I can't figure it out. I have a 1979 F350 I've been working on and it has a problem. I have been wiring (and testing along the way), elec fans, MSD, temp switch, basically everything. Everything worked fine, so I thought I'd finished. Just checked the fans, they worked fine. Truck has started and ran before. Had wife just crank on it some(no fuel) to relieve valve spring pressure. Truck cranked fine the first time, but would not crank again. Pulled out voltmeter (figured batt low), batt only read 2.3. Unhooked neg cable (as have been), and batt read 11.7. Now neg cable sparks whenever trying to hook it back up. All cables and wire new, as well as starter and starter relay on fender, and Optima batt. Have a good ground, neg terminal cable goes to frame, then to engine, and then to a bolt through fender (large cable, like #0). Like I said, fans worked fine minutes before. If the starter was bad, the starter relay would isolate it when ign off. Could it be a bad "new" starter relay? Or a bad ign switch? I've wired before, and never a prob. Help.
I'm pretty sure it was a bad solenoid. All the terminals showed ground, and when I unhooked it the battery cable no longer sparked. I ordered a heavy duty, continuos duty Cole Hersee unit off Amazon, and will find out for sure when it arrives.
I have experienced similar problems if the starter solenoids is not making a good ground at the mounting bolts. Also Ford starter solenoids are notorious for sticking due to overheating. This is usually due to a weak battery or bad connection.
It was the starter solenoid. I replaced it with a continuos duty Cole Hersee unit. The only difference is you have to ground it. No problems. . . so far
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