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Newbie-Electrical Ignition Issues

trevmountain

trevmountain

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Oct 28, 2007
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Jackson, WY
I'm having trouble figuring out why my K30 won't start. Just put in a brand new Power master starter and brand new battery. I checked to see if I was getting juice to the starter and it appears that I am. The original owner put in a remote solenoid on the fender and just bridged the battery connection to ignition connection on the starter. It's kind of weird and I don't totally understand it but I think it had something to do with the header heat. When I turn the key I get nothing. Kind of stumped.

Could it be the ignition in the column. I've never been into the column and how would I test for this.

Thanks
 
was it working b4 the batt and starter swap?
 
No. I was getting gas a month ago or so and went to start it and nothing, not even a click or a attempt to start. I grabbed my jumpers and tried jumping it and still nothing. I got under the truck and started tapping on the starter and then all the sudden it fired up. This is what led me to believe it was the starter. So I ordered a new one. Then when I put in the new starter I got nothing again so I tested the battery and the battery was bad so that now brings us to where we are now. Weird huh.
 
Are you still running through the bastardized electrical from the PO? If so, I would sart by eliminating that. Get the wiring back to where it should be. Worked from the factory and 99% of us on here still run it factory.

I am trying to visualize a factory starter being run from a another solenoid. That makes 2 to activate. Check the feed to the starter from the key when it gets turned to start. If so, hook it the new starter. And if power from the battery is good, it should crank.
 
Its common for people to swap in a ford solenoid.and bridge the solenoid on the starter . All my Blazers are or were that way.

Heres how it works on the solenoid you have the battery positive coming in on the side closest to the small terminal marked s. on that same side of the selonoid that the positive cable comes will also be the wire or wires that that powers up your fusible links ,to power up the truck .on the opposite side the positive cable goes to the starter and selonoid that is bridged between the s terminal and positive post on the starter.

when you turn the key you engage the ford solenoid by the small wire and the s terminal on the ford solenoid and as many amps as the solenoid can take or your battery has goes to the starter..

do you have power to the inside of your truck ? can you take a screw driver and jump across the positive coming in and the s terminal on the ford starter solenoid and have the starter spin?

here`s a link to the mad kit.http://www.madelectrical.com/catalog/st-1.shtml
 
Ok so I took some photos of everything. I also ran some tests with a voltage tool. All tests were done with key on but not engaged because I am by myself at the moment. First I checked my battery and it's good at 12 volts then I checked the battery to fender mounted solenoid (or wierd junction box) connection and that is also good at 12 volts. Then I checked the out going to starter connection on the solenoid and it read 120 volts the first time and then I rechecked it and it came down to about 38 volts. In the picture I'm showing the 120 volts coming up on the screen. I then checked my connection at the starter and I've got only .5 volts.

I completely lost with why the voltage at the out going terminal to starter is so high. I know I need to check these with someone in the cab cranking the key and maybe that explains some of this.

PB140978.JPG

PB140982.JPG

PB140991.JPG

PB140995.JPG
 
I can't help on the electrical readings you are getting, but if I were you, I'd remove all that junk and run the cable directly to the starter.

My Dad's got a 454 with headers on it, and has been running the "mini-starter" for a couple of years now, never had an issue with heat soak.
 
OK, don't worry about the meter reading. I'm just surprised its still working. According to the screen, its set on Ohms.
Normally that burns one up when you put voltage on it.

The Ford solenoid system works fine, you should be able to run with it.

First, don't know if have an auto or manual transmission. But, safety first. If its auto, put it in park, if its manual make darn sure its out of gear, because it may crank next.

Also make sure there is nothing in the fan.
Leave the key on, and hook a wire to the hot lead, and touch it to the small terminal on the Ford solenoid.

Something should happen. Ideally, the engine should start cranking. Even it does not, the Ford solenoid should clunk.

If it does not, check to make sure it is attached to something grounded really well. It gets its ground from the base. When you put 12 volts to the small terminal, it should pull in.

If it does not pull in, check the ground wire from the battery. You might try hooking a jumper cable from the negative post to the body where the solenoid is mounted to make sure its grounded.

If the Ford solenoid pulls in, and it starts cranking, then the starter and two solenoids are OK, and we need to back up.

If it cranks manually, the next thing to check is the safety. If its an automatic, try cranking it in park and neutral.
Also, hold the key in the crank position and wiggle the shifter.

If its a manual, hold the key in crank, and push the clutch up and down.

Let me know what happens, and we will go from there.
 
I didn't catch that you had the mini starter. ^^^^^^^ what he said is right on. Check it in volts and ground the solenoid.
 
Well I feel pretty silly but that's why I titled this thread (Newbie). I had a feeling it was going to be something obvious and I wanted to cover my retardedness.

All I needed to do was ground the remote solenoid. I had no idea the body has to be grounded. I'm in the process of painting the truck and I've got the fenders pulled off so the solenoid was just kind of hanging there.

Oh well now I know. All is good and thanks for the help guys. You saved me a lot of hassle.
 
Yep, that will do it. I noticed that one side was not hooked up, but figured the other hole was.
Anyway, its fixed, and didn't cost anything. Thats the best part.
That solenoid draws maybe 3 or 4 amps, so you can hook a fairly heavy wire to it temporarily if you need to move the truck while the fenders are off.

Just make sure that the battery cable does not touch a ground anywhere as you move it.
 
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