Hello all, my internet challenged friend is having trouble with his van and I am trying to help him........ so I have a simple question for you: Vehicle: 1998 Ford van, looks heavy duty, two batteries, extended roof. Problem: Suddenly quit starting! As in fine one moment - nothing the next! What we know: There is NO continuity in the wire from the relay (under the hood, with the fuses) to the starter. He tapped into the starter wire about a foot from the starter and when power is applied the starter cranks. We checked the relay and it is definitely working and sending power down the line. So...... my question is - is there ANYTHING between the relay and the starter that could be disrupting power?? A fuse? A bad connecter? Or is this a solid wire all the way? I could not find an online schematic anywhere. Anyone know a link? Right now our solution is to run a new wire between the relay and the starter. Does anyone have a better idea?? Hope someone can help us out, he's a super nice guy and I would really like to get this fixed. cheers! c

 

how about the starter solenoid?

 

Well, how he has been starting it is - he bared some wire on the starting wire (ahhhh, what's the more accurate name for it???) and attached a little "pig tail" which he then hits with 12 volts and it starts instantly. So from this, perhaps inaccurately, we concluded that the starter is fine and the problem lies in the wire between the relay and the starter. Unless there is something other than just wire between these two?

 

The manual shows no other connections in the circuit from the relay to the solenoid, so there is probably a break in the wire. You can either inspect the wiring until you find the problem, or just overlay the circuit, which would probably be easiest.

 

Thanks so much for the reply, and that's what we were thinking of doing is just running another wire. Probably smarter to locate the problem however, as it might be rubbing thru other wires as well.

Does anyone know a link to download a service manual for a '98 truck/van?

c