Electrical Fire----NOW WHAT?
LOL!
PS, you should be able to use nuts and washers on the sending units instead of the push-on connectors....Nuts LOL
KOT390
It never gets old! I love being a guy! Even at 47.....still funny! Anyway I cleaned up the points and just left the set in there.
I like to do them with an EFI coil and GM 4 pin module. Simple
After I got into it I realized it wasn't as bad as it looks. BUT boy, oh boy did it look bad!
I believe it was the coil. Beyond a shadow of a doubt. I replaced the coil with OEM Ford and it's horizontal too. If it wasn't, I have enough wire through the firewall for one more shot! LOL!!

You can see the fire "burn" area is right at the front of the coil. The lid of the coil is blown off. That suggests to me that the improper mounting of it caused the fire.
The good thing about these trucks is the fact there are only about 3 wires on the motor coming from the harness at the firewall. 12v to the coil, water temp, and oil pressure.
Yes sir. I think so too.
Today's update is mostly great news. Ended up buying a new sending unit. It was the Water Temp sender. Used a couple of washers and a "nut" after encouragement!.I got everything installed and after a few pumps on the pedal she fired up and stalled a couple of times. That's was music to my ears since I was hoping that meant nothing else was wrong that I wasn't able to see.
After she finally started and ran on her own, I just left it idle for a few minutes and watched the gauges. Everything looked fine inside and in the engine compartment too. Afterwards, I hosed her down and put degreaser on her. Let that sit for a while and then pressure washed everything off. I thought about cleaning and washing the engine prior to changing the parts, but was totally freaked out about the wires just disintegrating and then THAT would have been a complete nightmare. Instead I went through about 20 pairs of latex gloves! I think it was better that way anyway. After I got her all cleaned up, I flushed the radiator to try and get any hose bits (from when it burst) out. It took 3 times to get the water mostly clear. No idea if was ever done before, but it did need it. The first time through the water was just flat out rusty/orange.
Replaced anti-freeze/water and took her for a VERY LONG test drive. 45 minutes up and back the highway. That's when I noticed there was a slight "miss" or backfire almost when making a U-turn. After driving 55-60, slowing down to do the U-turn and getting back in the gas. Right there between the coast and hitting the gas it stutters just a bit. Brought her back home and used some carb cleaner in the throat to see if that would help. Don't know if it did or not since I haven't gone back out to drive it yet. I also noticed that after idling for 15 minutes (waiting on the wife to go for a spin) the Temperature got to about 3/4 on the gauge. Not so good. I guess a Thermostat replacement is in my future too. It didn't occur to me at the time I was flushing the radiator that I should have replaced that too while I was in the vicinity. Might be junk sticking it closed, or just in need of replacement due to age. Dunno.
So all in all, pretty decent day today. Took me all day. I am not a mechanic, but mechanically inclined.
Last thing, can anyone tell me where the horn wire comes through the firewall on the F100? I have continuity from the wire under the button to the Fuse and through the Fuse on the Blue/Red and Bluish/Red but can't for the life of me find it in the engine compartment. Did I just hijack my own thread? Oh, man....I love old people. I have a good ground from the Horn back to what looks like a terminal block. Not sure. The issue has to be between the Terminal block and the Fuse block, but I can't find that Blue/Red popping out.
Thanks!
KOT390
Ford Trucks for Ford Truck Enthusiasts
If you hover over each of the three icons, a dialog will appear describing each button.
Here's a wiring diagram I got from my buddy Jeff.
When I refilled the radiator, I had the truck running. Waited for what I thought was the T-stat to open added more coolant and let her idle for about 10 minutes. There was heat in the cab, but not enough to blast me out. That shoulda been a clue for me.
All I did to the carb was clean it off with brake cleaner and carb cleaner. I lubed all of the linkages. Checked the springs and fabricated one plug for the large vacuum line on the front left side (passenger side) since the rubber cap/cover was melted.
I'll check it again to see if it's full this morning. I had a little puddle coming from the overflow tube yesterday when it started to get hot......
Suggestions??
Nothing before the fire. She purred like an angry kitten.! Looks like I'm going to need a tutorial on how to clean/rebuild the carb!





