I'm a little behind in my email, actually, several days behind. So I hope
I'm not repeating someone else here. Man this Dak list generates a lot of
useless email. Signal to noise ratio is way down on this list.
Anyway, to answer your questions:
At 09:49 PM 4/1/2000 , you wrote:
>I put the motor in the truck friday night and today i attempted to
>turn it over using the starter, it wouldnt go.all i have to do is slap the
>dist. in and hook up the fuel and tranny cooler lines and accessory belts.
>only 2 problems. the starter wont turn the motor over. with the plugs out i
>can turn it by grabbing the crank pulley with my hands. Yes the battery is
>new and charged and i tested it in another vehicle. When i hit the key it
>just goes clank! then nothing. on this truck the positive battery cable goes
>to what i think is the voltage regulator, there are 2 16g wires running
away
>from the little box, and a large 4g or 6g wire running to the starter, it
>sounds like this box clicks when i hit the key. Any thoughts/ advice?
That little box is not the regulator, it's the starter solenoid. Your
voltage regulator is the larger silver colored metal box with a flat
connector with about four or five small gauge wires going to it. It (must)
be bolted to metal to operate (gets it's ground through chassis ground, not
direct connect), and would have no affect on your starter problem, just
charging problem. Back to the solenoid. It's basically a heavy duty
relay. To check your starter and to see if your solenoid is bad, get your
jumper cables and jumper the two ends of the solenoid together (where the
two big gauge wires attach). If the starter turns like it should, it's
your solenoid, $10 at an auto parts and your up and runnin'. If it sparks
like hell and doesn't turn over the motor, take your starter and have it
checked at an auto parts house. If it does nothing, no sparks, check your
grounds. Clean and inspect the negative battery cable and clean and
inspect the end that attached to the engine block. Try again. Still does
nothing, have the starter tested. When bypassing the solenoid, sparks will
occur, so if you just charged your battery, might want to wait a little
while before trying, unless you like the way hydrogen gas burns :)
If the starter has been sitting as long as the motor, it could just be
froze up. Take the starter out, get your jumper cables, hold the starter
down with your foot, connect the negative clamp to the mounting flange, and
the positive to the cable terminal. Tap the juice a few times to see if it
will break free.
You mentioned two 16 ga wires coming from the solenoid. One wire goes to
the ignition, the other goes to the choke. Look closely at the solenoid
where those wires connect. You should see a "I" stamped on one terminal,
and if memory serves, it's a green wire. That wire powers the Duraspark
spark box (I'm assuming electronic ignition since it's a '79, if it's
points/condenser ignition, please tell me - whole 'nother problem), the
other goes to the electric carb choke if equipped. The clicking you hear is
the solenoid engaging. Solenoid could still be bad, oxidation does wonders
to electrical contacts.
>Problem 2, when i turn the key to ON a large spark arcs between various
>parts of the
>coil, usually between the tower and negative on the coil and sometimes
>between the positive and negative terminals on the coil, i thought mabey the
>dist just needs to be hooked up so i put the coil wire on and attached the 3
>prong plug on the dist to its plug on the wiring harness but, it didnt help
>and the wires on the dist were so hot you could barley touch them, what
>gives? also the voltage guage on the dash reads negative with the key on. Is
>this just the voltage regulators fault? what do i need to fix here. Thanks
>for any comments/ suggestions.
>Paul Finley '94cc 4x4 V6 5spd / POS furd
That's because the path of least resistance to ground is from the coil
output to the coil ground wire. Connect the coil wire that goes to the
center of the distributor cap to a bolt on the engine. The valve cover
bolts work great, some even had a little metal stick on top of the bolt
heads - works great. Once you get your ~30,000 volt output grounded, your
spark show will cease. Best way is to just disconnect the positive lead to
the coil (don't ground that one). On the coil, green is ground - also the
hookup point for a tachometer, and the other one is from the spark box.
As for your battery gauge and wires getting hot, you've got a short
somewhere or something is hooked up backwards. Check all connections
starting at the battery. The wires will get hot since the coil is being
fed constant current when the key is on and the engine is not running,
that's why the juice to the ignition system is hooked up the starter
solenoid, it gets turned on when the key is in the "RUN" position. The
primary of the coil has a very low resistance, so a lot of current can flow
through it. When you cycle the key on and off, your inducing a voltage to
the secondary creating your spark show. Email me off the list for more help.
Mike
'99 RC V6 5spd Sport & '78 F150 302 4spd - Green Monster aka The Hornet
__________________________
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