no fire - i'm at my end...... electrical miracle needed.

[jetsg4]

i fired up the truck today, and it ran for a while, then just died. it was a strange die like someone turned the key off, and wouldn't start again. NO FIRE. so far i have replaced the ignition box, coil, and the pickup coil. STILL NO FIRE.

for some stupid reason, i forgot about the small electrical fire i had last weekend. i thought i had all the damaged wire replaced, but i guess i didn't. after i repaired the wire last weekend, i was going down the highway and it died like the key was turned off, and it did it wednesday night also. all i had to do those times was pop the clutch. seems like a wire is grounding out somewhere bouncing around going down the road, and it just isn't moving right now.

my question:
getting out the old multi-meter tomorrow, what would be a good path to follow to check for shorts?? with the key on, it's hot to the ignition box and hot @ the coil. i'm noticing a difference with the tach though. when the key is off, the tach usually reads straight down(gravity) @ 1k rpm. when the key is turned on, it usually kicks to 0 until the engine starts. now it is bouncing all over the place between 0 and 1200 rpm.

 

[Viperwolf1]

Disconnect the tach and give it another spin.

 

[SHX669]

What year is your Bronco ?
Is the fuse box on the floor by the clutch pedal?
My '68 used to lose the radio and turn signals on occasion when i " dumped the clutch " -- I fixed some bad connectors in the fuse box.
SHX

 

[treihesse]

Re-wire the truck man. Its 400 bucks or maybe watch your truck burn down. Any kind of fire with electrical should tell you to re-wire

 

[broncomitch]

i agree with him. if its caught on fire once its a good chance it will happen again.

but i did have something like that happen to me. it was a loose connection at the fuse block.

 

[jetsg4]

i agree with him. if its caught on fire once its a good chance it will happen again.

but i did have something like that happen to me. it was a loose connection at the fuse block.

the standard wiring is actually in great shape. the fire was because of the PO was cheap and lazy. they apparently had some problems with the ignition switch, but instead of spending $30 to replace it, they put in a toggle switch running straight to the battery for the run, non fused. i've installed a fuse in it as a temporary fix until i redo my dash.

 

[fordtrucks4ever]

You may need to dig thru the loom that goes under dash. The main hot wire is very bad about melting insulation off and short on other wires. It also corrodes when this happens causing a lot of resistance. Most of the time its the section at amp meter where there is a connector. From connector to fuse box and/or ignition switch is where damage occurs. Unfortunately the loom is still taped over and looks fine. I have run across this on most of the Broncos with electral problems.

 

[mac77]

elctrical problems

I had several electrical problems in my bronco when i first got it. The hot wire under the dash had melted. I traced it back as far as i could rewired and taped and she was good to go. I also had problems with it just cutting off like it was getting no fire. Replaced the duraspark with an msd box and haven't had an ounce of trouble since. I have been told that the durasparks were bad about that.