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I'm in socal rained for a week....
got in the truck turned the key, nothing.
but, got lights, blinkers, radio....
scratched my head, turned the wheel, flicked the blinkers on off...
damn truck started!?!?!
drive all day yesterday, start it, shut down, start again..no problems.
today....drive over for a family/friends breakfast----won't start?!?!
did the same thing again, flick this, turn that....turned the key a few times...nothing....but, all juice no engine turnover...
took one more shot...fires up...now I'm home again...
any thoughts??? I'm thinking there is a short somewhere between the steering column and the engine...maybe water got in somewhere...who the hell knows!!
There is a wire on the wiring harness that will rub and eventually short out sometimes on the column like that. Most people are able to get it to start by tilting the steering column up or down. I would take the plastic off behind the steering wheel and look to see if there are any wires rubbing. You can wrap it in tape, or any other means you would like to insulate the bare spot in the wire from the metal.
Hopefully this is your problem since its a fairly quick fix. Let us know what you find!
Also try shifting into neutral or shoving the shift lever up further into park before starting. If the shift selector gets a little loose, the truck thinks it's in reverse and won't engage the starter.
Recently I ran across a thread about your issue and it had pics of the procedure for removing the steering wheel, ignition switch, etc. to gain access to that bad wire.
Did not appear extremely difficult, but you will need some patience.
Try searching for that thread.
I was up under there a little bit ago...
everything looks 'ok'!?!!?
rob
Originally Posted by lhud
Rob,
Recently I ran across a thread about your issue and it had pics of the procedure for removing the steering wheel, ignition switch, etc. to gain access to that bad wire.
Did not appear extremely difficult, but you will need some patience.
Try searching for that thread.
Rob,
There are wires running along the steering column and when the tilt mechanism is used it will stretch and release these wires. Over time, they can break inside the insulation or even break partially through and if in the right position short out.
Most times, it is a break inside the insulation and when the wire is positioned just right from tilting, turning or whatever, the broken ends make contact and away you go.
I do not thing it is likely to be a neutral safety switch, but one can never tell.
I had an '86 Silverado that did the exact same thing - position the tilt just right and everything works just fine.
well,
I loosened up the top/bottom column....didn't see anything...very limited access
how about the removal/popping off the dash plastic right above the steering wheel/below the gauges...will it pop off easy---the piece is wrapped around the whole front dash...
otherwise, the truck is running if I don't move the steering wheel up/down...haha!?!
I'm having a similar problem with my sons 1990 F250, but I can't get it to go into gear either. I pulled the ignition switch from the lower portion of the steering column, thinking that had gone bad, but pushed it forward with a screwdriver and it fired right up. Any ideas as to why it wouldn't shift?