Hi Ford Forum.

Need some help with a 1999 E250, low miles. The other day, drove it around and it started fine. Later that same day, go to move it again and it won't start. I heard the starter engage, spin the engine a bit, but then stopped spinning it. Now, when I turn the key, I can hear the starter engage and even see the engine spin a little, but it seems like something is not letting the engine turn over.

I removed the starter and cleaned it up, lubricated it. It seems to work fine with direct power. I also removed the starter solenoid and cleaned it up. Still no luck. With the starter back on, if I hold the key too long, I can see the starter get hot and one of the wires start to smoke.

I checked the battery too and it is fine with plenty of charge

Looking for ideas in what to try next.

 

There is 2 things you should be concerned with.
The first, is there something within the engine to prevent it from turning over. If you can turn it over manually , without any problem, junk the starter.

A starter may run fine without any load and yet not be capable of cranking the engine over.

 

I'm positive it is not the starter. I installed a new one and same results. Going to check the flywheel next. If it is stuck, ideas on where to start getting it unstuck?

 

If,,,,,,,,,,,,,,you can turn the engine over manually, by hand, and you are sure the starter and battery are good , the only thing left is the battery cables.
They could be corroded internally. The best way to confirm cable integrity is to do voltage drop tests on the cables.
If you noticed considerable corrosion on one of the cables that were connected at the battery, you might have to slice the insulation at the battery end and look for internal corrosion. If you see that , that cable could be providing resistance to current flow. If that is the case replacement is the fix.

Here voltage drop tests will confirm if this is the problem.
Don't forget, voltage drop testing requires the circuit be tested under load as when attempting to start the engine.

 

Took some digging online to find the fix, but we found it. Turns out there is something called a crankshaft position sensor. If that is not working, it will not release the transmission from first gear. With the automatic transmission in first gear, there is no way the starter is going to be able to crank the engine. Or something like that. However it actually works, once we got the new sensor in place, the van started right up. It forced us to replace the A/C compressor, which was bad anyway, since it is in the way of the sensor.

Here is a video on how to replace the sensor. It is take a bit of work since the sensor is tucked between the A/C compressor and the engine block. The bolts hold the sensor were also really rusted, so be careful not to break one since it goes right into the engine block.