I recently discovered this site, and I have to say there is a lot of great info on here. I wish I had discovered it it long ago. I have a 2000 F-250, CC, 4x4 (well it used to be 4x4 lol) 6speed, With the 7.3.

Mostly stock. Mods include gauges(EGT, and Boost) 6637 air filter, strait pipe exhaust, shimmed uvchs. shimmed fpr, intank mods, ccv mod, Dp tuner with 60 tow, 80E, 100 performance, and 140 aggressive. Also have 1200 rpm high idle, and drive through tune, but I never use them. 1200 high idle was for a winch which I don't have anymore, and drive through does nothing but fill the parking lot with white smoke.

My truck currently has about 460,000 miles. All by me. Bought it brand new in 2000. Only parts replaced so far are alternator, water pump, too many sets of hub assemblies to count. Gpr's as well as shocks, tires, belts, hoses, and other normal wear and tear parts. Clutch was also replaced for the first time about 25,000 miles ago. I went with a stock replacement. Figured if it lasted that long why upgrade. Truck has had a hard life, but it has been very good to me.

It needs some work but nothing major, needs another set of shocks, and lots of bushings replaced, (yet again, lol) Also it idles kinda rough at times so I'm pretty sure it needs a set of injectors. (considering they are the originals) Will worry about that when I have to...

My question for right now is this. Recently my ignition switch went out. Not the key part, the switch itself. At least I'm pretty sure that's what it is. All fuses are good but I'm not getting 12v to the starter relay when the key is turned. I currently have a push-button stashed in the cubbyhole in the lower dash wired from the battery to the starter relay. (crude yet effective) Its gotten me by for the last few weeks, but lately I've noticed the battery light stays on after its cranked until I give it a little throttle.

The reason this concerns me is that the batteries and the alternator have both been replaced within the last 6 months. So is this setup with the pushbutton causing the problem, or is it something else? I know they key switch itself kills power to all accessories while cranking, but the push-button does not, Could this be the problem or am I on the wrong track?

Thanks for any help offered, Shawn

 

Welcome to FTE. 460K on the clock is real bragging rights. Nice going.

As for your issue, have you taken the steering column covers off to inspect for a broken wire around the ignition switch? Just a thought. Then again, with that kind of mileage on the truck, it could be need of replacing. Interesting fix with the push button but not sure if that would throw the battery light.

 

Thanks for the welcome, and the imput. I have had the covers off, but to be honest I couldn't even find the switch itself. I'm thinking it may be under the dash??? All the functions of the switch work except for the start position, so It could very well be a loose connection. Or broken wire.

If anyone knows where the switch itself is it would be very helpful. I know I don't have the best eyesight, but maybe its worse than I though, lol.

I'm just curious to know if cranking the engine with all the accessories running might be pulling too much off of the batteries????

I'm a decent mechanic, but electronics and electrical problems are far from my specialties.

 

Welcome to FTE my fella Texan!..I do not have anything to offer on the switch...Kike Chris said,real bragging rights on the miles.You have taken good care of it.

 

Thanks for another warm welcome. I do my best to take care of it. Work has been slow over the past year, and unfortunately the truck has had to take a back seat to other financial needs. But I'm trying to get back on the ball with the maintenance. Its been good to me and I try to return the favor.

 

I don't see that it would cause a problem, at least in warm weather. I'm not an electrical engineer, but logically I would think the point of having power cut to all accessories during start would be to dedicate all available voltage/current to starting.

I just replaced my alternator with a 200A unit and was getting flicker like you are seeing. I'd even get it going down the road at times. The fix was to run a FUSED 4ga wire directly from the battery to the alternator input. No more battery light flicker. That's my suggestion, along with checking all your ground points. A small bottle of Noalox (CLICK HERE) to coat things after scrubbing them clean will ensure good solid connections.

Welcome, and congrats on 460k!!! I just hit 190k with 102k of them by me!

 

its probably different but in a chevy the ign pushes a rod on top of the cloumn which pushes a switch. idk on ford. havent had any problems with that yet. knock on wood

 

Do you still have your positions and spring return when you hit the key or does the cylinder act like it's floating? There's a linkage that travels the length of the column that goes to the switch. The switch is the white box under the dash... it's easy to get to once you get the fuse panel off. Two star screws and it's out. When you get it out, manually move the switch and see if that fixes it. Also, there is another solenoid on the inside edge of the passenger-side fender. When you say starter solenoid, I'm assuming you're talking about the one on the starter, right? The rough idle could just be an IPR sticking or a bad ICP sensor. There are alot of guys in your area... bet you could meet up with one to read some live data on your truck and see what's what. Might not be your injectors after all!

Those are alot of miles... congrats on the bragging rights! I have 306K and I hope to get a good 500K outta my truck before I'm done with it.

 

Thanks for the info. The button is wired to the relay on the passenger side fender. But I don't like having to keep it set up like that. Little fingers just love to push buttons, and my parking brake does not work, so I have to leave it in gear. And its amazing how strong the starter is. having it wired directly like that if you push that button the engine won't crank but still turns over. Bad idea with kids around.

I had begun to suspect that that little white box was the switch.
I looked it up on google, and it looked very similar. I just don't like yanking parts out from under my dash without knowing what they are.

I also read that the switch is the same for gas and diesel trucks. I have access to a stripped F-350 gasser, so I'm heading there now to pull the switch out of it. I took the one off of mine, but can't tell whats wrong with it. So seeing how I can get another for nothing, I'm just gonna swap it out and see what happens. Will let you know how it goes.

Thanks again for the great info. I have a feeling this site may just become my homepage, lol.

 

Good luck Shawn. I hope that other switch solves your problem.
Welcome to FTE!

460k on original injectors is amazing. Have you been using any sort of fuel additive? If so, what brand(s) and have you been religious with it?

 

I think we may have a new king around here now with those miles, we have a few regular guys here now around the 345000 to 370,000 range, very nice. Welcome to FTE...

 

Ok, so the switch did not fix the problem, so I'm guessing it must be in the wiring somewhere. I will get out there and start looking once the sun comes up. I work nights so its my afternoon right now. Too bad the neighbors don't agree, lol.

As for a fuel additive, I've used dk in the gray bottle, double dose every other tank for as long as I can remember. There may be something better out there, but its worked well for me. And I change the oil every 3000 no exceptions. Plain-jane dino rotella.

It seems as though my mileage is quite an achievement, guess I never really compared it to other trucks like mine. I know having that many miles on the factory injectors is almost unheard of. Although I'm sure they don't have much left in them But I guess I've just been lucky so far.

I hope to get many more miles out of the truck. Most of my miles are highway miles, But I don't drive it much anymore. Went from driving a few thousand every few weeks, to about 20 miles a week.

 

I am a regular DK user as well (gray bottle). I add about 16 oz per tank, every 3rd or 4th tank. A couple of years ago I tried out a different brand and ran that for about 9 or 10 months and then encountered injector problems. I am sure it was just a coincidence and had nothing to do with the alternate brand but I went back to DK just the same because I think it works pretty well.

I am a regular Rotella T user as well. Have you ever had your oil analyzed?

 

Ok so I was able to find the problem. The part inside the little rubber boot that plugs onto the relay was broken off on the inside of the boot. Not sure how I didn't catch that the first time. All I did to fix it was put a crimp connector on the end of the wire and found a nut to fit the stud. Tightened it down and its as good as new.

Unfortunately my battery light is still staying on. It was just on till I gave it some throttle. But now its pretty much continuous.

I did try the heavier gauge wire. Didn't have any 4ga, but had plenty of 6ga, so I ran 2 6ga wires parallel from battery to the alternator. Drove it to work, but no luck the light is still staying on.

The alternator is just a chepo from autozone and it has a lifetime warranty, so I'll bring it over there when they open and swap it out.

Also I do have a few other questions...

I'm fixing to have to change out pretty much all the bushings underneath. Front sway bar, and rear. Does anyone know where I can get just the bushings, without having to buy the links? I know they sell them but for the life of me I cant find them.

Also where is should I look for slack in the steering? I'm sure the tie rods are warn out. But there is a lot, and I do mean a LOT of slack in the steering. I've tightened the gear box as much as I can without it sticking, but its still an almost dangerous amount of slack. And when I say a lot of slack, I mean I have seriously been pulled over twice for suspicion of DUI, and I don't drink and drive, lol.

Like I said in the original post the truck has been neglected for a while, just trying to get back on top of the maintenance.

 

Many of us here swear by 3 vendors
Clay of riffraffdiesel.com has about anything u want and lots you didn't know u needed
Bob from dieselorings.com for all ur oring and sensor needs...better quality than OEM too
Ed of partsguyed.com ...ed is our go to source for OEM parts

PS welcome to FTE and Congrats on the 400+ k quite the achievement