Odd no start electric gremlin...little help?

[Justafordguy]

Like others have stated, you should be able to pull all wires (there should really only be one wire) off of that "I" terminal and the engine will still run. If not something is wired wrong. It should also still start with all wires pulled off the "I" terminal, but maybe not as well.

 

[Skytrooper15]

Not trying to derail the thread, as maybe what is happening with endlife’s bronco is happening with the op’s.

You should see power at that terminal when the car is running but it is a reduced voltage that comes from the supply line. But that is misleading because that terminal’s connection inside the solenoid should not be closed when it is running . In other words you can see in the diagram where the wires 262 and 16 join. While running, the power from 16 is also going through 262 but deadends at the starter relay because that terminal is only supposed to be connected to anything (power) when the solenoid is engaged (while starting).

There is a wiring or solenoid issue if you are getting power there with the key off.

All of this relates to the op because if you’re losing power to the coil it won’t run.

He was getting a click at the starter solenoid and no cranking.If you didn't have voltage coming to the solenoid you would not have the click he has.I don't think he has a wiring issue because he said it suddenly started having this problem.I guess somebody snuck under his hood and rewired his wiring harness while he was asleep to suddenly have a miswired solenoid.

 

[jlylec]

jlylec did you ever solve the problem about your erratic starts?Seems like your thread headed off in another direction.

I disconnected everything on the black side, including the ground to the block. Filed the area on the block where it connects and just generally tightened everything up really good and haven't had the issue since. It was very sporadic before so unfortunately I'm still crossing my fingers every time I hop in after a short stop somewhere, but so far so good!

Eventually I'm going to buy all new soldered battery terminals and rewire that stuff. Probably when I switch from Affordable Fuel Injection to the new Holley Sniper system. Hoping I can make it to winter for that though cause when she starts she's running great right now and this is the time of year to have her running well!

I don't mind the derailment as it's all good stuff to learn and I love learning everything I can about these trucks. Thanks all!