How to go about testing the starter solenoid

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Buckin78

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I have a 78 that has been through two nutral saftey wiches and at lest two starter solenoids. Im getting nothing when turning the key but if i leave the key in the run position and bump the solenoid it fires right up. When turning the key I get nothing at all no clicks no nothing. I ve read that the NSS may not be adjusted right Ill try that tomorrow. Can i test the solenoid with a test light? Ive put it on and of course when the key is off I get nothing out of either terminal. But when the key is in the run pos I get power to the terminal closest two the fire wall. Its like the power comes in but doesnt get out. All help appreciated.

 

Broncobill78

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I have a 78 that has been through two nutral saftey wiches and at lest two starter solenoids. Im getting nothing when turning the key but if i leave the key in the run position and bump the solenoid it fires right up. When turning the key I get nothing at all no clicks no nothing. I ve read that the NSS may not be adjusted right Ill try that tomorrow. Can i test the solenoid with a test light? Ive put it on and of course when the key is off I get nothing out of either terminal. But when the key is in the run pos I get power to the terminal closest two the fire wall. Its like the power comes in but doesnt get out. All help appreciated.
I'm not sure if this qualifies as the kind of help you're looking for but gosh, a new solenoid costs about $6, why not just get a brand new one & be done with it ?

 
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Buckin78

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I'm not sure if this qualifies as the kind of help you're looking for but gosh, a new solenoid costs about $6, why not just get a brand new one & be done with it ?
Its not the cost its the frustraion I go through dealing with this same problem once every couple of years. It starts by replacing just the selonoid then the nuteral safety switch and then the ignition switch Im just trying to figure out if im getting bad parts from the auto parts store or if something is making something else fail.

 

Broncobill78

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Its not the cost its the frustraion I go through dealing with this same problem once every couple of years. It starts by replacing just the selonoid then the nuteral safety switch and then the ignition switch Im just trying to figure out if im getting bad parts from the auto parts store or if something is making something else fail.
Ok, that's understandable. Still though you can easily burn a *lot* more time tracking this down then you will just replacing the parts, especially if it's something that only pops up every few years. Having said that, I had some similar problems with a 79' and after a couple weeks of hair-pulling & dog-kicking I took a look at the main harness connector and the entire thing was green & crumbly (it's also worth checking them where they pass thru the firewall. Check that big cone-looking grommet thingie, mine was pretty bad when I finally peeled it open). You're dealing with an essentially 30yr old truck and if you're north of the Mason-Dixon the you're dealing with salt corrosion (even if you don't know it yet) and unless you know the actual history of the truck who's to say it didn't spend a decade or more in Michigan or somewhere else before getting to where-ever you bought it ?

 
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Buckin78

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Well I found it. Ill give just a little back ground I bought this bronco from the original owner when it had about 44,000 on it and as it turns out someone had stolen it from him and it was recovered after only a day. This fellow had then decided to put a **** switch in the bronco to deture any future thefts. As it turns out it was burried up in the dash and after years of radio swaps and parts replacing one of the leads going to it had rubbed into. Once I found this and cut the switch out and spliced a couple of wires bam instant start.

 

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