Hi there. I drive a 1985 F250 supercab with a 6.8 deisel engine.

A while back, my starter seemed like it died. I would turn the key and there was no click, just silence in what should have been a starter turning over. I replaced the starter. It worked perfectly for 1 day. Then the same thing happened while driving. Luckily I tried using a screwdriver on the starter to energize it and it worked. I got home and started diagnosing.

I checked the relay that provides power to the solenoid. What I found was that the control signal coming from the cab of the truck, going to the relay is not working. If I manually apply 12 V to the control pin on the relay relay, the starter turns over with no problems. This lead me to believe the problem was in the ignition switch itself.

This morning I replaced the ignition switch electrical connector thing that is attached to the steering collumn. Unfortunately, I still have the same problem.

SO ... is there anything else that is a common place for this type of failure. I was going to just install a push putton switch on the dash for the starter like I did for the glow plug controller. I figured before I did that, I'd check and see if anyone else has seen this and knows where a common failure point is.

Thanks!

 

Okay ... so I just read about a Neutral switch in my manual. Only problem is that my manual doesn't show me where it is. Is it located on the side of the transmission? My truck is automatic.

 

uhm.... hmm did u have someone in the cab turning the switch to start... u know like when ur cranking it up while u was checking everything out

 

Yes ... I had someone turn the key while I checked for a signal on the relay. No positive signal showed up on the relay.

 

check on the bottom of the column where the plug is....

make sure every thing is clean

 

Do you have a Tilt steering wheel?

 

You should have a c6 trans, the nuetral safety switch is on the drivers side of the trans where the shift lever mounts. try starting it in nuetral instead of park and move the shifter around while trying to crank it.

 

Yes, your neutral safety switch is on the driver's side of the tranny. If you want to eliminate it as the problem you can temporarily bypass it. Unplug the switch, it should have 4 wires. Two of the wires are the backup lights, and the other two are red/blue and they are the neutral safety part of the switch. Unplug the switch and jump the two red/blue wires together. That will bypass the switch and send current from the ignition switch directly to the starter solenoid.

 

Thanks guys! I called around and found an Autozone that had a neutral switch for 25 bucks so I just replaced it. Now it starts again! WOO HOO!

Thanks for the heads up!~