hard starting

[brandon11]

Hey guys! I'm having a problem ,it doesn't matter if its hot or cold, when you try to start the old girl(1991 XLT)it kinda drags,and it takes a couple of tries to get it to start,lately,it will roll over once or twice then I just get a click! any ideas????

 

[JDraper]

If your battery is ok and has a full charge, it may either be your starter, or the cable. I've seen a couple of older X's (my '92 included) that have had corrosion inside of the positive cable where it meets the clamp on the battery. My headlights were bright, all the accessories worked fine, but no start. Easy way to check is to get an ohmmeter and check the resistance. It should be in the Ohms range. If you get kOhms or MOhms, you probably have a bad cable.

If you don't want to, or can't check it yourself, take it to a Pep Boys, Battery warehouse, etc, and they usually test your charging system for free or a couple of $$

 

[Josh]

I am having the same problem! I had this problem before and it seems it was the computer that had some bad settings. The reason I say that, is because I burned up my starter trying to start my truck. I got a replacement and wired something up wrong. I went to see if the truck would start and before I could turn the key, I noticed that all the lights on the dash were already on but dim with the key off. That was strange. I took it back apart and reran the wires and it started normal. The other starter was fine until I got pissed off and held the key down until something smoked(The Starter). I noticed on the passenger side near the test connector, there was another connector that had nothing on it, but my buddies 93 X, his had a little plug installed. I was told by a ford guy that this could be jumpered and it would trick the motor into thinking cold air was coming in the intake. My problems started again after I plugged that small piece back into that connector. I know disconnecting the battery will sometimes clear the EEC settings but what would be the hardest reset you could do? Maybe turn the key to the on position and then disconnect the battery?