My Bronco wont start. She has been sitting for a few months while I was installing exhaust(procrastinating), and replaced the turn signal cam. I had also pulled the steering column to replace the firewall mount. I put it all back together, and now it wont start.
When I turn the key to on, the tach jumps slightly, and I hear clicking from under the hood drivers side. When I try to start it, the solenoid makes a rapid ticking noise, and it does the same thing while hooked up to a battery charger. Also the battery is constantly being drained, even when turned off. I cleaned and checked the batt termainals, all the wires and terminals on the solenoid and starter. No good. The battery is holding charge on its own, its just when it is connected to the truck it drains.<!-- / message -->
I turned the key on and jumped the solenoid to see if that was the problem, and nothing. I have made sure all connections under the dash were re-connected properly, and pulled the steering column apart to see if I might have pinched a wire/assemled wrong, but nothing. I had the ignition control module tested and it is good. I had the key on(not start), and I kept hearing random ticks from some relays on the driver side. Also the Ignition control module on the distributor seemed to make a buzzing noise at random. When I reached my hand in there to disconnect the harness, the engine rotated a few degrees.
I almost forgot its a 1988 302 manual tranny
I am trying to get the Bronco back on the road before winter hits, as my Camaro has traction problems.

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it sounds like you have a parasitic drain somewhere. have you installed any electrical componants that were not originally in the truck? as for the ticking, it would seem that the battery is dead. but you said it happens on charge too so that eliminates that problem. i worked on a friends bronco that had similiar problems. it ended up to be a selenoid and something else. i can ask him and reply to you tomorrow or tuesday.


-pat
17-Rockland County-NY

 

Do they still have neutral start switches in those? We had a problem like that once in our '67 Mustang and it turned out to be that.

How about a poor ground or contact from the battery? Take the connections loose and clean it off with a wire brush to ensure good contact.

The Solenoid is always another thing to think about. I can't tell you how many we've gone through.

 

Thanks. I do have a Viper alarm system. I reset the system to see if that had any affect, and nothing.
I have gone through and cleaned/checked all battery/ground connections. I have tried a known operating solenoid. No good

 

IIRC, '80s Broncos had some sort of shaft that went from the steering shaft down to some sort of solenoid/relay, etc. I'd also take the battery in and have it checked. It could have a dead cell which could cause a break in the connection inside of the battery.

 

...Welcome Stechele, to Ford Truck Enthusiasts!

Enjoy FTE....see you on the boards.

 

Thanks.

I have tried several batteries, no change.
I am actually starting to think that the computer might be shot.

 

i asked about any any aftermarket electical connections because that could be the source of the parasitic drain. there could be a short somewhere or something stuck open causing a current to drain the battery. but can't be the same problem as the starting problem.

 

Does anything electrical work? Headlights, radio, dome light. If not then it is obviously wiring or battery. But if they do check the wiring on your alarm. If it has starter kill (won't start if alarm is sounding) it is possible that is the problem. Whoever installed your alarm cut the starter wire under your dash and attatched to a relay. That relay may be stuck open and won't give power to the starter. If you can find the relays it will be hopefuly apparent which wire was cut. Try reattaching and bypassing the relay. I really hope that made some sense.

 

Put an ammeter between the positive battery lead and the positive batery post. see just how MUCH drain you are getting through the electrical system. This will give you some indication as to where the short may be. If the short is strong enough its possible that even a fully charged battery will be unable to compnsate for it during starting operations. Corrosion and lose terminals will also create the effect of a dying battery or one without enough charge to start the truck. I chased a similar problem for a week in my 93 and came to discover that the corrosion was not at any of the terminals but had started from INSIDE the positive battery cable and corroded it from the inisde out. Everything tested fine because a meter can tell you that there is voltage present but if you are only getting 1 amp or even 10 where you should be getting 600 the truck isn't gonna start. A corroded cable is effectively reduced in diameter and therefore can carry far less amperage than necessary to trun over the starter motor. To check the cable's resistance, disconnect it from the battery AND the starter and check the resistance through it. There should be less than 5 ohms resistance from one end to the other of the cable.

 

I do have power(lights, radio, etc).
If the alarm system is killing the starter, then why does the engine rotate a few degrees randomly when the key is in the RUN position?
I have checked, rechecked and triple checked all connections/grounds. I will check the cables for resistance.

 

Are you saying the engine tries to turn over but won't; or it will turn over but won't stay running for long? It sounds like you are saying its trying to "start" in the run position. If thats the case you are probably dealing with an ignition switch issue. In the "run" position the computer and engine electrical should be ON but the starter should not engage.

 

With the key in the RUN position, several relays tick, the tach jumps, and the engine will randomly rotate a few degrees. The engine has only rotated a few degrees couple of times while the key was in the run position. These were the only times the engine has rotated at all in the last few months.
When I turn the key to START the solenoid ticks very rapidly. There is no rotation of the starter when the key is turned to START.

 

That sounds like an ignition wiring or switch issue. The only time the starter should try to engage is in the "start" position and unless the engine has turned over during the application of the starter, it should not be tyring to run.

 

I have tried two different ignition switches with the same result.
It fired up before I removed the steering column. Several weeks later I reinstalled the steering column. I did not try yo start it after I reinstalled the column. It sat untouched and unchecked for a few months while I was "working" on the exhaust. It wasnt until I went to move the Bronco away from the tall grass, that I realized it wasnt going to start. So it sat for a couple months without being started.