Hi all,
I'm new here and I must say it looks like a great place for info about Ford pick ups.
I've got a 66 F100 which I've had for since 1974. I've restored it twice in those years, which brings me to my question:

I've been experiencing some hard starting problems lately and now after a new battery and solenoid the ignition stays on after the motor is running.
The only way to shut it down is to disconnect the ground cable on the battery.

I suspected the ignition key switch so I pulled the key switch and disconnected all the wires and then connected the ground cable on the battery and it fires the
engine. I'm pretty sure that's not how it's suppose to work.
Any thoughts or opinions as to how to fix this problem?

Thanks guys. sa

 

Welcome aboard; I'm no electrical expert of any kind;
I would remove the ignition tumbler and see if there's crud built up inside; if not then repace the ignition terminal with one from a salvage yard truck. I assume the starter isn't the problem; as well get it check for GP reason.
Sorry for not having the answer to your problem.

 

did you cross the two smaller wires on the front of the solenoid? one is the ignition, and the other is the starter,,, I did that a while back! try swapping the wires on the two small terminals on the front of the solenoid.. See if that fixes it!

 

Thanks for the come back guys.
I'll give the wire swap on the solenoid a try although I'm going to switch out the starter as I think that might be the root of the problem. Perhaps it has gotten damaged from too much cranking. It seems to works fine but because of the fact it wont shut off when it's suppose to and is in a constant state of ignition leads me to believe it has gotten too hot and damaged the internals.

Any and all suggestions are always appreciated. sa

 

the starter seems to be fine.. if it is turning that is all it is supposed to do .. if the wires are swapped on the solenoid, that is why it won't shut off, the other possibility is a bad solenoid! Try the simple first, why drop the starter if you don't need to! it is just a motor!

 

Well at this point I think the problem has been corrected.
First the ignition switch went back together,
then a new starter went in.
All seems to working fine now.

The starter was engaged continually even after the engine was running.
The only way to stop it was to disconnect the negative cable from the battery.
After I pulled the starter I run a bench test on it and thought it might work but a new starter is not that expensive so what the hey.
I believe the starter failed due to extensive cranking in the first place.

The hard starting issues seems to have gotten better as well. Three new components for the starter circuit may have done the trick. sa