PLEASE HELP! '76 K10 won't even turn over!

[handloader90]

Thanks for confirming, I will fix the wiring as soon as I get off of work. Thanks for straightening me out on that!

 

[handloader90]

Question: the purple wire connected to the S terminal on the starter solenoid, where does that lead to? I want to go ahead and replace that whole wire!

 

[diesel4me]

On my trucks the purple "crank" wire goes into the main harness behind the engine,then over to the fuse box bulkhead ,from there it goes to the neutral safety switch on the steering colum under the dash,where it gets power from the yellow wire coming from the ignition switch..

..it would be easier to just thread the new wire thru the firewall somewhere and cut the original wire off about 2" from the neutral safety switch plug,and splice it there ,and that'll also eliminate any possibility of the connections inside the fuse box/bulkhead the original wire had,being corroded or comprimised ..

 

[handloader90]

Ok, thanks for confirming. I won't mess with the purple wire at this time.

Ok, so I drew up this picture and want to know if everything looks correct so I don't mess this up again.

Here's what I have:

 

[handloader90]

I've been measuring and cutting wire and fusible links and getting step down butt connectors and ring terminals crimped onto my "New" correct wiring, It just dumped a whole bunch of rain here, so I'll try and pull the starter within the next few hours.

The starter is covered with a lifetime warranty, so I'm going to take it back to O'Reilly's tonight or tomorrow morning and get a new one (hopfully this one is good to go, I've heard plenty of storied about "New" bad starters).

I'll be doing the rest of my wire measuring/ cutting and crimping everything together tonight/ tomorrow morning and should have everything wrapped up by noon tomorrow... I'm hoping that this works!!!

 

[diesel4me]

Ok, thanks for confirming. I won't mess with the purple wire at this time.

Ok, so I drew up this picture and want to know if everything looks correct so I don't mess this up again.

Here's what I have:

Yes,that looks correct to me...

I'm not sure about the starter--if it works on the ground with jumper cables,I'd assume its OK,but it could be the bendix gear isn't retracting properly for some reason..if its under warranty you might as well swap it for another one now...(might pay to give the next starter the jumper cable test before you install it too,I've had bad starters right out of the box before!)...

I've had 2 used starters in and out of my diesel pickup 4 times in the past few weeks and both still refuse to crank right over every time,I've replaced the purple wire,checked the batteries,replaced the positive cable to the starter,bypassed the neutral safety,and they still sometimes just go "Cliunk" when I go to crank it--have to try it a few times before it cranks..nothing sucks more than not knowing if you'll be able to get it cranked and running every time you shut it off somewhere....
I think its the starters both have bad internal connections and they are old thats causing it..

 

[handloader90]

Just picked up the new state and some other little stuff. I had them verify the starter worked in store with their cool machine.

 

[blazer74]

They can check the starters at the orielly's on their tester by the way.
I wouldn't mess with the purple wire at this time, that's why I suggested to check it for volts with a meter to verify its condition earlier with it removed from the starter. It's only a trigger wire for the starter solenoid.

The starter circuit is from power at the fuse panel to ignition switch and neutral switch which is activated by the key. Power goes to the starter thru the purple wire to activate the starter solenoid while in crank only.

That's why you need to know what voltage you have at the S terminal wire (purple wire) for the starter. Obviously the main cable from the batt powers the starter after the solenoid is activated by the purple wire.

Make sure your ground wire from the batt to the engine is in good condition. There is also another ground wire from the drivers side back of the head to the firewall so can cause cab power issues. It is a flat braided wire from the factory.
You can also add a wire from the neg term of batt to the fender for added body grounding.

After you get your wiring straight as D4me has instructed you can continue. After you make your connections from the batt verify with your test light your crimps are good.

 

[handloader90]

Hey everyone, well I got the new starter installed and all new wires hooked up correctly and guess what... it fired up beautifully! Cranking it sounds really nice with the new starter, no 5-10 seconds waiting for it to turn over!

I would like to thank diesel4me and blazer74 and everyone else who contributed to this thread and helping me get my truck back running.

Hopefully this thread will be useful to the next guy who has this problem!

Thanks again!!!

 

[diesel4me]

Your welcome,glad it all panned out for you...now you have two less wires to worry about ,no fears of fires from that old toasted mess it had before..

One more thing--while going back to the first page and looking at the pictures you took,I think two of your spark plug wires are touching the headers..might want to tie them away from them if they are!..

Hope the truck stays grief free for many miles now...maybe we can even get the wipers to work now!..

 

[blazer74]

Good news!