Weird no start/no power.

[JHK07]

May sound silly.... roll your truck 3ft... then try to start it.


Will It push start? If the truck started before you took the dash apart, I would think you problem would be there.

[Billy5]

Update: Got truck to crank, but it did not fire off. So, I checked for power at the fuse block on the fire wall. I have power on the lower ( key on), but no power at the top. At all. So I ran a lead from the battery to the coil and poof she started. So I have no power getting to the coil...progress. You guys are awsome!

[SafeAirOne]

The coil should be getting power from the hot in "START" and "RUN" circuit but not the "ALWAYS HOT" circuit. Something aint right. My bet is on the ignition switch or it's wiring configuiration.

[Apis Mellifera]

As I said before, it's really easy to get it running, if that is your goal: put power to the coil and turn the engine over

So I ran a lead from the battery to the coil and poof she started.

My usual consulting fee is $100 in all but rare cases where the advice proves accurate or in someway useful. Under those circumstances, all fees are waived.

[Billy5]

Thank you Apis for letting me slide... So todays adventure..from what I understand, the top half of the fuse block should be constant hot. I have zip. Key on or not. So I ran a lead to one of the spades from the battery. It started and ran, but would not shut off unless I took the lead off. So that told me, the coil wire is good. Part of my problem is wire colors. Some of wires have the cloth with the colors on it, some do not. Also the whole bundle along the firewall has the original cloth wrap with lucas written on it. Do i have to unwrap the whole bundle to trace wires? I am guessing yes. While I was at it, I checked power to the solenoid. There are three spade terminals on it. I have power to all but one, the one closest to the starter cable. Should all terminals be hot? As far as the ignition switch. When I pulled the dash out, one of the wires came off. So i guessed as to wear it went. I cannot find the proper order them, on the switch. There are four wires going to it. Those have colors still visible. My first hunch was the switch failed. Can I use a regular old four post switch? I have access to them, in the work I do. And, I still have no power on the upper portion of the fuse block. But I have my headlights back...getting there..

[leafsprung]

No you should not cut off the original cloth braid of the wiring harness. Referring to the wiring diagram will save you a lot of guessing and will answer most of your questions.

[Billy5]

I was hoping I wouldn't have too. I have the diagram ( green bible), what I am having the most difficulty with is experience with reading them for one, two I am missing some colors on the wires. I was curious if there may have been a fusible link in there that may not have shown up on the diagram. Which I now know there is not. So what I need to do is, write out so I can understand it better. And lets not forget, I have a slight case of first time owner panic
PS i am still interested in those bits you have, after I get it running..lol

[LaneRover]

As you go through definitely check and clean up all the grounds. Most of the electrical problems I have had over the years has been the ground.

[Apis Mellifera]

There actually are fusible links in the Lucas harness: they are the wires themselves. The larger ones are slo-blow.

The solenoid basically has three connection points: two large screw terminals and a small spade terminal. One of the screw terminals has the battery cable and some brown wires (one around a 10g - constant unswitched power to the fuse block). These wire connections may be ring terminals or spades. The other screw terminal has only the starter cable. The small spade terminal on the side is for the MOMENTARY switched power from the key switch.

The key switch (and part of the fuse block) has the constant brown. Assuming your key switch only has off - on - start, the first position sends power to the white wires. This powers the coil. The start position is a momentary switch and sends power to the solenoid, which energizes, allowing the battery power to pass directly through the solenoid and to the starter. Once the key is in the on position, the solenoid spade terminal shouldn't have voltage on it.

If this is your first time dealing with wiring, marginal or otherwise, I HIGHLY recommend a test light or a "buzz box". These are the most basic of test equipment and will help you determine where the power is going and how/if the various switches are working. I have several long alligator clip jumpers too. A volt meter will do the same tests, but these things will allow you to reach and isolate circuits whether you know the wire colors or not and will visually tell you instantly if the circuit is in order.

[Billy5]

Yes, this is basically my first real electrical trouble shooting experience. I have done some new wiring before but very basic. All of the other times I had trouble ( on boats I work in marina-paint and fiberglass Im an ace with), So on the solenoid I saw three spade connections. Two of those are thin gauge ( i would say 16g roughly), the third looked heavier but not 10g, looks more like 14, but I could be wrong. I have both a test light and digital volt meter. I have power ( constant) at two of the three spade connections on the solenoid. The third has zip. I have been staring at the diagram for two hours, and did not see the connection from the solenoid to the fuse block. I will look again. By the time I am done, I know I will look like a complete idiot.

[Apis Mellifera]

Can you post a somewhat-close picture of the solenoid?

[Billy5]

Yes i can do it tomorrow, and another oddity, my ignition switch has extra spades, even though i only need four. It does say lucas on it but why the extra spaces dont know.

[leafsprung]

Solenoid has three small connections:

1)Horn - constant power
2)voltage regulator -constant power
3)ignition switch - hot when you turn the starter switch

Sounds like your solenoid wiring is fine. The ignition switch has more terminals than are used. Again study the wiring diagram to determine the number and correct orientation of the wires in an original configuration.

Study the wiring diagram here:

http://www.lrfaq.org/Series/images/10-N.jpg

Trace the lines from one end to the other to see what path each circuit takes. You should be able to match this up with your truck so you can test circuits from the battery to each load to determine if there are problems.

[Billy5]

I cannot thank you enough. As usual, I looked at the diagram with my panic eyes, instead of taking one thing at a time. So my issue is the coil is not getting power. So I will just focus on that. It gets its power from the fuse block from the way I am understanding it. So, it also looks like its switched power as well. I do believe I am starting to get my head around it. As for the regulator, I dont think I have one, the po installed a gm alternator conversion. Another small problem is I dont know where ( physically ) items are located on the truck, as this is my first one. But I am getting there. Again, thank you.

[LaneRover]

I cannot thank you enough. As usual, I looked at the diagram with my panic eyes, instead of taking one thing at a time. So my issue is the coil is not getting power. So I will just focus on that. It gets its power from the fuse block from the way I am understanding it. So, it also looks like its switched power as well. I do believe I am starting to get my head around it. As for the regulator, I dont think I have one, the po installed a gm alternator conversion. Another small problem is I dont know where ( physically ) items are located on the truck, as this is my first one. But I am getting there. Again, thank you.

Don't rule out having to clean up the connections on the fuses. A little 600 grit sand paper or emory paper wrapped around a pencil will clean up the 'clips' that hold the fuses in.