Starter wont crank
Cross-Country
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 91
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From: CT
Starter wont crank
[updated:LAST EDITED ON 16-Aug-02 AT 07:56 PM (EST)]I just swapped a standard 1978 cab for an automatic 1975 cab on my f250.I took all the wiring off the original cab and put it on the the 75 cab.Now when I turn the key it wont crank and all you hear is the starter relay click. None of the lights are hooked up except inside the cab and my ignition is not hooked up yet, I just wanted to see if it would crank, and it did not. Is there a park switch somewhere making it not crank.Can anyone help?
Moderator
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 57,014
Likes: 2,751
From: Virginia
Starter wont crank
If the starter relay is clicking, you have a problem with one of the large battery wires, including the large ground wire.(is the battery ok?) Check all these heavy connections and for a test to see if the relay is bad, jump across it with a jumper cable to see if it will turn over. I also had this problem onetime and found I needed to clean all the crud from the bellhousing where the starter mounts, so check that too.
Freshman User
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 31
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From: Ktn USA
Starter wont crank
One other thing to look for... On your solenoid, are you using just the I pin?? On some vehicles that use both little pins, you must complete both circuits for the solenoid to close. ie, get a really big screwdriver as mentioned above, turn key to run, and hot the whole thing... Should crank away... if not, then refer to previous message.
Casey
Casey
Posting Guru
Joined: Jun 1999
Posts: 2,415
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From: Comox Valley, Canada
Starter wont crank
>One other thing to look for... On your solenoid, are you
>using just the I pin?? On some vehicles that use both little
>pins, you must complete both circuits for the solenoid to
>close. ie, get a really big screwdriver as mentioned above,
>turn key to run, and hot the whole thing... Should crank
>away... if not, then refer to previous message.
>Casey
Not so fast grasshopper
There are four "pins" on a starter solenoid.
Two large ones:
1 for battery positive wire and the other for a large wire to the starter.
Two small ones:
1 labeled "I" which sends 12vdc to the coil during starting and 1 labeled "S" which receives 12vdc to close the relay to power the starter and the "I" terminal.
Strangely enough I have seen the "I" refered to as the ignition terminal and the "S" refered to as the start terminal
To test the relay just jump 12vdc to the "S" terminal and the relay should close and the starter turn.
I think Franklin is on to your problem, so try his test.
Sparky
>using just the I pin?? On some vehicles that use both little
>pins, you must complete both circuits for the solenoid to
>close. ie, get a really big screwdriver as mentioned above,
>turn key to run, and hot the whole thing... Should crank
>away... if not, then refer to previous message.
>Casey
Not so fast grasshopper
There are four "pins" on a starter solenoid.
Two large ones:
1 for battery positive wire and the other for a large wire to the starter.
Two small ones:
1 labeled "I" which sends 12vdc to the coil during starting and 1 labeled "S" which receives 12vdc to close the relay to power the starter and the "I" terminal.
Strangely enough I have seen the "I" refered to as the ignition terminal and the "S" refered to as the start terminal
To test the relay just jump 12vdc to the "S" terminal and the relay should close and the starter turn.
I think Franklin is on to your problem, so try his test.
Sparky
Freshman User
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 31
Likes: 0
From: Ktn USA
Starter wont crank
ahh young grasshopper, I realize there are four "pins" as you say. I assumed that it was pretty obvious what the two large ones do... I guess I will no longer do that. I have owned many vehicles, some of which only require one of the two little pins to be hot for starting, some of which required both to be hot for the starter to wind up. I was not saying he needed both or only one, I was just wondering what his setup was. Many vehicles have solenoids with both little pins and only one is used. Sometimes it isn't obvious to a person if one or both should be used.
I only offer my two cents, nothing more, take it as that.
Casey
I only offer my two cents, nothing more, take it as that.
Casey
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Moderator
Joined: Jan 2001
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From: Virginia
Starter wont crank
I have seen solenoids like that, but they are usually on tractors, forklifts and such. We had a forklift that used a solenoid like that. One small terminal went to the keyswitch(12v) and the other terminal went to a switch in transmission which grounded the wire when it was in neutral.
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