Hey all,

The other day I drove my truck and backed out of driveway(backup lights worked), drove about 15 miles(uneventful). Parked the truck for about 10 hours or so and tried to start truck and lights lit on dash but wouldn't crank over. Jumped solenoid with screwdriver and it cranked and started. changed solenoid and still the same results. Also back up lights no longer work. Checked fuse box but nothing blown. I'm thinking ignition is bad and needs replacement. Previous owner said they replaced it once too(when I asked why push button was for on dash). My truck is an 89 F-250 w/a 351 and snow plow and has 2 batteries. Is it just too much power on ignition? What would cause 2 ignitions to go bad(if in fact previous owner did replace it)? Thanks for any input.

 

The fact the back-up lights didn't work when it didn't crank would point me towards the neutral safety switch or the shift cable adjustment.........assuming in is an automatic.

 

I tried to put it in neutral also and start it. I saw another thread where someone said check the ground too?