94 Bronco starter replacement

Hey gang-

Had a starter in my 94 Bronco that had a "dead spot" in it. Every once in a while I'd turn the key over and it would just "click" and that was it. So I bought a new starter and put it in, and now when I turn the key I don't even get a click...nothing! Thinking it must be the solenoid, I did the old "jump the terminals" trick, and it started right up. So, down to AutoZone I go and retrieve a new solenoid, and when I put THAT in, same story, no click, no nothing. ***? What am I missing? I've built cars from the ground up, but am apparently too much of a mental midget to replace a f#@^&*g starter? Help me out! Thanks alot.

is that a one wire starter? Is the wire really tightened down? Maybe you put the wires on the solenoid wrong. There are tons od "did I" questions you can ask yourself.

firelt90bronco said:

is that a one wire starter? Is the wire really tightened down? Maybe you put the wires on the solenoid wrong. There are tons od "did I" questions you can ask yourself.

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I guess it's a two wire type, the mini style gear reduction. Another thing I found is that the little push on wire that goes to the fender solenoid is not "hot" when I turn the key, and I think it should be. Does any body know where the power for that wire comes from?

Did you get the solenoid from Napa? Their hot to the starter is the bottom plug, not the top.

firelt90bronco said:

Did you get the solenoid from Napa? Their hot to the starter is the bottom plug, not the top.

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No, I got it from AutoZone, and I did try switching it to the bottom post. My understanding is that the wire should be "hot" even when it's unhooked from the solenoid and the key is turned to the start position. My wire is not hot when the key is turned to on. Do you think it could still be a bad starter?

buckinfronco said:

No, I got it from AutoZone, and I did try switching it to the bottom post. My understanding is that the wire should be "hot" even when it's unhooked from the solenoid and the key is turned to the start position. My wire is not hot when the key is turned to on. Do you think it could still be a bad starter?

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Do you still have the old solenoid? Try putting that back on or try pulling the starter out and doing a bench test. Get a remote starter tool. Good luck dude >-

it could be something wrong in the ignistion system i had that problem in my 88 bronco

broncolover said:

it could be something wrong in the ignistion system i had that problem in my 88 bronco

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Why would it start after the replacement of the starter? Its starter and solenoid related.

Heres the way my 95 is 94 should be the same but could be different . There are 2 ways ford did this I dont know why think a couple of engineers got in a ******* contest or something . Way #1 positive cable from battery goes to 3/8 stud on starter solenoid mounted on the fenderwell ( doesnt matter what side normally the first one it gets too ) from the other side ( 3/8 stud ) the positive wire goes down to the starter stud ( old style starter no gear reduction 1 connecting post early ones 5/16 stud later ones 6 mm bolt ) now you go back up to the solenoid some have 2 little post some only 1 theres letter by them cant remember at the moment what they are an I and an S maybe , Anyway if it has one you put 12 volts to that post and the solenoid will pull in or click , heres the important part AS LONG AS IT HAS A GOOD CONNECTION FROM THE MOUNTING BRACKET TO THE FENDERWELL . This is where it gets its negative from so if you take a solenoid and touch the bracket to the negative post on battery and run a wire from the positive side to the little post it will pull in or click . The ones with 2 post the extra post was for the old point system ignitions they wanted the coil to get a full 12 v for starting then after that the power came from a ballast resistor that dropped the voltage to like 6 v or so . So in order to supply the coil with 12 volts while cranking this extra post on the solenoid has 12 volts coming from it while the solenoid is pulled in and they would run this wire to the coil for the extra voltage while cranking pretty sure this was the I terminal , Anyway you dont need that one . Now you say that you get no click and that you have no 12 volts at that little wire for the solenoid so what you can do to verify that your all good from battey to starter is to make a jumper wire and go from the battery positive to that little post on the solenoid if all is good it will pull in and the motor will begin to turn over UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES DO YOU EVER WANT TO JUMP ACROSS THE BIG TERMINALS ON THE SOLENOID WITH A SMALL PIECE OF WIRE , It will positively begin to glow red hot and burn the shit out of you . Now if putting 12 volts to that little post makes it crank over then you have to figure out why you dont have power on that little wire I think its red with a white stripe . That wires goes from the solenoid to the neutral safety switch on the transmission and then from there to the cranking position of the ignition switch . Try turning the key on and move the gear selector from park to 1st and then back up and see if it cranks then , If not you will need to look for the neutral safety switch and unplug it then have someone hold the key in crank position and check for 12 volts on one red with white stripe wire if you have it there plug it back in and check the other wire if no 12 there then the safety switch is bad around $50 for a C6 and good luck with an AOD or E4OD there internal . Now the other way they did these is the same as all this but with the gear reduction starters there is another solenoid monted directly to the starter and it has its own little wire going to it although they come from the same place and I have no idea why they didnt do away with the one on the fenderwell when they went to this so now you could have the one on the fender clicking away but not have the one on the starter pulling in to enguage the starter , Pretty much trouble shoot the same way , Has to be 12 volts at both little wires when key is in the crank postition . Hope that helps you understand whats going on and how it works /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

buckinfronco said:

I guess it's a two wire type, the mini style gear reduction. Another thing I found is that the little push on wire that goes to the fender solenoid is not "hot" when I turn the key, and I think it should be. Does any body know where the power for that wire comes from?

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Couldn't have said it better than Blade262us. I was just typing that in when I noticed Blade beat me to it by a couple of seconds.

Good luck,

>-

Seabronc said:

Couldn't have said it better than Blade262us. I was just typing that in when I noticed Blade beat me to it by a couple of seconds.

Good luck,

>-

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All of you guys positively ROCK!!! I'm gonna try some of these ideas out today, and I'll let ya'll know the outcome. Thanks a million!

I got it working!!! After reading everyone's ideas, I crawled underneath the truck and grabbed ahold of the neutral safety on the side of the trans, and it was completely loose! I made sure the gear shift was exactly in "park", rotated the switch just a little bit counterclockwise, tightened it up jumped back inside and started it right up. What are the f#%*&ing odds that that switch would decide to loosen up exactly when my starter dies?!! :blink: I KNOW that wasn't the cause of my starter replacement either, because when I decided to change it, I was getting that solenoid "click" signifying power to it, and AFTER I changed it, no click. So thanks again to all who responded, 'cause I had NO idea what was causing that! I hope I get a chance to help one of you out someday! See ya