Weird electrical problem solved
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Senior User
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Weird electrical problem solved
Don't know if anyone else has ever had a problem like this but I was so gabber-flasted by it that I want to share it with you guys.
My 84 F250 has the big 300-6 engine, 4x4, and 4-spd. When I first got it, it ran great and had no significant mechanical problems. After a couple of months, however, the dash instruments and turn signals quit working when the engine was running. Both worked fine when the key was in the accessories position, however. I checked the battery, cables, chassis ground, and the wiring under the hood but everything seemed to be OK. Then, by purest luck, I started her up one day and my hand slipped while turning the key in the ignition... WHAP! Turn signals and dash instruments were now working WITH the engine running. After playing with it for a while, I found that the ignition switch was not returning from start to run by itself. It was stopping about 1/2 way between these two positions. A little tweak of the ignition switch towards the run position and it worked fine. Not wanting to do this all the time, I shut it off and gave the ignition switch a small spray of contact cleaner and let it sit over-night. The next day, the ignition switch worked fine and came back to the run position by itself. Both turn signals and dash instruments have worked fine since. Weird, huh?
My 84 F250 has the big 300-6 engine, 4x4, and 4-spd. When I first got it, it ran great and had no significant mechanical problems. After a couple of months, however, the dash instruments and turn signals quit working when the engine was running. Both worked fine when the key was in the accessories position, however. I checked the battery, cables, chassis ground, and the wiring under the hood but everything seemed to be OK. Then, by purest luck, I started her up one day and my hand slipped while turning the key in the ignition... WHAP! Turn signals and dash instruments were now working WITH the engine running. After playing with it for a while, I found that the ignition switch was not returning from start to run by itself. It was stopping about 1/2 way between these two positions. A little tweak of the ignition switch towards the run position and it worked fine. Not wanting to do this all the time, I shut it off and gave the ignition switch a small spray of contact cleaner and let it sit over-night. The next day, the ignition switch worked fine and came back to the run position by itself. Both turn signals and dash instruments have worked fine since. Weird, huh?
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Joined: Aug 2005
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From: Hampton, Va
Ed, believe it or not that diagnosis is already addressed on here. I have the same problem and through all my reading on here I ran across it one day. Glad you posted it again to update it. I'm sure that many of us have the same problem.
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>Ed, believe it or not that diagnosis is already addressed on
>here. I have the same problem and through all my reading
>on here I ran across it one day. Glad you posted it again to
>update it. I'm sure that many of us have the same problem.
Sorry about that. I should have looked to se if this issue was
addressed here but didn't. It was something that I hadn't
ever seen before and thought that it must be pretty rare.
I have a Chilton manual for this truck and looked up
replacing the ignition switch. Looks to me like its not too
bad a job, once you've done it. That first time could be
interesting, though. I'd like to avoid having to replace the
switch if possible, since lining it up as the switch is
inserted looks a bit tricky - probably the kind of job where
3 hands would be useful and that's 1 more than I have
available.
Ed
>here. I have the same problem and through all my reading
>on here I ran across it one day. Glad you posted it again to
>update it. I'm sure that many of us have the same problem.
Sorry about that. I should have looked to se if this issue was
addressed here but didn't. It was something that I hadn't
ever seen before and thought that it must be pretty rare.
I have a Chilton manual for this truck and looked up
replacing the ignition switch. Looks to me like its not too
bad a job, once you've done it. That first time could be
interesting, though. I'd like to avoid having to replace the
switch if possible, since lining it up as the switch is
inserted looks a bit tricky - probably the kind of job where
3 hands would be useful and that's 1 more than I have
available.
Ed
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