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Hello to all! . I’m having some really bad electrical issues with my F100. Keep in mind this truck has been sitting for years now. Although not too long ago I had the truck running with my foot on the gas only other than that it would die but anyways. One day I tried to start the truck and it wouldn’t start.. all I got was a click. So I checked the battery and everything was a okay with that. So I replaced the starter... I cranked the engine maybe 3 times before I started getting a grinding noise. So I replaced the starter again. I was able to crank the engine my 2-3 more times before it started grinding again. So I replaced the starter solenoid... and once again what do you know the engine cranks a few more times before I get a click and I don’t hear any grinding this time. I’m very unsure what’s going on and I am thinking about ripping out all the electronics and coughing up the 700 bucks for new wiring harness. I would hate to have to do that if it’s just a simple fix.
Want to find where the issue is check this out https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...w-starter.html
If the battery is fully charged,12.5 volts and it had to be fully charged before doing the link above.
If it is charged then the clicking is a bad connection.
When ever I get a car or truck that is new to me and I don't know what shape the cables are in I don't even test them I just replace them all.
Never had any issues after that.
Dave ----
Shouldn't be a ton of wiring involved just to crank the engine. Certainly worth doing some troubleshooting before throwing a wiring harness at it.
Other than what's mentioned above, I would make sure you not only have sufficient power at the starter itself but make sure you have a good ground going to the engine block and from the battery to the chassis.
Guys soo I tried to jump the car.. and the clicking was off and on. The truck tried to start but it didn’t have enough power to turn over. It nearly shut off all the electronics in the car that was jumping it. Do you guys think the alternator is bad??
That is really yet to be determined, you don't need the alternator really to get the engine to turn over. You need it to power accessories and keep the battery charged once it's started. You can cross that bridge once you get to it.
Do you know an approximate age of the battery? Usually there's a little round sticker somewhere with a month/year in this format---> 9/18 to indicate when it was sold. If the battery is 5 or 6 years old, it might be time for a new one. I know you said you tried jumping it off another vehicle, but if the battery has a dead cell, it possible the vehicle will still have trouble cranking even with jumper cables.
They can test the battery for you down at your local parts house.
The starter solenoid you changed... did you just buy the cheapest one in the house? These replacements aren't so swift nowadays. I had a new one in my truck that got stuck in the start position... the starter wouldn't STOP spinning! I had to cut the cable in a parking lot! I was just lucky I had some side-cutters in my little tool box. That solenoid was only 3 days old! After that, I got one out of a Granada in a junk yard!
As mentioned earlier... good battery cables are important as well. There could be corrosion under the insulation that you cannot see. Also, make sure your negative side cable is good and snug where it's bolted to the side of the engine. That connection is somewhat "out of side out of mind" and is easy to forget to check.
Do you know an approximate age of the battery? Usually there's a little round sticker somewhere with a month/year in this format---> 9/18 to indicate when it was sold. If the battery is 5 or 6 years old, it might be time for a new one. I know you said you tried jumping it off another vehicle, but if the battery has a dead cell, it possible the vehicle will still have trouble cranking even with jumper cables.
They can test the battery for you down at your local parts house.
The starter solenoid you changed... did you just buy the cheapest one in the house? These replacements aren't so swift nowadays. I had a new one in my truck that got stuck in the start position... the starter wouldn't STOP spinning! I had to cut the cable in a parking lot! I was just lucky I had some side-cutters in my little tool box. That solenoid was only 3 days old! After that, I got one out of a Granada in a junk yard!
As mentioned earlier... good battery cables are important as well. There could be corrosion under the insulation that you cannot see. Also, make sure your negative side cable is good and snug where it's bolted to the side of the engine. That connection is somewhat "out of side out of mind" and is easy to forget to check.
Well said.
My guess the battery is bad with a bad cell if it was pulling down the jumper car.
Because you cant see the corrosion under the insulation is why I just replace all the cables.
Everyone will say you have 3 but you have more than that.
Battery to solenoid> solenoid to starter.
Battery to block> block to frame
Smaller cable block to fire wall or body.
You may also want to add one from frame to bed.
Dave ----
I bought some of these CABLES recently. I suspect they're better than what you can get in the store. Some might say this is overkill, but mostly I like the fact that they do not say Made In China. The solenoid to starter cable on my 79 was starting to look kinda funky on one end so I put one of these big mama-jama's on there before that old cable got bad enough to give me any problem. The others appear to have been recently changed by the PO and are pretty heavy-duty looking.
The parts store ones you do have to check over as they do have 2 different size cables on the wall as I found out.
I went with the larger of the cables. I had to modify the ground cable to match the factory ground cable as it goes from the battery to the frame with a tab welded to the cable mid way then to one of the bolts that hold the starter.
I had to take the frame tab from the old cable to use on the new one.
BTW this is on my 81 F100 with a 4.9 300 six.
Dave ----
Thanks for everyone’s help! I was completely lost it was the piece of junk starter solenoid I brought at advanced auto parts. The part store said the battery was perfect no issues. I brought a different starter solenoid this time! And it cranks again although now I’m fighting another issue 😡 the Damnn truck cranks.. wants to start up but dies immediately. Carb is getting fuel.. but I noticed the fuel pump leaking a little on the outlet line.
Yeah that fuel pump line needs to be pretty snug. Make sure to tighten that connection using a back-up wrench on the pump side or you'll twist that thing right off. I had to tighten down on my quite a bit to make it stop leaking. Had I not used the back-up wrench, I would have been buying another pump!
Do you know any history about the truck? What did the previous owner tell you?
Dying quickly could be the choke not functioning correctly. Do you hear any large vacuum leaks? What engine do you have... 300, 302, 351... etc?
Yeah that fuel pump line needs to be pretty snug. Make sure to tighten that connection using a back-up wrench on the pump side or you'll twist that thing right off. I had to tighten down on my quite a bit to make it stop leaking. Had I not used the back-up wrench, I would have been buying another pump!
Do you know any history about the truck? What did the previous owner tell you?
Dying quickly could be the choke not functioning correctly. Do you hear any large vacuum leaks? What engine do you have... 300, 302, 351... etc?
Engine is a 351M and well looks like I have to buy a new pump haha I did not use a backup wrench and I tightened that thing down very tight. I probably broke it because it’s on there pretty good and the thing still leaks. The previous owner was a mechanic.. this is what he told me. He said that he over extended himself on projects and he had to stop midway with the truck because he had too many other cars that needed work. He said the fuel pump was bad.. and I needed a new one.. the transmission is missing a bolt or two on the bell housing. Both head gaskets are blown and need to be replaced.. which I already did that. I took both heads off and replaced. I think the whole carb might be shot to be honest.. my electric choke has no wire hooked up too it. And the carb plate is stuck open :/ i think I have a major vacuum leak but I’m not sure.. I was going to buy the ford shop manual for this truck But I’m unsure if the book goes into detail about all of that.
I have a complete set of the factory Ford manuals... they're green for 77. They really do contain a lot of info! I see a set on ebay right now... but they're 200 bucks... you can get them cheaper than that if you just wait around. I paid 65 dollars for mine about 6 months ago... and they were like new!
I included a pic of my electric choke connect below. That single plug makes it connection near the firewall, and then the other two connections go to the choke and the dashpot. The pics here are on my 6 cyl, but would be the same on the V8.
I just recently connected my choke. It still started fine before the connection was made... even during the winter. So you don't really need it to get your truck started. Also, that connection is doing it's job for a short period of time anyway. When that wire is connected and the heat tube is connected (connects on the side of the choke), it would open the choke up after just a minute or two of running during these warm months. During the afternoon here, it gets hot enough that the choke doesn't engage when you tap the gas pedal. The sun has been beating on the hood long enough to really warm it all up!
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. I’m having some really bad electrical issues with my F100. Keep in mind this truck has been sitting for years now. Although not too long ago I had the truck running with my foot on the gas only other than that it would die but anyways. One day I tried to start the truck and it wouldn’t start.. all I got was a click. So I checked the battery and everything was a okay with that. So I replaced the starter... I cranked the engine maybe 3 times before I started getting a grinding noise. So I replaced the starter again. I was able to crank the engine my 2-3 more times before it started grinding again. So I replaced the starter solenoid... and once again what do you know the engine cranks a few more times before I get a click and I don’t hear any grinding this time. I’m very unsure what’s going on and I am thinking about ripping out all the electronics and coughing up the 700 bucks for new wiring harness. I would hate to have to do that if it’s just a simple fix.
