Hello. I have a 1997 ford F350 with a 7.3 PSD. I need to know how many oms are supposed to run through the ignition wires. A couple days ago I went to start the truck and the engine cranked over twice and then acted like it has a bad short. Changed starter, both silonoids, batteries and changed the body ground points and checked all the wires under the hood and nothing is bare/burnt/corroded its still acts like a short. I need some advice

 

Did you check the grounds on the block?

 

Yes. I cleaned them too

 

Is it a 5 speed? Will it turn over if you jump the solinoid on the fender?

 

Does the engine turn over, or do nothing when you turn the ignition switch to start?

 

It is 5 speed and yes but the neg terminal starts smoking. I cleaned the ground eyelings and ground locations with sandpaper and a wire brush

 

Try to bypass your clutch safety switch.

 

OK.. How do I do that?

 

Which negative terminal smokes? Where?

What "ignition wires"? Diesels ignite by compression. And resistance does not flow through conductors, so your question about "how many 'oms' run through the ignition wires" is unclear.

 

I mean how many oms are supposed to run through the wires on the solinoid on the fender. And there is a clicking noise that comes from the alternator/genorator area. Is it supposed to do that? I ask because I never owned a diesel truck

 

Starting and charging systems are pretty-much the same on this engine as on a gasser. No, there should be no clicking coming from the alternator. When is this happening? With the key in RUN? When you crank it to START? That might narrow things down.

That's a relay on the fender; the solenoid is down on the starter. OHms is a measure of resistance, and resistance does not "run through" an electrical circuit. The coil circuit of the relay (from the small terminal to the ground on the mounting plate) will have some resistance, but it's measured stand-alone, not in the circuit, like any resistance measurement. Don't know the number offhand, however. The contact circuit (two big terminals) should measure infinite resistance when the coil circuit is not energized, and zero (or very close to zero) when the coil circuit is energized. But since it's just a relay, tripping the solenoid on the starter, if you're getting any "response" when you turn the key to START, that relay is most likely good.

Back to the clicking, usually if you hear anything cycling on and off while the key is in RUN, that indicates either too-low battery voltage, or a main battery/ground connection issue. The usual scenario - turn the key to RUN, PCM and GP relays close, weak batteries/connections unable to handle the significant load, voltage drops to below the threshold to trigger the relays, relays open. Load therefore drops off, allows weak batteries/connections to recover, voltage rises back up on its own, up to where the relays close again, once again overloading the weak batteries/connections, voltage drops, cycle repeats itself until you turn the key OFF.

So.... check ALL main battery/ground connections. Pay esp. attention to the junction point at the starter relay. That one big terminal that has a whole bunch of ring terminals on it - those circuits do not _use_ the relay (the circuits don't depend on the relay triggering), that's just a convenient junction point to gang all those wires together. But that's where EVERY electrical part of the truck, except for the starter itself, is energized.

Also, LOAD test BOTH batteries, in isolation from one another. If one is weak, charge them both, separately if possible and test again. If one is still weaker than the other, replace both. One weak battery will pull down the capacity of the other one. If you replace them piecemeal, you're just accelerating the demise of the remaining good battery.

Lotsa fun, esp. with the autumn winds blowin', eh?

 

Yea its kinda windy but cold too. Do you think maybe the alternator has a short? Both batteries are new and fully charged. I cleaned both pos and neg terminals on the batteries and cleaned the end that goes on the starter and cleaned the frame and block grounds. When I turn the key to "run" something in the alternator clicks like a short, kinda sounds like when the choke closes on a gaser (about as loud). And just curious, is the solonoid pos wire supposed to be on the battery? And could you explain or show me on a picture like how the fender solonoid is hooked up

 

The clicking from the alternator area is most likely the glow plug relay. That's normal

 

OK thanks and how are the wires on the fender relay supposed to b hooked up? I have the wire that comes from the battery, the alternator, and the glow plugs on one post and the starter wire on the other post... At least that's how I found it when I raised the hood for the first time to see what the problem was

 

That sounds right