Thanks, Dave. I'll look those things over.

 

The accessory position is still controlled by the ignition switch and the actuator. There is a possibility you have the famous broken piece inside the column. Look up "Ford ignition actuator". It looks like this.


What happens if you help the rod move the ignition switch? Does it start then? Push the rod down so the ignition switch moves it's full travel to the start position.

 

Thanks Dave, I'm the guy whose broken off bit of ignition actuator got stuck in the steering column and had a hard time getting that bit out...and then had a hard time getting the collar back on. I'm 99% certain that part is working right!

 

That copper stripe you ask about in post 14, was talked about earlier this year, I think. Sorry, I didn't pay much attention to the thread. Maybe this will jog someone's memory

.
intermittent, that sounds to me like something is loose and/or not making good contact.

What happens when you shake the key while it's in the On/Run position ? What happens when you shake wires ?

I'm a hands on kind of guy, it's hard not being there in person.

 

I wonder if that previous fault (broken ignition actuator) may be skewing your troubleshooting. With most problems on the forum, we usually ask about any recent work, and for good reason. In many cases, the problem may not be 100% fixed, or a new fault was unknowingly introduced during those repairs. But let's say the actuator repair is behind us and all is good there, even though the present symptoms are similar. I'm suggesting stepping back and starting fresh with your troubleshooting. It's super easy to travel down some rabbit hole and forget how you ended there.

At the beginning of this thread, you mentioned your headlights were not working. Let's troubleshoot that instead for the moment. The headlight circuit is 100% independent of the ignition switch. Even if you snapped off the new ignition switch actuator, your headlights should still work. With any luck, if we find and repair the fault in the headlight circuit, this will also correct the other faults.

Here's my hunch. You've got a fault in either heavy cable at the battery. A fault with either cable will kill pretty much everything in the truck. Run this test to check the cables, but with one important difference:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...w-starter.html

Instead of turning the key to crank the starter, remove the key completely. Ignition switch to the off position. Transmission in Park or Neutral. To engage the starter, momentary connect a test lead between the battery's (+) post (directly on the post and NOT the cable end) and the small S terminal on the starter relay. This test jumper will mimic the normal command path through the ignition switch. Your starter should engage and spin the crankshaft at a good clip, although the engine obviously will not start with no spark. For the moment, we don't care about actually getting the engine to run. I just want to see how the starter behaves and what voltage drop you measure through the cables. I highly suspect you will find a problem here. The voltage drop test will quickly pinpoint the exact location. The starter is the heaviest electrical load on the vehicle, so we are using it to load up the cables and magnify any fault(s).

 

Thanks, Karl. Your writeup on voltage drop testing was great!

With sheet metal screws attached to the battery for testing, jumping the solenoid engaged the starter with voltage not going below 10. Mostly it stayed around 10.79.

 

Flattery will get you everywhere...


I noticed a slight typo with this part of your post. I believe you meant to say something along these lines:

"I followed your instructions and found the problem. It's all fixed now and I couldn't have done it without you. You're amazing. I feel I'm a better person merely having made your acquaintance. I bet you smell nice, too."

You can copy/paste verbatim, or feel free to use your own words if preferred.

All seriousness aside, I'm a bit lost. Are the headlights still out of order? And when you took the voltage reading, did the starter get the crankshaft spinning at a reasonable speed?

If the starter did operate properly, but the headlights are still kaput, the problem is not with the battery or heavy cables. If the starter operation was subpar, we need to investigate that further.

 

When testing the starter, it sounded like it was turning the engine maybe a bit slowly, but otherwise seemed OK. (In retrospect, I didn't watch the harmonic balancer (or even the fan) to see how things were spinning. I just had my eye on the multimeter.)

I just went outside to check the headlights. They shine brightly. And I got the truck to start. It idled well for a few minutes. I shut it off and tried to restart it. While the dash lights came on and the seat belt buzzer sounded, the starter didn't engage. Headlights still worked afterwards.

 

Wiggle the transmission shifter back and forth while holding the keyswitch over in the start position. See if that helps it want to crank over. Might be the neutral start switch.

 

We have a winner. Wiggling the shifter with the key in start worked, and I was able to start it repeatedly.

Should I go ahead an replace the neutral switch? (If left as is, is it going to fail completely?) I'm guessing it's a coin toss, but safer to go ahead and do than not...

 

One of these days we'll hear the problem is fixed and all is well.

Some additional details, please.

1) Are the headlights working consistently now? I had been wondering if this problem was tied to the intermittent starter trouble, but now am not sure.

2) When the starter doesn't engage, what does the starter relay do? Do you hear a clunk from it or is it dead? This is a huge clue so more detail will help. If the starter relay makes a clunk, that tells us the command circuit (via the ignition switch) is working properly. Considering all the recent work with the ignition switch actuator, I want to make sure that is fully behind us. The clunk will tell.

 

Thanks, Karl. For now, the issue appears to be resolved. Wiggling the shifter with the key in the run position got it to start. After that I was able to start it two more times. Will drive it some in the coming days and see what's what.

 

Oh cool, it looks like we both posted at the same time. Sounds like Dave nailed it. Make sure the NSS has not worked loose. If secure, I'd replace it. Can't imagine it being that expensive or difficult to do.