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I drove the truck home and it would not start. I recently replaced the starter so I assumed it was the starter solenoid that was bad. I replaced the starter solenoid and it still will not start. I turned the key to on and jumped over the solenoid with a couple of screwdrivers and it started fine so I went and bought another solenoid assuming the new one was faulty. Still will not turn over! Advise??? Craig
assuming you have an automatic, will it start if you put the shifter in neutral? even try to wiggle it between gears...carefully, with your foot on the brake in case it starts...
assuming you have an automatic, will it start if you put the shifter in neutral? even try to wiggle it between gears...carefully, with your foot on the brake in case it starts...
Tried that and it made no difference. Still does not turn over.
Advice? Yes, stop throwing potentially defective parts at it, and continue your testing.
Jumping the starter relay/solenoid with the screwdrivers was a great first start. So now you know your battery, starter, and all the cables are working perfectly.
When you did the jump test, did you put the screwdrivers between the battery and the small S terminal? Or did you jump large battery side terminal large starter side terminal?
If the latter, next jump your screwdriver, or plier handle or whatever, between battery side and the small “S” terminal. Looks like you’ve got them marked, but just in case, that’s the one with the red and blue striped wire. Remove the wire and touch the battery side to the small terminal.
If the starter cranks now, then you isolated it that the starter relay is still good. Keep your old one by the way!
The only things left then, are either a bad, neutral safety switch, a bad ignition switch, or some bad wiring in between.
To test the neutral safety switch, there are a couple of methods. Both involve finding the four-wire square plug at the back of the engine that goes down to the neutral safety switch on the transmission and separate the two halves.
If you have a helper, use your voltmeter on the sockets with the red and blue wires and have a helper turn the key to start.
If you see 12 V on one of the wires, then your neutral safety switch has gone bad.
if you don’t see voltage on one of the wires, then power is not getting there from the ignition switch.
In that case, more testing is in your near future!
By the way, what year is your truck? And what model?
Reason I ask, is because, even though I mentioned the NSS being on the side of the transmission, most of them were actually on the lower part of the steering column inside the cab before 78.
By the way, what year is your truck? And what model?
Reason I ask, is because, even though I mentioned the NSS being on the side of the transmission, most of them were actually on the lower part of the steering column inside the cab before 78.
1978 Ford f-150 it’s an automatic!
I am going to put the old solenoid back on and return the new one.
this is what I was looking for! Will get started on it in the morning and get what i found out back to you.
To be honest, it never hurts to have a spare starter relay in the glove box.
Specially, one that you know works.
That is probably the single most commonly complained about part in our modern era. So many stores sell so many cheap crappy versions, that some of them work fine right out of the box and then fail a week later.
Or if you’re lucky, they fail right out of the box immediately! That way there are no surprises a week later.
So, unfortunately, with starter relays, never go cheap. Always buy the most expensive one that any particular seller has available.
We all like to save money. But we also hate it when a part with a lifetime warranty has to be replaced every couple of months.
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