Help with electrical issue....77 F250.

[rusty ol ranger]

Went and bought a battery for the old 77. Its sat unfired since october of last year.

Put a battery in and after about 2 minutes of intermittent cranking and alot of throttle pumping the ol bitch fire right up.

But it ran for like 15 seconds then died like i shut the key off. Now i got no lights, no power to anything.

I got 12.4V at the battery and solenoid, fuseable links intact.

Im thinking the ground wire is bad? I unhooked the neg off the battery, touched the postive test lead to the battery and the negative to the ground wire and didnt get a reading...however with the negative cable on the battery i got a reading of 12.4.

Any ideas?

 

[snoranger]

Quick test for a bad ground cable...
Use one side of a set of jumper cables from the battery to the engine.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

Quick test for a bad ground cable...
Use one side of a set of jumper cables from the battery to the engine.

I was gonna do that but my jumper cables are out at the old house.

 

[sheep herder]

I thought those old trucks didn't have problems.

 

[snoranger]

I thought those old trucks didn't have problems.

They just have different problems.

 

[sheep herder]

But....but..........they're supposed to be highly superior to any modern vehicle. How can they have problems?

 

[Uncle Gump]

Sure sounds like you lost a fusible link.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

Sure sounds like you lost a fusible link.

Thats what i thought too. But they are intact.

I went back out after a bit and the dome light would come on, id turn the key on nothing would happen, the light goes off, and wont come back on.

I thought those old trucks didn't have problems.

Every 70s ford truck ive had have been extremly reliable. This one is no exception. This is literally the first time since 2012 its given me an issue where it wont function....and im sure its due to the fact its sat for damn near a year.

But to its credit it did fire up initially,

 

[adsm08]

Clean your terminals and make sure they are tight. Sounds like a bad connection.

Also, why do you only own one set of jumper cables? They are cheap. I have one set in each car and another in the garage.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

Clean your terminals and make sure they are tight. Sounds like a bad connection.

Also, why do you only own one set of jumper cables? They are cheap. I have one set in each car and another in the garage.

I had 3 or 4 sets but i threw away the shitty ones. Plus im a cheapass. Lol.

I did clean and tighten both terminals. Ill go out tomorrow when i got more motivation.

 

[franklin2]

Clean your terminals and make sure they are tight. Sounds like a bad connection.

Also, why do you only own one set of jumper cables? They are cheap. I have one set in each car and another in the garage.

Yep, that is what's wrong with it. Sounds like you have a meter with you. Do you have someone to help? Poking around with the meter on a problem like this won't tell you much. You need someone to hold the key to start, at the same time you are poking around with the meter. Then you will find it. You must be testing under load.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

Yep, that is what's wrong with it. Sounds like you have a meter with you. Do you have someone to help? Poking around with the meter on a problem like this won't tell you much. You need someone to hold the key to start, at the same time you are poking around with the meter. Then you will find it. You must be testing under load.

No the wife wasnt around. I was just pissin around myself. Ill investigate further tomorrow.

 

[franklin2]

You can try the headlights and see if they are enough load. If you pull them on and the domelight goes out and the headlights are out or very dim, that will be enough load to do some testing with the meter. You can start at the battery and work you way into the harness.

 

[Dirtman]

I love rusty

 

[rusty ol ranger]

Well i got it going.

There is a black wire that runs to either the alternator (or regulator, didnt follow it super close) off the hot side of the solenoid. Looks like it was an issue once before and someone (maybe even me,i dont remember) spliced it to fix it.

I took off the tape and all i found was a ball of green shit. Cleaned it all up, put it togther, shes runnin perfect. Thanks guys.