New 85
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Mountain Pass
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 189
Likes: 12
From: Minnesota
New 85
Hi guys. I just picked up a 85 F150 4 x 4 regular cab long box with the 351 HO and a C6 auto in it. I'm new to this year range of trucks and have some questions on it.
First, I was bringing it home last nite and noticed a problem with the blinkers. When the blinker is on and you step on the brakes it stops blinking. I stopped on the side of the road and also noticed that I didn't have tail lights. Anyway got home, parked, and turned the blinker on and noticed that the blinker is blinking sequentially, that is the front will blink, shut off, then the back will blink. I'm thinking thats weird. I also don't believe I have any brake lights. What do you think, wiring harness?
Second, wipers don't work. Switch, fuse or wiper motor? Where would you start? Fuse would probably be easiest to check first. Previous owner said they quit once but then started working. Didn't work at all for me.
Thanks for any help.
First, I was bringing it home last nite and noticed a problem with the blinkers. When the blinker is on and you step on the brakes it stops blinking. I stopped on the side of the road and also noticed that I didn't have tail lights. Anyway got home, parked, and turned the blinker on and noticed that the blinker is blinking sequentially, that is the front will blink, shut off, then the back will blink. I'm thinking thats weird. I also don't believe I have any brake lights. What do you think, wiring harness?
Second, wipers don't work. Switch, fuse or wiper motor? Where would you start? Fuse would probably be easiest to check first. Previous owner said they quit once but then started working. Didn't work at all for me.
Thanks for any help.
Senior User
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 145
Likes: 0
From: Cross SC
My wiper motor quit recently and all I did to get me home was to clean the plug and reinstalled it. worked for another 4 weeks and died in the middle of a monsoon. I learned that you cannot hang your arm out of the window and wipe the rain off the windshield as quick as the wipers will. The next day, bought a new motor, another learning experience installing it
Freshman User
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 38
Likes: 0
From: slc, ut
I have a similar problem, but a little more bizarre. I will be driving along and notice that my blinkers aren't working. When this happens, my blower motor and trailer brake controller are dead as well. I found out that the fix is to stomp on the brakes four or five times as hard as I can, then everything comes back on. One of these days I had better look into it.
New User
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 1
Likes: 0
I find that on my '86 that I lose the blower motor, signals, and some gauges if the ignition switch is rotated to far forward. A slight turn back toward the driver corrects it. Possibly stomping on the brakes helps cause this same change in switch position.
Logistics Pro
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 3,739
Likes: 3
From: GANS
One thing I will note is that your blinkers _will_ shut off when you put the brakes.. That is the way both of my trucks and a late model s-10 I've driven. The only way it won't do that is if it has a seperate turn signal blub in the taillight.
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Mountain Pass
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 189
Likes: 12
From: Minnesota
Thanks for all the help guys. Got the rear lights working fine now. Ended up having to ground both sides with a new grounding wire as I could not find one the was visibly broken. Also got the wipers fixed. Now I have a new problem. Driving down the lake to go fishing the other day (I live in Minnesota) the thing just died on me. No spark. Tried a new coil and nothing. Took the ignition module in and had it tested about 8 times and it passed. The distributor is still turning so I know its not the gear. The guy at the part store thought it was the stator or armature in the distributor. Anyway I wasn't about to start pulling the distributor on the middle of a frozen lake so I towed it home. I'll look at it in the next few days. Anyone have any other ideas? Thanks.
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Logistics Pro
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 3,739
Likes: 3
From: GANS
You need to verify you have power going to the module and the coil. Just b/c the module passed on some tester doesn't always mean it isn't still bad.. I'd get a new one and try it- it'll probably start running. If not, keep it for when the thing actually does go.
Hotshot
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 11,697
Likes: 3
From: Marengo, Iowa
the turn signal and brake lights use the same circuit for lighting the bulb. The turn signal overrides the brake to keep the flashing going while applying the brakes. If it isn't, then there is something wrong in the turn signal. You may want to check your ignition switch, if it isn't working properly, it can shut down your wipers, then it may have failed worse and took your ignition. It's worth a check before you start replacing things, it could be related. I've replaced more than a few of these, some get so bad they actually melt down. There has been a recall on ignition switches , but I don't remember what all years were affected, but there had been some that actually started a dash fire. I saw one that nearly did, the plug and wires were all melted. This is the same style switch that was causing the trouble.
Last edited by fellro86; Feb 25, 2004 at 10:08 AM.
Freshman User
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 38
Likes: 0
From: slc, ut
It happened to mine again today, and i turned the key back about a sixteenth of an inch and everything came back on. I feel stupid now having stomped on the brake pedal at least a hundred times before I read your guys thread. thanks for the tip.