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Just did a complete rebuild, starter wont turn with key, I can bypass the solenoid, and it will crank, replaced solenoid, was wondering if anyone had any ideas? I dummy lighted the solenoid, everything is working the way it should, could it be a fusible like in the wires around the solenoid? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Sorry if this seems stupid, but have you grounded your solenoid by bolting in place on the inner fender? I just changed my solenoid and at first I didn't, and there wasn't the hint of a start until I grounded the solenoid.
Ignition switch works fine, I tested the solenoid while my gf was in the cab cycling it through, its getting power when the key is on, and when the key is in the crank position, and yes it is bolted to fender, I even tried running a ground from the solenoid to the battery itself, I am very stumped on this one, thanks guys. Also nothing you could say right now would seem stupid, I have tried a million different things and decided to bite my pride and ask for help now.
Only since your looking for ideas...I can't remember if 79 had it or not, but Ford used to have the module (or brain) bolted to the inner fender well and it would silently go bad and need to be changed.
I would say that if you are getting fire to the solenoid when you turn the key, and you can jump the solenoid and make the starter fire up, then you either have another bad solenoid, or the solenoid is not wired correctly. Just my 2cents.
All,
Let's go throught he basics:
1. Is your cab to motor ground in place. This is a ground strap fromthe back of the manifold to the cab firewall just on the passenger side of the airfilter.
2. Is there any other electrical problems?
3. Check the ground cable of the battery. Make sure its spotless. if you have a bolt on terminal, dissassemble it and clean it. Cut the cable and make a new connection.
If this doesn't cure your problem, replace the solenoid.
Good Luck,
KingFisher
gang, found the problem, neutral safety switch wire was broke!! now have new problem. cant get fire to the plugs, just put in a mallory distributor, tried wiring it to the ign. module, no luck, so I wired it like mallory said and used the + and - posts of the coil(also mallory) and then the ground to the battery and still no spark. HELP!!!!
still no luck gang, I almost to the point of having it towed to the shop so they can look at it, and probably fix it in 2 minutes and charge me 500 bucks, I cant get spark anywhere, tried running a whire directly from the battery to the coil, nothing works. Im lost.
I have been having ignition troubles since I bought my 76. It was electronic, but after burning out three sets, went to points/condenser. Then my problem was getting the power to the coil with the correct ohm range. (reduced to about 9 volts) I finally bought a coil that had the correct ohm resistance, (pertronix) and ran the wire to the coil from the solenoid. I now have power at the points that doesn't burn them up in just few miles. My suggestions are first check the coil to make sure it is working. Then verify the wire to the distributor is not broken. Most of this needs to be done with a multimeter. If all wires show Ok, there is no way not to have power to the points.
I would concentrate on the distributor, its connections, module (condensor) etc. I had a 69 Camaro and a 72 Chevy P/U that gave me fits after after tune ups. I changed the condensors again and they started. The spark doesn't alway originate from the coil, the distributor sends it on certain models, (but I haven't dealt with it in many years and may be rusty and I am open to correction).
just a guess but ive heard that these ign. modules are easily fryable. maybe you wired the dist. to the module, burnt it out, and now you are wired correctly to coil but have a bad module, they're not prohibitively expensive so i say buy it and try it!
my experience with the modules is any short will fry them, even if only shorted for an instant. I can't remember the price, but mine always took the distributor module and the coil with it, for about $120.00 parts bill each time. Is the Mallory electronic?