Electrical system is dying!!

Hi, everyone. It has been a while, i have been really busy lately but now i have a problem. My wiring harness is dying quickly. About 2 weeks ago, i took about a 2 hour round trip in my bronco. on the way back with only bout 15 minutes i stopped at a store. when i returned the vehicle wouldnt start. after some quick troubleshooting, i assumed that the problem was the solenoid and skipped the connection with jumper cables and the truck started right up. i drove straight to napa and picked up a new solenoid only to figure out that it wasnt the solenoid. i started testing the voltage and found that there was no voltage coming from the small activation wire when the key was in the start position. i replaced the end to no avail. i then replaced the switch that controls all of the key functions. this is located under the dash near the steering column and the different positions are activated by a linkage that runs from the key to the switch. this also didnt give any results. all of the accesory positons still worked. i went to wal-mart and got a push button starter and installed it, connecting it to a ignition-on 12v source in the fuse box. and ran a new wire to the starter solenoid. the truck starts fine now. two days later, both backup lights went out simltaneouly. now today, my blinkers stopped working but the emergency flashers still do. my question is, has the wiring in the harness stopped working like this for anyone else. could i have a short somewhere, and also i think i heard that f-150/broncos were prone to this kind of failure and possibly fire caused by this and the was a recall issued but i can find any informaiton on this. Does this recall exist or does anyone have any suggestions on fixing these problems? thanks

The only thing I can find that is common to both the backup lights and turn signals is C1002 on the rear cross member. If you have a trailer hitch attachment plug, it is inserted in the path. This is a common area for problems since these connectors are exposed to high moisture and generally not maintained. The wires often corrode and even break off. Pull it apart and give a good tug on the wires, if they seem good, clean the contacts and seal with dialectric grease to keep moisture out. If that doesn't clear it up, get a meter and do a little probing to see if you have 12V when in reverse and the ignition switch in run that would be on a black with pink stripe wire. The hazard flasher and turn signals use a common path to the lights from the column so I wouldn't suspect it. Tha hazard flasher is also powered from a different fuse.

The other common thing is Fuse 5and it's lead to the backup lamps and turn flasher. In between that are a lot of other connectors, but not common to both functions.

Did you happen to lose your heater blower with the other functions? If not, then voltage is good thru the column switch to the fuse block.

Good luck,

>-

Could be the neutral start safety switch is going bad or out of adjustment. Not sure where newer Bronco's switch is, but on the C-6, it is located on the tranny, drivers side. As for the other items going hay-wire, with your temp starter switch in, you may have overheated some wires and they are either shorting out or the connector may have over heated and melted. Get 12 volt test light and start working your way back to the lights checking to see where you loose the power. Then go from there with your troubleshooting.

PS, just consider that you may just be having a run of electrical bad luck and that none of these problems are actually related. I would troubleshoot each as a seperte problem.

Good luck,

>-

thanks for all of the advice. i have already bypassed the neutral safety swich kuz i needed the truck to start. i do have a trailer harness that was replaced about 2 months ago. the old one was a victim of mudbogging but i trimmed the wires and inspected them and they looked good. the ac fan does work, for now, but i am gonna try to do some touble shooting this week.

I would fix the neutral safety switch problem. With it bypassed, the truck could be accidently started in any gear.