It started yesterday. Actually it started not long after I installed my Powermaster starter. Every once in a while, I would just get a click when I tried to start the engine. I thought there was a bad spot in the starter. It was happening a little more often so I was thinking about a starter replacement. Yesterday, I went to pay H&R Block to tell me how much the government stole from me last year. On the way home, I stopped by my garage for just a couple of minutes. It'll never happen again, but there was no starting the engine. Just clicking. I was messing around, saying four letter words, trying to get the engine started. I tried jumping the fender mounted starter solenoid from hot to the little terminal. Nothing. Then, I noticed that the starter button was smoking when I tried to use it. Obviously that was no good. I finally managed to use a couple of long screwdrivers to jump across the solenoid and the engine started right up. Well it was on to Napa today to remedy the issues. All morning long, I kept thinking that it doesn't make much sense for both the button and the solenoid to go bad at the same time so I decided to experiment a little over lunch. I dropped my starter down, unwrapped the electrical tape that I cover the wires with (just in case), and I could short across the terminals on the back of the button and the starter would engage. So the solenoid is good, I just wasn't getting a good contact on it with the positive power. I went into Napa and bought two starter buttons so I can keep one in the truck for the next time that it happens. Installing the new button was about a 5 minute fix.
I stopped into a gas station on the way and got pretty excited for a few minutes. A guy came in and commented that he has a bunch of parts for my truck. He wanted $500 for a 85 that used to have a 6.9in it. No rust, 4X4, ZF5. Everything was there except for the engine. By now, I was thinking that this was a good one to buy, drop an engine in, and resell. Then he said two things that made me unexcited. He lost the title and the truck's still in Texas. No deal for me. He seemed a little windy about it anyway so I wasn't fully buying the story. Oh well.
haha
