skipping the solenoid only creates sparks with ignition on,
when its off the starting motor goes somewhat,
the problem was caused by movement of the engine,it
turned over fine, then nothing. it made this sizzling
wire noise and my radio fuzzed another time I turned the key
on a different day, after that nothing happened when I turned the
key for awhile. then I pulled out the radio put in a starter
from a fairlane then my lights etc would work and the starter
would just click every time I tried,so I thought I would try
the truck starter again since it works I think,the lights etc
still worked but stil only made that single click, then
it stopped making noise what so ever, I put on a new starter
drive didn't produce noise or crap all,jumped the solenoid-nothing
but sparks, pulled on every friggin wire,took ignition apart,
tried hot wiring with no avail... I was inspected by an enemy of mine
who didn't particulary like me,and since then I had a wire problem.
when he was right under the steering "box" would have been his only
chance to grab at wires or loosen them main wiring harness would
have been within his reach

it's right under my nose which makes me friggin mad and
I just hope theres something that my lousy mechanics skills
has over looked!there's six wires in the ignition so it gotta
be something just plain stupid that I cant figure out,

Advice is GREATLY appreciated since this truck allows me to make
a living alot easier and louder,hehehe




Fe power

 

It's kind of hard to read the description, all run together in one long sentence, but the commas help, so I'm wondering if it's a bad battery, which could just be coincidence or could have been caused by some tampering with the wiring, like grounding of a terminal, or stripping a chunk of insulation near the frame, or whatever your "enemy" could dream up when he had the chance.

Gee, maybe I should have broken my reply up into a few sentences.
;-) Good luck! You'll find it. --Matt

 

the description is alot like the problem keeps on
goin and leading me in different ways until
I m totaly confused.. When I got the lights
and accessories to work I didnt even know what I
did I just climbed in one day and hoped it
would work. Can the actual starter short itself out??


FORD- friggin outrageous road destruction




Fe power

 

With the starter just clicking, that sounds like a weak battery.
Do the lights dim when you turn the key?
The clicking just reminds me too much of a bad battery.

Are the battery terminals clean?
Sometimes a dark oxide can fool you (it did me).
When you scrape or brush the terminals and the inside of the battery cables, things can improve.

Does the starter in the Fairlane work in it?
Does its battery work?

If you can substitute your questionable parts into a known good car, you can probably eliminate the bad parts.

I'll be out for a few days.

Good luck trouble-shooting.

 

Try the starter off the engine. This is not a complete test but will tell you if it is shorted. I got a re-built starter one time that would draw a lot of current but would not crank the engine.

Try cranking by using a screwdriver from the solinoid bat terminal to the S terminal. This bypasses your ignition switch.

Shorting across the solinoid is hard to do because you need a low resistence circuit to supply the starter with enough current.

Re-built starters top my list for the odds of having a bad one.

 

right now nothing clicks or works even with good battery.
The lights and accessories used to work and the starter
made a single click or solenoid made it. The fairlane
died cause of a busted piston ring and blown head gasket, so
the starter should still work, I tried both starters while
the circuit could make power with just that single click.
The problem was caused by engine rumble during 3 seconds of cranking,then I stopped to pump up the gas then I turned the
key and nothing would happen.......it shorts out if I try to
by pass the solenoid..


Fe power

 

check your batt. cables. if they get corroded inside the insulation it will kill them. souds like you need to change the positive cable from the batt. to the solenoid.