I have a stock Mustang 5 liter and stock starter. It starts fine when sitting long periods of time and cold. But, once I drive a few miles, if I shut it off and try to restart the starter can barely turn the motor over. Last night after making a few stops at stores, i ended up having to have some people push me around the parking lot so I could pop the clutch.
I believe this is a common problem. Is there a heat shield or some other recommended fix?
Had the basic same problem with mine. The only thing that finally fixed it was putting a larger size battery cable in. Since then I have had zero issues. Starts every time no matter how hot.
Battery is mounted under the trunk floor and goes through a cut off switch between the seat backs in the rear bulkhead.
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MK3#5902 picked up 1/13/07, 88 donor 306 w/b303 EFI purchased 3/31/07,first start and gocart ride 9/20/07 color- Ford Performance White w/ True Blue Metalic stripes. Inspected and registered 7/31/08
The hot start problem is more than just a hot starter motor although that is part of it. The hot start issue can be caused by several things. 1. Too small battery cable, FFR ships 4 gauge and it should be 2 gauge or bigger. 2. Good clean connections. 3. The equivalent of 2 gauge ground cables or strap from the engine to ground. 4. Too small battery cold cranking amps (CCA).
You can put a heat shield on the starter but that only protects from radiant heat, but not from heat soak which occurs when you park the car hot. Can't hurt, but I'd spend my money on the bigger battery cable
There are a lot of threads on the forum here that talk about the issue.
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FFR Challenge car #4182SP Carbed 302, Holley 600CFM, E303 cam, T5, 3 link rear-3:55, Levy wheels, Kumho tires, Fire Safe fuel cell, Griffin race radiator, ISIS wiring system, MSD 6ALN NASCAR ignition, 85 Mustang distributor,
I had the same issue last night FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME. I dont recall my battery gage, I believe it is "00", but my battery is 8 years old (OPTIMA RED TOP), mounted under the trunk floor.
I've never had this issue before.
Car has only 3500 miles, and the battery saw once a month starts until 2009, and weekly use since.
I have driven the car little since March due to health issues.
I have FFR 4 into 4 headers, and a standard (Bosch) starter.
I will report back my findings.
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Build started 15 Dec. 2002
Registered June 2009, kit delivered December 2002. Levy Stage 4,347,EFI TKOII, IRS, FFR 4 into 4 pipes, Roh 17 inch wheels, Nitto 555's, 275/40/17, 245/45/17. Power steering, C&R Water to oil heat exchanger. Levy / Ron Davis big radiator. Tweeker RT, WB O2 system. Street performer seats, tracks both sides, Levy pro bump steer, SN95 front spindles, FFR LCA's, Levy / Willwood brakes.
Lomborghini titanium silver, painted by Gordon Levy.
Last edited by Bill Hughes; 09-15-2012 at 03:13 PM..
Unless I missed it, nobody mentioned running an additional ground strap/cable from the starter to the frame. A really good ground is absolutely crucial!
I'm running a Powermaster XS starter vs a OEM starter, but the FFR provided cables have worked fine all along. I don't know if this is because the XS starter is so much more efficient, or if I have just been lucky..
Assuming the starter is good, and a good battery is mounted in the trunk, you will need to use 2ga cable from the battery to the start solenoid.
In my case, those are some pretty big assumptions. While it works ok cold, I don't know how old it actually is. It came off a donor with 162k miles. And the battery has been in the car for about 8 years now and in the winter I just shut the kill switch and leave it until spring. so far it has fired up first try every spring but it could be losing strength.
Similar to others, stock FFR cables, kill switch and optima battery mounted under the trunk floor.
Last edited by USMC; 09-15-2012 at 04:14 PM..
Reason: abcd
And the battery has been in the car for about 8 years now and in the winter I just shut the kill switch and leave it until spring. so far it has fired up first try every spring but it could be losing strength.
lol.. Ya think? That's pretty old for a battery at the best of times, especially if you aren't using a trickle charger over winter..
I agreel, it's been a great battery. Just never in my driving years have I had this style of battery failure (hot start), and Im sure that when I replace the battery, all will be normal.
I have a dedicated ground from the starter to thev frame also.
I need to shop around for a new battery today.
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Build started 15 Dec. 2002
Registered June 2009, kit delivered December 2002. Levy Stage 4,347,EFI TKOII, IRS, FFR 4 into 4 pipes, Roh 17 inch wheels, Nitto 555's, 275/40/17, 245/45/17. Power steering, C&R Water to oil heat exchanger. Levy / Ron Davis big radiator. Tweeker RT, WB O2 system. Street performer seats, tracks both sides, Levy pro bump steer, SN95 front spindles, FFR LCA's, Levy / Willwood brakes.
Lomborghini titanium silver, painted by Gordon Levy.
I had the same problem until I ran the ground cable from battery to the starter. Problem fixed.
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2002 FFR MK II, 302 FI Vortech Supercharger, Cobra intake, GT 40 heads, 36 lb injectors, FMU, 10 Lbs of boost, AIS water meth injection 3.55 gears, Soft top and still in gel coat.
One additional thing to consider is the starter type. This problem comes up a lot in the Mustang forums and often the fix is to use the newer high-torque mini starter.
These have a gear-reduction unit in the starter and are smaller. Being smaller, they reside further away from the headers! They also draw a lot less current and thus some of the wiring issues mentioned above become moot.
The wiring for one of these is slightly different, so be prepared if doing the conversion.
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1965 Mustang Restomod - 5.0 Coupe /MAF/EFI/B303 Roller Cam
My problem seems to be poor alternator service at low RPM. Regretfully I used a 2G alternator, granted with a new connector.
With my 8 year old optima, properly charged, I have no issues. I will probably stay with a 2G that has been modified.
I understand that redesigned 2G alternators are available:
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Build started 15 Dec. 2002
Registered June 2009, kit delivered December 2002. Levy Stage 4,347,EFI TKOII, IRS, FFR 4 into 4 pipes, Roh 17 inch wheels, Nitto 555's, 275/40/17, 245/45/17. Power steering, C&R Water to oil heat exchanger. Levy / Ron Davis big radiator. Tweeker RT, WB O2 system. Street performer seats, tracks both sides, Levy pro bump steer, SN95 front spindles, FFR LCA's, Levy / Willwood brakes.
Lomborghini titanium silver, painted by Gordon Levy.
One more thing to consider is the location of the starter solenoid. In my case I had it too close to the exhaust header and I experienced the same issue you have. After relocating it to a cooler location I have had zero problems.
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"Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication."
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Build started 15 Dec. 2002
Registered June 2009, kit delivered December 2002. Levy Stage 4,347,EFI TKOII, IRS, FFR 4 into 4 pipes, Roh 17 inch wheels, Nitto 555's, 275/40/17, 245/45/17. Power steering, C&R Water to oil heat exchanger. Levy / Ron Davis big radiator. Tweeker RT, WB O2 system. Street performer seats, tracks both sides, Levy pro bump steer, SN95 front spindles, FFR LCA's, Levy / Willwood brakes.
Lomborghini titanium silver, painted by Gordon Levy.
__________________
Build started 15 Dec. 2002
Registered June 2009, kit delivered December 2002. Levy Stage 4,347,EFI TKOII, IRS, FFR 4 into 4 pipes, Roh 17 inch wheels, Nitto 555's, 275/40/17, 245/45/17. Power steering, C&R Water to oil heat exchanger. Levy / Ron Davis big radiator. Tweeker RT, WB O2 system. Street performer seats, tracks both sides, Levy pro bump steer, SN95 front spindles, FFR LCA's, Levy / Willwood brakes.
Lomborghini titanium silver, painted by Gordon Levy.
I have had the same problems in the mustangs. Adding a secondary ground strap from a starter bolt to a nearby chassis ground has solved my problem twice.
I ran a 2 gauge wire the entire loop including a ground wire to the starter and including the ford stock solenoid to starter cable. PROBLEM SOLVED! Even with an 8 year old battery that sits untended every winter and a who the heck knows how old donor starter.
I have enough material left over to do another car. See the attached link if interested.
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