can make it very difficult to get out of park as you have the torque caused by the weight of the vehicle on the pawl and you have to physically overcome that to get it out of park. You can break the parking pawl (or pin it depends on the design of transmission) by doing that (using the pawl to hold it instead of e-brake).
when you stop the vehicle, try holding the brake, put it in neutral, set the e-brake, shift to park and turn the engine off. see if it still does it then.
but get your e-brake checked and adjusted if necessary.
By Maria on July 10, 2011 5:13 PM
OMG!!!! I did a search of what my car was doing or not doing and this page came up ! A HUGE THANK YOU !!!! I had cleaned my cables and it still would not start but then I read this blog and did a MORE THOROUGH cleaning and it started right up ! Thanks for everything ! Stay Blessed !!!