Truck wont start.

debauchee · Post by **debauchee** » March 18, 2009, 1:20 pm

So I got home last night on the train and jumped in my truck and turned the key. For a split second it sounded like it was starting but then nothing. No clicking or anything. I tried turning the key a few times and still nothing. I then turned it to the left and the radio turned on so I knew I had juice. I tried starting the truck again and still nothing. I turned the key to the left again and now i have no radio or headlights. I checked the battery and it is fully charged. I know the next step is to just start walking thru and debugging the whole starting system but I'm fairly new to working on these trucks and completely new to wiring and its sitting on the side of the road right now which isn’t the funnest place to try to fumble around with wires so I figured I'd see if anyone has had this kind of trouble before and could help narrow it down. The wiring is a rats nest so I figure if I can at least get it home, I'm probably going to need to buy a wiring harness and redo the whole thing.

ICEMAN6166 · Post by **ICEMAN6166** » March 18, 2009, 1:25 pm

you did not mention how long it ws sitting but start with the battery terminal connections. any corrosion will give the symptoms you posted.
make sure both ends of both cables are making a good connection.

stevechaos13 · Post by **stevechaos13** » March 18, 2009, 1:51 pm

Grounding too. Everyone has always told me that is the first place to start on one of these old trucks.

debauchee · Post by **debauchee** » March 18, 2009, 2:13 pm

It was sitting for about 7 hours so not too long. Sounds like grounding is a good place to start.

"Whitey Ford" · Post by **"Whitey Ford"** » March 18, 2009, 2:19 pm

Had the same thing...fuel not getting to carb. After checking battery and the connections take 2 minutes out and test the fuel delivery....

Slick Fan · Post by **Slick Fan** » March 18, 2009, 5:48 pm

ICEMAN6166 wrote:you did not mention how long it ws sitting but start with the battery terminal connections. any corrosion will give the symptoms you posted.
make sure both ends of both cables are making a good connection.

Start by removing & cleaning your battery terminals (with a battery brush), then check for good connections at the other end of the cables...then go on to the next process of elimination.
You wouldn't want to rewire the whole truck just because you had corroded battery terminals.

debauchee · Post by **debauchee** » March 18, 2009, 5:55 pm

cleaning the battery terminals did the trick which was surprising since they really didn't look bad at all. Still need to rewire the thing though. looking into this problem made me realize how bad it all was. For every wire going some where, I have at least 5 going no wear. Been reading the other thread about the EZ harness and thinking that might be a good project this summer.

Post by **Greg D** » March 18, 2009, 6:32 pm

Unless you think you might need lights, turn signals, & wipers etc. these old trucks will run on a gallon of corn whiskey, about 3 wires and a battery, lol.
With that said, your average person under 50 can't figure out how to drive one, lol.

6166 Junkyard Dog · Post by **6166 Junkyard Dog** » March 18, 2009, 10:03 pm

many years ago I saw this trick, about the 320 on I-10 in Texas Canyon in Az. at the rest area saw a woman trying to start her car thought it was dead battery it just clicked well she needed change, gave it to her she then went got a coke out of the machine poured it over the terminals and it started, then pored the rest over the windshield to clean it , since then always thought of her and what Coke can do to your stomach...

"Whitey Ford" · Post by **"Whitey Ford"** » March 19, 2009, 7:07 am

6166 Junkyard Dog wrote:many years ago I saw this trick, about the 320 on I-10 in Texas Canyon in Az. at the rest area saw a woman trying to start her car thought it was dead battery it just clicked well she needed change, gave it to her she then went got a coke out of the machine poured it over the terminals and it started, then pored the rest over the windshield to clean it , since then always thought of her and what Coke can do to your stomach...

My mom showed me that one time as a kid and now I MAY drink two cans of coke a week but for the most part its water, tea, or beer only. I was amazed that coke could do that to a battery.

Mellvis · Post by **Mellvis** » March 19, 2009, 11:07 am

Got an uncle that had a Farm-All that he bought cheap because it was lockd up. Dumped Coke in each cylinder, waited,waited.....waited some more....BINGO! I don't remember how long but I think it was a week.

kjvforme · Post by **kjvforme** » March 19, 2009, 11:42 am

Here is an eye opener, when they originally came up with the hazardous packaging system for the Department of Transportation hey had a problem. One company had a product that would have to be listed as a acid, that product was Coca Cola. Becuase of this they changed the requirement by one point to allow for Coke to be shipped without hazardous placcards. I was told this when attending a Hazardous waste responder class.

Demonknight · Post by **Demonknight** » March 19, 2009, 12:17 pm

hey Debauchee over here in Oak Harbor WA, I have roughly the same plan on the whole rewire thing... waiting on a book now that should help as when I started rewiring it looked simple, then after I started things looked wrong, well odd anyway... wires to nothing, wires that should be hooked up, but are not ect.

6166 Junkyard Dog · Post by **6166 Junkyard Dog** » March 19, 2009, 12:18 pm

thats some scary xxxx,,

maybe thats why Coke used thick glass bottles,,, We drink the zero sprites

ICEMAN6166 · Post by **ICEMAN6166** » March 19, 2009, 12:23 pm

taco bell sauce is a darn good cleaner too. does for green wires what it does for green pennies.