87 Shuts off When changing from park

[KG4OFQ]

When the engine is warmed up and running, its fine, but when I put the truck in park like at a drive up window or park somewhere, and shift from park to Reverse or sometimes even in Drive, the engine will shut off. When it shuts off, it will not re crank. But after about 30 mins it will crank just fine. Its acting like the battery is completly dead if I try to restart when it shuts off, and if I get someone to jumpstart me it works fine. This one has me baffled and I need it to work its not good to leave the truck running anytime I want to go into a store.

If I just go shut the truck off then I have to wait for it to cool or at least 30 mins before it will restart, so its worse to me when I try to put it in reverse to back into a parking space and it just shuts down. This means pushing, or getting a jump start, either way its embarasing.

Please if anyone has ideas let me know.

 

[Seabronc]

ths is definately wierd, and for wierd problems, I'd check the frsable links. When one goes bad, they cause all sorts of wierd electrical problems. I'm especially thinking of the large yellow wire comming from the start solinoid to the fuse panel. When they are going bad the heat of current going thru them causes them to seperte and after cooling down they make contact again.

This is just grabbing at a straw, but the time frames you are talking about fit. The reason I'm sort of zeroing in on the yellow lead is that lead goes to the functions that are hot with the key in the run position.

Grab ahold of the wire on either side of the link and give a good tug or when it happens try grabbing the links and pushing the ends toward each other.

I can't make a connection with the shifting, but like I said I'm grabbing at a straw here, but it definately won't start and will seem as if the battery is dead if this path is open some place. Just a thought did you try cleaning the battery posts? Also the point at which the yellow lead connects which should be on the starter solinoid lug where the battery also connects. Oh yah, on your truck all the wires go thru the fire wall on the driver side , they pass thru a large bolted on connecter, pull it apart, clean it and put some dialectric grease before reassembling it. It is close to the shft mechanism :glare:

Good luck,

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[KG4OFQ]

New battery, new cables, new solonoid, and put new ends on a few of the wires that attatch to the solonoid due to breaking. I also had on that note one of my fusable links did come loose once and I was stranded on the side of the road for 30 mins before finding that it was the culprit, and a bit o duct tape and I was back driving.

Can I bypass those fusable links since they are on the ground side of the battery. Just wondering, and if not where can I get replacments.

 

[Seabronc]

You should be able to get them from your Ford dealer. Another sourceis a local junk yard, cut a little wire with it solder and tape the ends, don't just but splice it. The different colors are for different amperage. It is not a good idea to bypass them except in an emergency. Just like other fuses they are there to protect stuff in the vehicle and a short could cause a fire if not fused. If you have added anything that draws a lot of current like a heavy duty sterio system, you should feed that with a new fused power lead strait to the battery. If you can't find one locally, PM me and I probably have one I liberated from my local Toyota metal supplier /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" /> , let me know what color it is.

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[Seabronc]

I hope you mean that the links are on the + side of the battery. The same place that the cable from the battery to the start solinoid is connected.

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[KG4OFQ]

On the Ground side of the battery where the factory negative battery cable is, there are 2 leads going off that are similiar to what would be fuse holders, but are not. One came loose and kept the truck from running til I reattached it and used some duct tape to hold it together. There are no extra lines from the battery to the solonoid.

 

[Seabronc]

Not sure where your links are actually attached in your truck. In the older ones it was at the solinoid and a block on the driver side firewall. The ones you are talking about are just connectors to make sure that a device has a reliable ) but removable ground and could be crimped togerther. I would get a small connector to replace it and apply silicone grease around it to keep moisture out. There is no fusing function in that connector, just a place to make a ground connection.

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[KG4OFQ]

I do have fuseable links on the Hot side but there are also some connectors on the ground side of the battery, one I had to patch up just to get the truck to start one day after it shut off while driving.

I will be putting new ends on some of the wires on teh solonoid since one is loose and about to come out, and just clean up that area since rust is on the new solonoid allready.

 

[Seabronc]

I do have fuseable links on the Hot side but there are also some connectors on the ground side of the battery, one I had to patch up just to get the truck to start one day after it shut off while driving.
I will be putting new ends on some of the wires on teh solonoid since one is loose and about to come out, and just clean up that area since rust is on the new solonoid allready.

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I like to use dialectric grease on connections. After you put connections back on the solinoid wipe a little dialectric grease around it. That will keep the moisture off the connection. You can get it at any auto parts store.

I use it on all my connectors including filling the area where the wires go into the connector to prevent corrosion from moisture.

Good luck,

>-

 

[KG4OFQ]

Thanks, I noticed that the connections on the solonoid are getting pretty durn hot. And when the truck shuts off (night before last at Macdonalds drive up) moving them a bit will let the truck restart. Im going to cut the ends of every last one of the connections there and put on decent terminals, then clean the solonoid up and put it all back together. I will try that grease or just spray it with hair spray til I get some. This should help clear up the problem.

I should post a pic of the beast in its current form so you can see my rolling disaster.

 

[ldfball70]

It's the solonoid i hade the same problem with my '86 It was enough to **** me off. Replace the solonoid and maby a few other cords that might have been dammaged. >-

 

[KG4OFQ]

Solonoid is new but has some rust on the terminals, I keep 2 spare solonoids in my center console, lol this aint my first ford lol.