Hello, im new to the forum here, and you all seem like a knowledgeable bunch. i was hoping somebody might be able to help me identify a part. ill go over what ive tried so far...

the problem basically, is that it doesnt like to start. the engine turns over very slowly. with some starter fluid it usually gets goin. that said, while its being jumped, it likes to turn over normally. naturally i assumed the battery was dead, so i got a new one. put it in and it started right up. let it run for about 15 mins, killed the engine, and then tried to start it again, same thing. i then figured the alternator wasnt putting out enough juice to charge the battery, but i borrowed a multimeter and it reads 14.22 while the truck is running. i figure thats enough to charge it.

then, i had my little brother turn it over while i was looking under the hood and i noticed something a little disheartening. there was this cylindrical metal thing with about 6 wires attached to it that made a big spark! after that it started smoking. i can usually work on newer cars but this old tech im not familiar with. i took a piucture of the sparking smoking cylinder and i was hoping you guys could help me identify it and tell me if theres a way to fix it or if its cheap to replace, and if many older fords had the same piece (so i can get it from a junkyard)

thanks in advance!


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That is your starter solenoid. Very common problem and cheap to replace from any parts store. A new one is about 15 bucks. Welcome to FTE
Also its possible you have a bad starter though.

 

lol you know, for some reason thats what was going through my mind even though ive never seen one before =P thank you so much! hope thats all thats wrong with it...

 

also the guy i bought it off of said its got a new starter in it. but, its a 400m converted from a 351, so i hope the same starter is good enough. i kinda suspect that its not powerful enough, but ill replace that part and see how it acts after. thanks again

 

great. got the new solenoid. it turned over like a champ, about 15 times, till it started (i ran it out of gas yesterday.. oops ) and then i heard a pop and it started doing the same thing as before. its my guess that the new solenoid just blew.... anyone know why that would keep happening? i hate buying parts just to have them die instantly

 

You probably bought the cheaper option at Autozone or somewhere like that.
Go to a NAPA and buy the better part they sell. It's more robust.
And, when you start it after having run it out of fuel either prime the carburetor float bowls with fuel by injecting fuel in the bowl vents, or pour about 1 oz down the carb venturis.
This will prevent grinding on the starter for numerous revolutions.

Things to check:
1. Ground strap. Usually if a knucklehead replaces the engine in an old car, they toss the ground strap away. It's a short length of flat steel cable that bolts to the engine and firewall. Any Ford that starts and runs well has one of these because it's essential.
2. Timing: Set your timing properly. Don't trust the balancer marks. They can slide around over time causing erroneous assumptions that timing is okay.
3. Ground: Check the ground cable to ensure it's both clean and properly routed. Check your battery posts to make sure they're clean.
4. Start cable needs to be clean and properly attached. A loose nut on the starter end of the cable will cause just such a problem as you're having.

Old Fords of any description need the starter components to all be clean and properly fitted in order for the starter to work properly. Go over the truck cleaning and verifying tightness (not Gorilla tight, just properly tightened) of all this stuff and you'll take a lot of variables out of the equation.

Swapping a 400 for a 351m is a bolt in and shouldn't be a big deal at all with regard to start function.

 

youre right, i did get the part at autozone. they looked it up and told me it was the one i needed, indeed it was exactly the same as the one in there, at least visually. ill try going over all that tomorrow when its light out and not raining. but, my solenoid is probably shot, right?

anyway i think they rebuilt its original 351 with a crank and piston kit to a 400. not certain though. anyway thanks for the suggestions, ill let you know how that turns out. also, does it need to be a ribbon cable? or can i just use a piece of copper speaker wire and bolt it from the engine to the firewall?

and one last detail that i think may be important. the truck has 2 cables for the negative lead to the battery. i broke one of them (jump started it when it was in gear... the shifter linkage is adjusted wrong, and it ripped the connector part of the battery cable in half). that one connected directly to the chassis of the alternator, this one appears to connect to the engine chassis. should i get a new connector for the other cable and re-attach it instead?

again, thanks for the info, ill try it all tomorrow.

 

Use something heavier than speaker wire if you can. Use speaker wire if you have to, but stop by a junkyard and snag a ground strap from a junker for probably $1.

By all means reattach any ground you broke. Measure the gauge of the wire too. If you have a ground or + cable that are too small, you'll generate a LOT of heat and resistance that will continue to burn out solenoids and kill batteries.

The + wire looks okay in the pic, but the - is the one you need to worry about right now.

351m and 400 share the same block architecture, so upsizing to a 400 is not a big deal at all.

 

ill fix that other ground, but just to clarify, they werent both plugged in. seems like they installed a different battery cable at one point and left the old one just sittin there. what i did try just now though, was clamping the broken one onto the old one with vice grips. didnt make a difference. the other side of the contact on the solenoid puts out about 6 volts while someone is engaging the starter, but the first side reads exactly the same as the battery, even using the car frame as a ground for the meter. and one more note that might be somewhat important. i dont know why i didnt mention this before, but its got an 8 foot plow attached. does that make a difference for any of this? =P k i need to stop thinking about this till tomorrow. thanks again!

 

okey, so, repaired the broken battery cable, got another solenoid (from autozone again, the one from napa is $50!!! i dont have that much as i spent all my money on the truck.) i snipped the elbow connections that plugged into the front of the solenoid and replaced them with ring terminals (cause they werent fitting as well as i wanted them to) i then ran a ground from the battery to the firewall (i figured i didnt need to hit the engine with it, being as the negative battery cable is bolted right onto the alternator) condition remains the same.

it rained all day so i wasnt able to get under it, so i still have to try checking the wiring for the starter and insure is grounded properly. another thing i was wondering was, could it be an ignition problem? might it have something to do with the keyed ignition not sending enough power to the solenoid? and if thats a possibility, how would i check that? thanks in advance. you guys have been more than helpful.