On my '88 Ford I noticed my starter was turning very slow for a few days. This is a brand new starter, only a few weeks old. Then yesterday the truck doesn't start at all when I turn the switch. All of my accessories come on, my fuel pump comes on and the starter selinoid on the fender clicks and then nothing. I tracked the wire down to the starter with no noticeable burns, abrasion or breaks. I replaced the selinoid a few minutes ago and still nothing. The battery tests just fine also. What is my choice for replacement now; the ignition switch or the neutral safety switch?

When I pull the small wire off of the selinoid and jump across the ports, the truck starts right up.

Thanks

 

The solinoid wouldn't click if it was the neutral safety switch. I think there is a solinoid on the starter or near it. Check for that.

 

another solinoid down on the bottom near the starter? hmph, have to go check that but didn't see anything their earlier that looked like one. Just one wire from top of fender down along engine and straight to the only terminal on the starter but I will go look again.

 

Do the lights dim a lot when you turn the key to start?

You might have to do a resistence check on the fat wire goes from the solenoid to the starter

Possible to have a corroded place inside the insulation of the wire causing an open circuit or very high resistence. It will also get very hot in thses spots. Even smoke if u hold the key down long enough

If you see a spot on the wire where the insulation is a little swollen try to bend the wire there - it will probably snap


Good luck, HTH

 

Is the pos. wire good and tight on the starter? I had this problem for two months after I changed my starter and solenoid. It turned out to be the pos. wire .I tightened it now it starts with no problems. Good Luck SAV

 

Thanks guys...I checked the wires and all looks good there. The wire on the starter is good and tight, can't move it at all. I took a volt meter now and checked the small wire going to the solinoid and found no current there to activate the plunger, when the switch is turned over...new switch?

 

Whoops, Didn't mean to do this.

 

I had that exact same problem and it was described to me as a "hanging starter" where my ignition switch was messing up my starter causing it to stay engaged constantly, which burnt up the starter. Pulled the starter and out poured a bunch of black powdery like charred up stuff . Got a new ignition switch and all is good now.

 

My father-in-law had a similiar problem with his van. The solenoid on the starter clicked but the starter would not turn over. The battery was fully charged. But the problem was the battery. It showed 12 volts but it did not have any cranking amps.

There is a tool to check the battery for amperage. It connects to the battery and puts a load on the battery using a large resistor. A guage will show the amount of amps that the battery is producing. If you can jump start the vehicle, get it to a garage and have them test the battery or borrow the tool and check it yourself. It is an easy test and may be the problem.

If you can't get the tool or don't want to pay a garage to do this, simply stick another battery in from another vehicle or connect a battery to the wires using jumper cables (disconnect the pos and neg wires from the battery in the truck). If it turns over, get a new battery.

Remember, you may have enough volts to turn on the lights and the guages, but not enough cranking amps to turn the motor.

 

If you can turn the accessory switch on, and the fuel pump spins, the lights are on, the radio is on, the heater or a/c motor is on, etc etc....you'll have enough power in the battery to atleast turn the motor over a little bit. It will only click and do nothing when that battery is dead as a door nail.

 

Check the battery, it's easy to do and if it is the problem, it will save you a lot of time testing the other components.

 

That tool is the Sun VAT 40, or the newer version VAT 45.

 

Does unplugging the neutral safety switch and then trying to start the truck in nuetral qualify as a way to tell if the switch is bad?

Someone told me to unplug the switch and try to start the truck. If it starts, then its the switch, if it doesn't then its the ignition switch. Gotta get 'er fixed.....

 

No, not a good test. The switch is open any time the gear selector is not in neutral (I.E. can't start in gear). if you unplug it, it shouldn't start in neutral anyway. A test for the switch would be to try to start in gear.

Its most likley not the neutral safty switch. I would start testing the ignition switch. (most likely, lots of us have had the ignition switch go out).

good luck

 

Does no back-up lights point more to the switch since they are intertwined? I'm trying to whittle this problem down before I start replacing a bunch of crap because here we have a no return policy on electrical parts....