wont start :-(

Did some work on the falcon, changed oil, topped radiator and got the brake lights To go hang out at san onofre and catch some waves.

Anyways, Drove the falcon down to san clemente Without incident. Pulled into a burger joint. The falcon was steaming...I guess I over filled the radiator and it was squirting out the over flow valve (the hosing for the overflow valve was gone). I pop the doghouse, let it cool down. Come back after an hour and try to start the falcon but it wont start...lights come on, I turn the key and it tried briefly to turn over, then stops...

I'm thinking that maybe the starter got wet from the overflowing radiator? I dunno...maybe in the a.m. after it dries out it'll start? I can only hope. I'm 70miles from home. Ha!!! Crashing at a friends place tonight.

Any thoughts? Think I could push start it?

Thanks guys!!!

Josh

Maybe you have a charging system problem and the battery is just dead,,,,,,,turn the headlights on and see what they do when you crank the engine,,,,,if they stay bright, then the starter is not drawing power,,,,if they go out the battery could be dead or starter is bad,,,,,you could just try and push it, turn the key on, push the clutch down ,put it in 2nd gear and move the clutch up and down a few times and see if it starts,,,,

If you think about where the starter lives, it's used to getting wet, so that's probably not your issue here. When you say "it stops", can you still hear the starter trying to turn? How long were you trying to start it? The more details you can give us, the better we can try to help you

Initially I thought the battery was disconnected as my wife's longboard nose was resting on the battery, there were no lights and the falcon didn't try to turn over. I pulled the cables and reconnected and tried starting it. The lights came back on, and when I tried starting it...it would crand for a sec or two then abruptly stopped. I tried this multiple times and left The falcon in the parking lot of the burger joint.

Thanks guys!!!

Did the starter make a loud humming noise when it abruptly stopped?

try and clean and tighten the battery terminals

get a new starter!! You can also try this= with a known good battery & all cables cleaned????????????? Get a hammer -rap on the side of the starter- several times= not lightly either -then try & start it?? worn starters will sometimes respond to this & work for a time. or take starter off & have checked @ auto parts.

I hope you get your Van fixed but I'm all warm and fuzzy hearing about the surfing! Especially the long board. I have a 10 foot semi nose rider. I got my a$$ hanger so I would have something to get her to the beach. Do you surf near the power station and ,if so, isn't it a little hard getting your long board down the rocks? Dang, sorry, my bad, I didn't mean to hijack your post.
Back on track, sounds like bad battery or battery connections or even chassis ground connection or charging system. As per post, above, use headlights to test for presence of power. If the headlights cut off while cranking the starter, and you are confident that the above connections are good it's probably the battery, alternator or starter. One way to check the alternator is after you get the engine running pull the pos batt terminal off. If the engine still runs the alt is putting out. Hope this helps.
P.S. East coast surf sucks unless you can catch storms in the outer banks or get down to Sabastion in Fla.

Ford starters are famous for needing some help with a hammer. I lost count how many times its worked. Like posted, starters are good with water all over them so thats not your issue IMO.
  Of course 1st thing would be the connections on all the connections. However some other things like TIMING mostly and dwell can affect it also. When cranking over if the timing is too far advanced it will drag and not turn over very well either. Of course also, if the dwell is not correct then the timing can never be either....
  The overheat and the water coming out of the overflow is not because you over filled it. You cannot over fill a radiator,,,LOL.....  thats how an over fill tank works,, as the water expands it will go out the fill cap (lower pressure ratings) and into the over fill tank (actually expansion tank) and when the water cools and re compresses it will suck the water back up and into the radiator.
  Yours over heating before that is also saying that there are some other issues hiding also???
In a pinch I take a sharp awl or ice picker or screw driver type affair and jamb it into the crack where the battery clamp connects to the battery post. You dont always have something to clean the posts correctly and so if you can push some lead together it can get enough of a connection in order to get home and clean them correctly.  Universal battery clamps are just looking for a bad connection as all the contamination gets in there and inside the wire itself,,,if you have those type ends I would suggest getting some better battery cables also. 
  Best way to test for juice would be with a meter but if you dont then keep cleaning and proding all the connections and if that doesnt work try a starter. The solinoid inside the starter may be bad also. Its a magnetic affair with points connection on it that kicks out with the Bendix once its started and they go bad also... starters are not one of Ford's strong points..LOL
  A test I have used for years to check the charging system once started is to simply put the headlights on when running. IF they are good and bright then the charging system is at least putting out,,,, however a bad regulator can also drag a battery down when parked even if its charging while running.
  Once you get it home,,, check the DWELL (not point gap!!!) and then set the timing to make sure there are no issues there.  If while trying to start it its dragging when you are trying to turn it over that means you are too far advanced and so loosen the dizzy and back it down a tad. If thats the issue it will turn over easier and should start..
vic

We had the same problem with our chrysler 6 in the snow plow last year. Turned over for about 3 seconds then die off and and then nothing. We could here the starter "clicking" like it was trying to go but nothing would happen. Istalled external solinoid and ran the wire from the stater to the new solinoid and WOW!!!! that stater has never worked this good in years. If you can tap on it while someone has the key on in start position and it turns over, then you you no what you need to do. But also as mentioned earlier, check all wire connections and I would run an extra ground wire to thet starter if it allready doesn't have one. My 66 econoline wouldn't turn over unlees I used the booster cables right off the starter to the battery. Then it turned over just fine. Turned out to be a ground wire issue.

If it is the starter, the silver lining would be that there is super easy access. I swapped out my starter a few months back. After a 'dry run' with a bum unit from the parts store, I swapped the second one in 14 minutes.

Be sure to test your old *and new* unit!

Good luck.

I would agree that it sounds like either battery/ground connection or solenoid issue. As for overheating, that's more disconcerting, have you recently done anything w/ the coolant system?

UPDATE: The following morning I went back to the Burger joint and the van started right up as if nothing was wrong!??! Drove the van to the San Onofre and had a very life-giving day @ the beach, 3-4ft swell, logging w/my crew, brauts & brew finished it up w/some smores around a campfire. (wife & I in front of our blue Falcon black shorts & hat)

On the drive back we made a couple stops drop a friend off, food & gas.  The van doesn't like those short drives on surface streets, only to be turned off, & turned back on w/in a few min.  When the van has been warmed up it doesn't like to start.... it does, but it just sounds weak.  I'll do some of the checks/tests mentioned above to see if i can.

Thanks guys, you rock!


J0sh

I've had a ford do that when I was a teenager, it was the solenoid. Next time it does it try and, carefully jump the battery and starter terminals on the solenoid and see if it is healthy sounding then, if so replace the solenoid.