Electrical problem
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Electrical problem
Last night I was giving my 14 year old nephew a driving lesson in my 88 F150 4X4, and he broke it.
He popped the clutch too quickly, and caused the truck to jump and stall. When this happened, all the dash lights went out, the radio stopped working, and I couldn't get the engine to crank to restart it. The key turned and...nothing. Not even the awful sound you get when you've drained the battery and you either get the 'death roll' or the clicking starter. I tried the trusted method of fixing all things from vending machines to TV's, and gave it a quick punch (the dash, not the nephew), and everything came back to life and the truck started no problems. I've also had other problems with the various gauges since I got the truck. They seem to be dead and then when I release the parking brake, they start to work. This is when the truck is running of course.
Any ideas what I need to do (apart from not letting the nephew in the truck again) to try to find the problem? It sounds like either a short or a bad ground, but I've not got a clue where to start.
Thanks, Paul
He popped the clutch too quickly, and caused the truck to jump and stall. When this happened, all the dash lights went out, the radio stopped working, and I couldn't get the engine to crank to restart it. The key turned and...nothing. Not even the awful sound you get when you've drained the battery and you either get the 'death roll' or the clicking starter. I tried the trusted method of fixing all things from vending machines to TV's, and gave it a quick punch (the dash, not the nephew), and everything came back to life and the truck started no problems. I've also had other problems with the various gauges since I got the truck. They seem to be dead and then when I release the parking brake, they start to work. This is when the truck is running of course.
Any ideas what I need to do (apart from not letting the nephew in the truck again) to try to find the problem? It sounds like either a short or a bad ground, but I've not got a clue where to start.
Thanks, Paul
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From: Durham
Electrical problem
My guess is an open someplace in the main feed from the altenator. You have a feed that runs from the altenator to regulator that has a fusible link. Then from your regulator to your fuse box. Since eveything turned back on when you punched the dash, and since the parking brake affects it, I would guess the problem is under the dash near your fuse box. You may even want to replace your fuse box with a new one from Painless wiring and double check or run a new feed from the fuse box back to your regulator.
'82 F150 2WD w/351W (orig 300 I6)
Slik
'82 F150 2WD w/351W (orig 300 I6)
Slik
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Electrical problem
Thanks Slikness. The other thing I probably should've mentioned is that the lights, wipers and dome light were on when this happened, and they were not affected. Only the dash lights, radio and the the ignition switch. Does this still sound like a possible fusebox/feed problem?
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