I've started learning and working on my 77 F250 Supercab, starting small and going to work my way up. Dome light and lighter outlet were not working, so I ordered parts from LMC truck and started putting them in last Saturday. I have two boys, ages 4 and 2, who love Daddy's "monster" truck. They were playing in the cab while I was working. Naturally it took three times as long, but how else will they learn?

I replaced the dome light and it worked good. I tested the lighter plug before installing in the dash and it was good too. I put it in the dash and screwed on the retainer and it was no good. Crud!

After thinking about it, chasing boys off, checking connections, chasing boys off again, thinking more, and chasing boys off again, I checked my Haynes manual and realized the dome light and lighter were on the same circuit. Looked up at the dome light and sure enough it was out.

Yay, just a blown fuse! (I had thought the lighter was part of the accessory circuit.) Loaded two boys in car seats in back and my 10 year old daughter between them, hurry, hurry, parts store will close soon and everybody has to have baths tonight. (My wife was at our church preparing for VBS.)

Key in ignition, no roar, no clunk, no click, - nothing. Frantic thinking while three little voices are asking 'what happened, Dada?' Did I fry something? Should I have disconnected the battery? Is my truck now stuck in the middle of the carport an unmovable two ton hunk of steel? Unload all three kids and read the schematic again. More thinking while sitting in the truck while the kids play inside.

Wait a minute - kids playing. I checked the shift lever and my boys had bumped it just slightly out of gear. Shoved it firmly back and it started right up. Slap my forehead!

The rest of the story involved throwing kids into the truck and getting a fuse from O'Reilly's 15 minutes before they closed but it was a success. Kids learned about fuses, too.

 

Cute story, thanks for sharing. I have 6 kids so I can totally relate.

Here's my youngest daughters learning how to tweak the timing on my truck.



Share some pix! Love to see the Super Cab.

 

I tried a quick search, but didn't turn up how to add pictures to a post. I mostly use an iPod mini for forum posts.

 

It's a little harder to add pictures with an iPad, but I hate breaking out the laptop.

 

That story sounds very familiar. Glad to know I'm not the only one fighting more than one type of gremlin in the truck. I wouldn't trade it for anything though.

I bet all of your tools are right were you leave them too!