ForddieFender here... "Wasted days and wasted nights" working on my '65 F250 (CS... 352... T18). She runs. Then, she doesn't.

Replaced the starter and it ran fine most of the time. Occasionally, however, when I tried to fire her up, the starter would not stop/disengage, and it would spin on wildly. I'd quickly shut it down, wait a moment, and try it again. Sometimes, it would happen again, but most of the time the engine would turnover and the starter/bendix would disengage as it's supposed to.

Recently, it refused to disengage twice in a row. The third time I tried to start it, I got nothing but a single click without anything else. The idiot lights lit up as usual indicating that I had power.

I got a push and jump to get it home where it's been sitting for a couple of weeks now.

Yes, I know the replacement Napa starter might be bad. A significant percentage of them can be.

HOWEVER... there's one more thing... I noticed that I could be cruising down the highway without functioning temperature and fuel gauges. I could touch the key in the ignition ever so slightly and the gauges would suddenly become active. I just examined the ignition switch in the dash and discovered that there's some play in it on the back side where all the wires attach.

Could this be the problem of the racing starter and now the click... Some sort of short?

 

Well if you can touch it and make the gauges work you know it's junk so replace it and you will know if it is effecting the starter as well.

Eric

 

Sometimes the ignition switch doesn't return to the "run" position, so the gauge circuit doesn't get power. You can make sure, after starting, it returns all the way to "run"...lubricate it, or replace it. The starter issue is most probably a separate one.

 

How long ago did you replace the starter, you said it has been doing it for awhile? I would no doubt just replace the ignition switch, it is old enough to merit doing so. You won’t have to do it again for, oh, say 25 years or so.

Then warranty the starter if it still is under warranty. Tell them it is intermittent, they probably won’t bat an eye, they can in turn get reimbursed no problem.

 

My ignition switch sticks like yours. Usually it doesn't quite return to the run position after starting. Mine was replaced by a PO so I figure it is a cheap replacement that needs replacing.

 

Pull the key part from the switch and clean up the over pour with a file and give it another try. They are a little ruff when new and tend to stick.