Sorry everyone, I searched the old threads on my issue and didn't find the answer I was looking for, thought I'd try a new one. 99' 24-Valve with a strange "overheating" issue. Problem is, temp gauge is fine but I can definately smell the engine compartment getting hot. Was towing horse/trailer and had to stop to open gate on hill. Didn't trust E-brake to hold so shut truck off. Wouldn't start, wouldn't even turn over, nothing. Engine compartment smelled extremely hot, pulled starter relay out, cooled it off with some ice, put back in and truck started with no problem. Also, it did not appear the fan clutch kicked in either (new fan clutch, fan shows resistance to turning while cool)...Thanks for any advice.

 

Weird.. I aint heard of that before... How long have you had the truck?

 

about 9 years. Another weird thing, when i first start truck when cool, fires right up, as the truck heats up, it takes a little longer (the more starts when warm, the longer it takes)...I've also replaced the starter about 4 times since Ive owned it...gremlins.

 

Well one explanation for the hard starts when warm could be the injector pump... Maybe, I know we are trying to get to the bottom of the hot smell and funny electrical issues, but bear with me.. Now, I haven't actually seen the inside of one with my own eyes, but from what I am told there is a diaphragm of some kind inside it that has something to do with temperatures and hard starts. Have you replaced the injector pump or lift pump before?

 

Don't know about the starter, that is a lot of failures... You should take the truck by autozone and get the codes checked.

 

Have replaced the lift pump (about a year ago) Thank goodness the injector pump has not gone out. The check engine light isnt on, so not sure about checking codes, do trouble codes show up even if light not on?

 

Yet.

Perhaps.

 

yes if you have a trouble code, it will be there even if the Check engine light is off.

hard hot starts could also be huge tank vacuum (remove cap and see if there is a large vacuum issue)

or as mentioned hard hot starts could be a failing(mechanically wore out)VP

also hard starts if the starter is turning over too slow, (maybe when hot starter turns too slow)

 

Thank you everyone for the input. Will check for trouble codes first and see if that sheds any light on the situation.