Ferdinand Posted January 29, 2021 Author Share Posted January 29, 2021 Well I am amazed at how many things jump in front of my intentions of working on Ferdinand... Will be revisiting all the good advice shortly. I did get the heater core installed and am ready to re-plumb the heater core hoses as recommended. I have run into another snag... Anyone have any suggestions on how to tell whether or not an "no start" problem is either in the key switch or in the ignition harness under the dash? I have the column torn down a bit and was thinking it was my key switch but before I go any further down this rabbit hole (I had to do this with my '82 F150 when it was stolen and the column and key switch was destroyed) as I remember it being full of tricky pieces, I wanted to pic the very-able brains of our brotherhood and see if anyone had any advice on trouble shooting the wiring and connectors under the dash. After metering out battery voltage when I turn the key from the run to start position my start wire (Red and Light Blue) that goes on the S terminal on the fender mounted solenoid only reads about .7 volts. Isn't that supposed to be 12 volts to pull the contact in? I am curious because when I jump 12 volts to that post (directly from the battery) the engine will crank just fine. Any help is ALWAYS appreciated!!! (Even if it takes me a month or better to get to it!) ...And Gary, I am thoroughly enjoying "creeping" on Big Blue's Transformation!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 Well I am amazed at how many things jump in front of my intentions of working on Ferdinand... Will be revisiting all the good advice shortly. I did get the heater core installed and am ready to re-plumb the heater core hoses as recommended. I have run into another snag... Anyone have any suggestions on how to tell whether or not an "no start" problem is either in the key switch or in the ignition harness under the dash? I have the column torn down a bit and was thinking it was my key switch but before I go any further down this rabbit hole (I had to do this with my '82 F150 when it was stolen and the column and key switch was destroyed) as I remember it being full of tricky pieces, I wanted to pic the very-able brains of our brotherhood and see if anyone had any advice on trouble shooting the wiring and connectors under the dash. After metering out battery voltage when I turn the key from the run to start position my start wire (Red and Light Blue) that goes on the S terminal on the fender mounted solenoid only reads about .7 volts. Isn't that supposed to be 12 volts to pull the contact in? I am curious because when I jump 12 volts to that post (directly from the battery) the engine will crank just fine. Any help is ALWAYS appreciated!!! (Even if it takes me a month or better to get to it!) ...And Gary, I am thoroughly enjoying "creeping" on Big Blue's Transformation!! Jamie - I prefer to think of it as "reading the mail" rather than "creeping". Anyway, yes you should be seeing battery voltage on the red/light blue wire at the starter relay when the key is turned to Start. What I did was to put a light on that wire and to ground and turned the key to Start - obviously with the wire off the relay. And then I started moving wires around, hoping to find the light to change since from time to time it wouldn't start. I never found a problem, but it was apparently the infamous tilt-wheel problem. So, do you have a tilt wheel? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferdinand Posted January 30, 2021 Author Share Posted January 30, 2021 Jamie - I prefer to think of it as "reading the mail" rather than "creeping". Anyway, yes you should be seeing battery voltage on the red/light blue wire at the starter relay when the key is turned to Start. What I did was to put a light on that wire and to ground and turned the key to Start - obviously with the wire off the relay. And then I started moving wires around, hoping to find the light to change since from time to time it wouldn't start. I never found a problem, but it was apparently the infamous tilt-wheel problem. So, do you have a tilt wheel? ugh... Yes, I have a tilt wheel. I am almost afraid to ask 😉 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 ugh... Yes, I have a tilt wheel. I am almost afraid to ask 😉 Check out Documentation/Interior/Steering Columns. There's a discussion there about the problem and links to how to fix it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferdinand Posted January 30, 2021 Author Share Posted January 30, 2021 Check out Documentation/Interior/Steering Columns. There's a discussion there about the problem and links to how to fix it. Excellent! Thanks Gary!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 Excellent! Thanks Gary!! Welcome. Maybe be an easier fix that finding an electrical problem. And, by the way, the piece breaks because people hoist themselves into the truck via the steering wheel. Which is one reason I went with a non-tilt column on Big Blue. He's tall enough I want to be able to use the steering wheel as my hand hold, and am sure whomever drives it will want to do the same. Some say the repair piece is better and won't break in future, but I wasn't willing to give it a chance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferdinand Posted January 31, 2021 Author Share Posted January 31, 2021 Well I tore down into the column a litter further yesterday to try and determine if that tilt column issue was it. (Thanks for the tip Gary!) I had searched the site pretty good (or so I thought) but really appreciate the direction for more research. So the process when a little like this: Nothing seems too out of place or broken yet, but I know that piece in question is buried down in the column. So, from what I understand, it doesn't allow this linkage to operate the ignition switch properly. I turn the key here and everything looks to be working properly: So, I pull the switch and try to meter out the starting circuit. (Which from my very uneducated case is the top row tab closest to the firewall. Since I had no continuity on this tab once I cycled the switch into what I think is the "start" position, I headed to Advance Auto to test one as a comparison. They did not have one there for me to test but I should have one by this afternoon. I plan to compare the operation of the two before I buy the switch. But, all things considered, I am thinking it is not in the column. Is that correct? I will tear into it further later tonight but hoping the switch does the trick!!! Since I hit a bit of a stop last night in my trouble shooting I decided to go ahead and re-plumb the heater core in a much simpler way than originally planned. I am really itching to get this thing on the road for the rest of winter and will work on finer details once the weather breaks. The wife is getting tired of her car setting outside with all this snow and the Bronco tucked inside the nice heated garage and we can't drive it! http://www.garysgaragemahal.com/uploads/6/5/8/7/65879365/head-rotfl-57x22_orig.gif Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArdWrknTrk Posted January 31, 2021 Share Posted January 31, 2021 Well I tore down into the column a litter further yesterday to try and determine if that tilt column issue was it. (Thanks for the tip Gary!) I had searched the site pretty good (or so I thought) but really appreciate the direction for more research. So the process when a little like this: Nothing seems too out of place or broken yet, but I know that piece in question is buried down in the column. So, from what I understand, it doesn't allow this linkage to operate the ignition switch properly. I turn the key here and everything looks to be working properly: So, I pull the switch and try to meter out the starting circuit. (Which from my very uneducated case is the top row tab closest to the firewall. Since I had no continuity on this tab once I cycled the switch into what I think is the "start" position, I headed to Advance Auto to test one as a comparison. They did not have one there for me to test but I should have one by this afternoon. I plan to compare the operation of the two before I buy the switch. But, all things considered, I am thinking it is not in the column. Is that correct? I will tear into it further later tonight but hoping the switch does the trick!!! Since I hit a bit of a stop last night in my trouble shooting I decided to go ahead and re-plumb the heater core in a much simpler way than originally planned. I am really itching to get this thing on the road for the rest of winter and will work on finer details once the weather breaks. The wife is getting tired of her car setting outside with all this snow and the Bronco tucked inside the nice heated garage and we can't drive it! You really need to test the neutral safety switch (or the clutch safety) Up under the pedal box you'll find a red/lt blue and a lt blue/red wire in a plug. You can jumper this plug with a spare fuse and try the starter. This bypasses the safety switch, so be sure you're in neutral before hitting the key. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArdWrknTrk Posted January 31, 2021 Share Posted January 31, 2021 You really need to test the neutral safety switch (or the clutch safety) Up under the pedal box you'll find a red/lt blue and a lt blue/red wire in a plug. You can jumper this plug with a spare fuse and try the starter. This bypasses the safety switch, so be sure you're in neutral before hitting the key. Also, you should always try to start in neutral if you can't get it to crank in park. Those contacts don't often see current running through them so they're often in better shape. If the truck starts in park the NSS on the side of a C6 is really simple to swap out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted January 31, 2021 Share Posted January 31, 2021 Well I tore down into the column a litter further yesterday to try and determine if that tilt column issue was it. (Thanks for the tip Gary!) I had searched the site pretty good (or so I thought) but really appreciate the direction for more research. So the process when a little like this: Nothing seems too out of place or broken yet, but I know that piece in question is buried down in the column. So, from what I understand, it doesn't allow this linkage to operate the ignition switch properly. I turn the key here and everything looks to be working properly: So, I pull the switch and try to meter out the starting circuit. (Which from my very uneducated case is the top row tab closest to the firewall. Since I had no continuity on this tab once I cycled the switch into what I think is the "start" position, I headed to Advance Auto to test one as a comparison. They did not have one there for me to test but I should have one by this afternoon. I plan to compare the operation of the two before I buy the switch. But, all things considered, I am thinking it is not in the column. Is that correct? I will tear into it further later tonight but hoping the switch does the trick!!! Since I hit a bit of a stop last night in my trouble shooting I decided to go ahead and re-plumb the heater core in a much simpler way than originally planned. I am really itching to get this thing on the road for the rest of winter and will work on finer details once the weather breaks. The wife is getting tired of her car setting outside with all this snow and the Bronco tucked inside the nice heated garage and we can't drive it! Jamie - To embed a Youtube you have to get the "embed" code by clicking Share and then Embed. Copy that code and then come here and tick the "Message is in HTML Format" box. Here's your Youtube: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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