"Effin" electrical gremlins!!!

[Dan B.]

I swapped everything under the hood possible...distributor, box, and coil. A friend stopped over quickly with his testing equipment and indicated it was solenoid or iginition. A quick cleaning of the solenoid connections cleared it. He bypassed the key with a remote start and we had spark!! She fired right up!! The sweet sound of a thumping 358W!!

Went back out the next day...and nothing! WTF?!?! Poked around for a few minutes, jumped the solenoid to bypass the key...nothing. Waited for help to arrive, dad and I did the same thing I had done earlier and had spark. Now I am really confused.

Talked to a Ford mechanic (that I highly trust). He indicated there may be a problem with a key activated panel in the column. Pulled it apart, checked it and all the connections look like new. I tried starting it off and on all day...maybe 10 times and it started each time. Went out just now...and nothing!

All I want to do is some but I amd getting accomplished is . I am on vacation week after next...before then I hope to get this resolved. If not, the day before I leave it's going to a local car wiring geek and he can fight it out while I sit on the beach in Delaware.

 

[Dishtowel]

So... just to sum up: the signal is not getting from the key to the starter solenoid?

Easy solution = new solenoid/starter assembly.

Tougher solution = have a helper and a test light/circuit tester, begin at the starter where the 'start' voltage is supposed to arrive at the solenoid and work your way back to the key switch seeing where there is a break in the circuit. Somewhere the connection is failing. Do you have a neutral safey switch? Is it operating properly? You could by-pass it to see if it is the problem, but do not leave it by-passed!! One day, someone besides you will drive this truck, and if there is no NSS there may be trouble!

Good luck!

 

[Dan B.]

At this point I do not know what the friggin problem is! But basically, it is not getting spark some of the time. If I managed to get spark, it will be there for a little while then go away. Not sure why...and not real interested in looking real hard at this point. Kinda fed up with it. But when I'm back in the mood I plan on hunting around with the test light to see where the issue is.

 

[Dishtowel]

not getting spark "SOME" of the time? That is extremely suspicious. Again, check the easy stuff, like plugs and wires and distributor cap. Check your coil, I had a bad one on my 5.0L, now I have an incredibly healthy one. At your autoparts store there should be a in-line spark plug tester, these are a handy thing to have! If all the easy stuff checks out then IDK what to do for you on a carbed engine, as-far-as-I know spark begins at the coil and then directed by the distributor, so, relatively simple system....

Good luck

 

[Will]

What ignition is on this? Is there a ballast resistor? Or a resistor wire?

A coil run without a resistor in the line will get hot and burn up--the coil likes 12v and most charging systems can put out 15v. It's possible you had a bad wire to the coil, he bypassed it and it ran, but then it burned up the coil. Not likely in a short span of time.

Take pictures so we can see what components you have. I hate troubleshooting without the patient stretched out on the table in front of me. It's like one of those movies where the guy is landing the plane because the pilot is drunk in the bathroom and the control tower is talking him in.

 

[Dan B.]

Dish...spark begins at the coil but some power source has to feed or "energize" the system.

Will...it's the stock Ford Dist w/ Duraspark box and MSD Coil. Other than that I don't know. I hate wiring. My '84 Ranger never gave me any problems. When the body/cab was trashed from too many years in PA salt, I bought the '85 truck from MD and swapped in my chassis and motor/tranny. Also took the main harness from the '84 and laid it out and plugged everything in.

Try this on for size. Went out yesterday, checked for spark...nothing. Then just started jiggling stuff around, under the hood, banged on the column a few times, jacked around the ignition switch...check spark again and there it was...but weak. Stuck the coil wire back on and it fired. Holy S batman!!

It ran for a minute or two but would not idle right so I held it at about 2K. 30 seconds later it completely shut off...and guess what...no'mo spark!

Not sure how much help this pic will be. But.....