no start w/key

[shorthair]

turn key big volt drop no crank but jump accros solinoid cranks & starts. put my finger on the rod at the switch on the lower collumn & it is working so i put a new sol. in & still no start is the new sol. bad ?

 

[Michael Fowler]

On my ( '86 F250) there is a junction on the right fender, near the battery that all carries almost everything electrical, except the starter. Loss of power at this point will kill the light, injection pump solenoid, radio and key switck. IIRC it is a yellow plastic junction with 2 wires joined into one wire, It corrodes inside, wiggling the junction restores it, temporarily until a more permanent fix can be made.
Here's how I found it.... My truck would just quit at odd times with no pattern. I noticed that everything electrical went out when the engine died, so i figured the probblem was electrical. The nexrt time it quit, I turned on the headlights, and started wiggling connectors until the headlights came back one. They were easy to see as I was standing right there. Once the lights came on, I was able to identify the problem connector. It started right up after that.

 

[shorthair]

its not dying once i bump start or jump across the solinoid terminals she starts & runs fine.

 

[yARIC008]

hey, i got the same problem. I've determined it's not the solenoid cause i can go jump it and it will start up just fine, just the key, especially in the morning, won't start it. It works fine in the afternoon... I'm wondering if it is that quick connect going to the solenoid. I have a quick connect at least. It's almost as if either that connector or something else is almost touching and when there is enough energy going to the wire (such as after the batteries have charged after a long drive) it'll arc and give power to the solenoid. But in the morning when they aren't quite as high of a charge it won't arc.

I dunno, that's what i have noticed with mine at least.

 

[towcat]

When you "hot" the fender mounted solenoid, you bypass the slider switch on the column and the neutral safety switch. On fords, the neutral saftey is not a maintence issue, but the ignition slider is. I'd start by changing it out first before getting too worked up on anything else. Besides, ford has has a ongoing recall on them due to the fact they tend to catch fire when they fail. Just for the peace of mind, its worth it.

 

[Nickbf2504x4]

I don't know if you have a stick or not, but I believe the clutch start safety switch can cause the same problem... bypass it and try that...correct me if im wrong, but Im pretty sure thats what the BlackBeaauty did...

 

[shorthair]

slider switch is 6 mo old& i can feel switch move when wife turns key clutch switch was bypassed by P.O. dont know if small wire on top of sol. is hot when key is in start position next thing to check.

 

[shorthair]

every once in a while small lead to top of solinoid is powered then starts twice and then quits working.

 

[krawlr]

slider switch is 6 mo old& i can feel switch move when wife turns key clutch switch was bypassed by P.O. dont know if small wire on top of sol. is hot when key is in start position next thing to check.

It has an adjustment on it, maybe it slipped? Otherwise I would disconnect the batts. and start taking connections apart and wire brushing them, make them shine, always a good start (and free).

 

[shorthair]

tried adjusting switch no better ran a intermitent wire to small lead on solinoid now starts every time but if i leave the factory lead hooked up my new fuse pops so i must have a dead short in that wire some where in the harness.

 

[krawlr]

What fuse is popping? I see a fuse link.

 

[shorthair]

i put a 5 amp fuse in the new wire to the small lead on the solinoid & if the factory wire is connected that 5 amp blows but not if i leave the factory wire off then she starts fine.

 

[Mr_Roboto]

Do a continuity test on the factory wire (with ignition off) to see if it is grounded. If you get continuity from the wire to ground with the ignition off, then it is indeed shorted somewhere.

5 amps is pretty small, it may just be that current is backfeeding and running something in the truck that draws more than 5 amps.