Hello-

I keep having my fender mounted solenoid burn out. The starter is newish and the alternator is old but seems to be working. Battery tests good. Yesterday a friend Did notice where some rubber on a starter cable near one terminal on the starter looked worn off-- but not touching. The other day we thought what was wrong was a low battery, but noticed that the engine was turning over or trying to. We at one point hooked up the battery and tried to jump it off and the wires on the jumper cable did burn. But the replacement of the solenoid seems to have fixed the problem just hat the truck sometimes acts like it has a weak battery with a kind of hesitation for a second then it starts but I have tested ithe battery twice this week at a retail place. This is my third solenoid in about 6 months. 3 in all this year. I got what was offered at Auto Zone or similar. One box, one old solenoid box, I still have the boxes so many have gone out, says This Solenoid DOES NOT use suppression diodes. USe of the Solenoid on vehicles with Engine Control Computers will result in permanent damage to the computer/Processor. I don't think that is on a 1983, I have an ignition control module.While my friend was under the truck making sure the starter cables were right he pulled on some wires to see if maybe something was loose. Even before the helped the gas gauge read empty, so maybe this was not the cause but right now the gas gauge is out, which is a real hassle. All the other gauges are working. I checked all the fuses, but none were blown, I noticed that the blinkers are out, so maybe I need to check again. Any suggestions would be very appreciated.

Thank you,

Butch

 

Could be repeatable cheap Chinese crap, get one from Ford....

 

This is what people should expect, when they buy cheap Chinese made crap from chain auto parts stores.

You get what you pay for, buy the best and cry only once.

See E7HZ-11450-A (Motorcraft SW-1507-B) in pic.

 

First things first, stop going back to Autozone. Then read this:


https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...i-mean-it.html


For the slow starter speed, here you go:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...w-starter.html

 

Replace all the battery cables unless you do the voltage drop test but I am going to say they came with the truck when new so replace.
OH you can not look at battery cables to see if they are bad or not ....... again voltage drop test is the only way ... just replace them.

Now on the replacement cables if getting from Auto Zone or any other store make sure you get the thicker cables.
When I replaced mine AZ had 2 different sizes GO BIG or don't go!

The negative if like my 81 should go from the battery down to the frame with a tab bolted to the top of the frame rail then down to 1 of the starter bolts.
This grounds the frame & motor/trany. You still need to run a ground wire (10 gauge) from the motor to firewall to ground the body.
Positive from battery to starter relay on fender from it to starter. Make sure the relay is grounded good to the fender.

With new cables on mine and an old starter & relay of unknown years (came with the truck when I got it 4 years ago) I have not tighten the negative clamp as the head lights are on while I am building it and the truck starts just find. I also have a 300 six & T18 trany.
Dave ----

 

Never thought of that....been a long time since I bought from a dealer, thanks.

 

Thank you will get one from Ford when this one goes. Unless you think there is a difference in the terminals etc.

 

I think you are right it probably is true that those are original cables from the solenoid to the starter, and I am trying to find a replacement. It could be that the voltage is off, like a big resistor, I used to have a multiguage but never did understand how to use it, gave it to my brother he seemed to know how. But I lost him last year to cancer.

 

Just read it, trying to get the right solenoid now.

 

I'm getting my replies mixed up, a bit difficult to go back and edit as you learn more-but I did call a local Ford dealer, parts department and left them a message, I did use he numbers posted in the diagram pic--will have to wait to see if they will be able to reply or get it.

 

E7HZ-11450-A .. Starter Relay was obsoleted by FoMoCo recently.

 

Hello fellow old Ford lovers-

I did get one of the alternator cables replaced, although I know the other one should be done too at some point, but it was raining and I got a sort of back street shop where a friend works do that. He tells me the only way to get the gas gauge going again is probably to drop the tank and fix that sensor thing, but I'm going to wait a minute on that. I am always wondering what the lifespan of this truck is. I did follow the advice to get a new battery with more cranking amps---I went up to 650, but it is the Econo version and I kept the old battery which I probably will put in the back of the truck. I refinish and paint kitchen cabinets so I will use the truck to deliver some of them and haul a lot of junk I use tomorrow, not wanting to get stuck on the road, but it is only a 35 minute drive down there. An old camper topper I found cheap is working so far. I never knew this old truck would run so good, but it has been a slow journey fixing it up, still, the cost is small.

 

Mine has been a slow 4 year journey and cost a small fortune!
Dave ----

 

Well, I did pay 2500 upfront for mine. An old preacher who bought and sold vehicles on time had been eyeing the parked truck sitting across the street from him for years. He combined the interest into the sales price so that you couldn't do an early pay off which really raised the price for a tag, but the payments were low, so no worries. A guy who was buying a truck on time from him saw that he'd bought it and told me about it because my other vehicles had just bit the dust. I paid him 150.00 down and made payments till it was done, he didn't want my address, social, anything other than the word of his existing customer that I was reliable. It had set up a long time. I had a heck of a time getting the new carburetor I bought work out, and in the end, combined the two carbs. We got rid of the smog machine. Getting a new exhaust manifold was a major improvement.

There were many little things to fix. The heater blows but only out of the vent on the dash--and on defrost. I didn't run the air for two summers. The tailgate had a lot of rust on the bottom with little pock holes, but I finally put some --body tape-- in the little pits after sanding and spraying with a rust-resistant primer that matched the light gray cheap Nason crap I put on it about 2 years ago. I rebonded and need to do a little more tweaking on that with some spot putty. During priming a with that Nason primer the nice rope ties with the impossible to find 3 holes got "misplaced" and one of the F 100 pop in logo's got cracked in two and the helper also sanded on the passenger side glass. The lock on the driver's side quit working, I bought a little plastic clip on EBAY and that fixed it for a while. There is rust on the passenger floorboard, I temporarily fixed it with some plastic, thin sheets of metal I shoved under this and that and over the plastic film, overlapping the metal sheets I found at LOWES ,and then I found a heavy-duty house front door "welcome mat" which when turned over, matched the color of the other side which is fine and gave enough stability to step on.

Now the gas gauge is out, so I drove the truck yesterday 60 miles and for the first time tested the mpg and by chance, it took 10 gallons to fill it, so I am sad to report that I am only getting 6 mpg highway. I think I am awful at adjusting the carberator and this has been made worse because a fan belt came off somehow and tore up the shroud for the radiator and I sort of how curtailed my crawling down into a running truck. It is running rough before I started trying to adjust he carb, it purred when warm. Not so much now.


I thought a single barrel carb would mean better gas mileage because I read that this truck came out when the gas prices were at an all-time high and this was to be a more economical option. The truck takes a long time to warm up. So getting a real adjustment on the carb is harder I think because if you get different results as the truck get out on the road. When a few months ago, I put in new wires, plugs, etc. it would ilde cold, not so much now, though it was very warm weather and now we are starting to cool down. Any suggestions of getting better mileage would VERY APPRECIATED.


Later-

Butch

 

83 is the switch over year I think for the feed back system and if that is what you have that could be why it run bad and poor MPG.
Can you take a picture of the dist. or tell us if it have a vacuum line going to it?
Picture of the carb also or does it have a lot of wires going to it?
When cold is the choke closing and when up to temp is it opening all the way?
A picture of this would help also so we can see if all the parts are there for it to work as it should.

I don't have mine on the road yet but I do think the 300 six with a stock carb should do better than 6 MPG.
You have different size tires on it from stock?
Dave ----