Need some ideas from you guys. Truck cranks for 1/2 second but wont start.

The glow plug light comes on as normal and holds on for a few second as expected (warm engine), but flickers once before it turns off...The engine then cranks for 1/2 a second and all goes dead.

This happened after I energized the Auber dual LED gauge.

I did the following:

I tapped into the 12-volt-when-ignition-on wire coming out of the accelerator pedal wiring harness and ran power to the new dual gauge. (Was this a mistake?)

The gauge came on but one of the rows of LEDS was getting an ERROR code, so as per their directions, I shorted the pos and negative 12 volt connections on the back of the gauge to see if one of the pyrometer was faulty or if it was a problem with the gauge itself (not sure why they heck they want you to do that) and the gauge went dead.

The truck was running at the time but now engine would not accelerate...no response from accelerator. oh oh....

http://auberins.com/images/Manual/Au...3%20manual.pdf

I started popping out fuses and found that 10amp fuse #45 was blown. I replaced it and tried to start truck again and see if would get response from accelerator. The truck cranks for 1/2 a second then dies.

Again, I noticed the glow plug light comes on as normal but turns off a little faster than I would expect and flickers ONCE. Kinda odd.

WHAT DID I DO? I took the splice off of the 12 volt wire and removed the ground to the gauge.

 

I don't know if tapping into the wire off the accelerator was a mistake, but I would remove it just to see if that fixes your problem.

 

I'm not saying this might be your problem but sometimes my truck does what you're describing as far as the half a second crank. Push the shifter all the way up to park or try to start it in neutral. Aside from that I'm clueless. Good luck
EDIT: It's worth a shot and it's free it's hard to argue with that

 

Oh thanks Guys. I will move the shifter and try to start again.

3-Gauge Install Pictures

In the meantime, the harness Im talking about can be seen in the picture in the link above....in the foreground. I looked for the wire they recommend splicing too, but I did not find that particular harness under my truck, so I just searched for another proximate harness with a 12 volt source (ignition on only). The wire itself is still in perfectly good condition after I took off the spice so I dont think this is the issue.

Maybe I blew another fuse other than #45?

 

I don't see anywhere in the instructions where it ways to short the 12v positive to negative. Is that in a different .pdf, maybe? I don't think the wire to the throttle position sensor was probably the best place to get power. The radio or something would have been a better choice; or anything that doesn't have anything to do with the engine controls.

 

John, I did disconnect all wires. It still wouldnt start.

 

Yes youre right its not mentioned in the PDF I linked to but rather in another hardcopy they sent me with the gauges. I just found it on the Auber webage.

See bullet "5)"

http://www.auberins.com/Quick%20Guid...1e6f7e59392e5d

 

Yes youre right Pikachu I should connect to the radio power rather then any engine controls. Problem is...I cant get the damn radio out even with the appropriate tools, but thats another story all together.

 

That says to short terminals 6 & 7, which are the leads to the thermocouple. If you shorted the 12v positive and negative you shorted 1 & 2, which would explain the blown fuse. Now to figure out why the truck won't crank for more than half a second. Is it still blowing the fuse when you try to start?

 

t6/t7 are the 12volt terminals.

But you're right it makes no sense to short out the 12v power.

That being said, I put the truck in Neutral and Park and tried to start it both positions and I have the same results but on some occasions the glow plug light doesnt even come on.

After 4 or 5 times trying to start it the dashboard starting flashing like it was POSSESSED. Needles jumping up and down, dashboard going on and off.....as if I was turning the key back and forth between off and on, off and on.

Did I cook a relay? Sheez

Fuse 45 is in tact. It didnt blow again.

 

Sounds sorta like a bad battery connection...hopefully.

May try swapping pcm relay with blower relay

 

The dash symptoms sure are very similar to weak or dead batteries. The WTS light flickering, 1/2 second crank then die, speedo & tach acting like windshield washers.

 

lex...theres a blu/pnk wire, thats a 12v switched power, provided for free from ford. Look about 2 o'clock position, and to where the yellow/blk/red/blue wires come in from under the engine compartment.....That blu/pnk wire feeds my 10 gauges

 

6 and 7 have a plus and minus, but those are the markings that you look for on the thermocouple... not a voltage into the sensor.

You sent an "illegal command" into the PCM when you shorted the power to the Throttle Position Sensor. The PCM is still hanging on to that error. Reboot the PCM (remove power) and hope nothing is damaged.

 

I agree that it sounds like a battery connection. Ive had weak batteries in the past and it gives a similar symptom. However I have a plug in jumper unit. Not battery powered but rather plug-in type. I used it and its not having any effect.

Im gonna try swapping those relays...