Okay, so I am on my way to work this morning, truck stalls 3 times and almost refuses to start. Crank crank crank, nothing. The truck almost to full operating temp.

Next problem, as I'm cranking, when I would let off the key, my ignition would stay in the start position and I would have to manually move it back.

Next problem, turn my heat on, smell something burning, a little smoke, turn my heat off, massive smoke. Had to turn off, roll the windows down and let the smoke clear. I'm guessing maybe my blower motor shorted?

All this happened on my way to work.

 

Not sure about the stalling and sticking key, but the smoke coming from the heater vents is a well known problem here. It is likely caused by a small brush fire induced by the blower resistor burning accumulated leaves and other plant debris.

Here is a link to an earlier discussion on this problem and how to fix it: https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...stination.html

 

Yeah....you look at those things and all they are is heating coils Look like what you'd see in a heat gun.

 

Awesome, thanks for the link. I was on my phone at the time and service is shady at the best of times, so a search wasn't working very well.

I noticed it didn't smell like wire burning, I thought I was driving past a house fire or brush fire.

The stalling was bad, I was stuck in the middle of the road for a few minutes.

 

I would suspect your ignition switch. Seems like too much of a coincidence that your key is sticking in start and the engine is cutting out at the same time. may be losing power to the ignition through the switch.

 

Do you happen to have tilt steering? I've never had it on these vintage trucks but have seen on here several times that it has been known to cause issues with the ignition switch and the alignment between it and the key cylinder. They are connected via a rod. As you turn the key, it operates a rod that is connected to the ignition switch that is mounted on top of the steering column.

 

Tilt wheel? No. I've heard of the tilt steering problem. If I have to, I'll just mount a push button start.

 

Well the problem could still be in the switch. I was just commenting that it seems the tilt steering causes an issue of its own.

 

I hope it's not the switch. I think the stalling was caused by the temperature outside. It was about 24 degrees.

It was getting ignition, just sticking in the "start" position, so the starter was winding without me touching the key haha.

 

Could be...but don't get getting power to your starter and power to your ignition system confused. The ignition switch does both.

You are not having a problem getting power to the starting circuit. What I was saying is you may have a problem getting power to the ignition circuit (coil).

A push button is normally used, although it's not a good idea for various reasons, to bypass the key to crank the engine. If your ignition system is not getting power due to the switch being bad, a push button will not work. Unless you want to drive around every where with the button pushed incontinously.

If it's sticking in the start position...it obviously has problems. That same problem may also be preventing 12V from getting to your ignitions system...hense maybe why it stalled.

 

Hm. I see your point. I guess I'll have to wait and see if the problem persists. Or check for spark if it happens again.

 

Haha. Mine caught on fire too....

Still haven't gotten around to fixing it, but if you keep it either full-blast or full-off, it won't catch fire...

 

I'm changing tires tomorrow, we might just go ahead and clean all the debris out as wheel.

 

let us know how it goes....

 

Will do boss!