Ignition Issues

[civilsteve]

For the last couple of months my truck has had varying degrees of issues starting. Occasionally, I will turn the key and nothing happens (or a faint clicking sound). I have pretty much always been able to get it started by jumping across the solenoid, but I'd like to find a more permanent solution. The begin with, it was inconsistent. It would start fine most of the time, but every once in a while I'd get nothing from turning the key. Unfortunately, it is now getting more consistent by not starting. Do you guys have any ideas of how to diagnose this?

[fordman]

if you are jumping the relay. that is bypassing the ignition switch sort of. so a guess would be a bad switch. does the truck ever shut off by itself? just die for no reason? that would be a bad ignition switch for sure. combined with the hard to start issues. the next time it does it you can wiggle the switch to see if it starts doing that. if it works then the switch is bad for sure.

[civilsteve]

It has never shut off by itself. Once it starts up its fine.

Is there an easy way to test the ignition switch? Is it worth it or should I just get a new one?

Thanks!

[fordman]

1969 trucks had two different wiring connectors for the switches. the bullet type switch and the blade type switch. anyway you can take and make sure the connector to the switch is not loose. this happens more on the bullet type switches i think than the blade type switches. however if that is the problem and it is loose because the plug terminals are spread you can unspread them to make them tighter. you will just have to look at the plug and terminals to see if that is a problem. it could be that only one terminal is loose and not al of them too. you can check that. i thinkthe only way to easily test the switch is to wiggle the key so the switch moves around a little and see if that makes it start. if it does it could be a dirty connector inside of the switch. that is about as far as i would go right now. however one more thing i just thought of. when the truck wont start. you can test the wire coming to and going out of the switch to see if it is getting and or passing power through the switch. since i have many switches around what i do is grab another switch and use that to test if the old one is bad. by using it to start the truck. without alot of tech stuff to tell you which wires are which i think i would just replace the switch. you can look up the wiring diagrams on the site to trac the correct wires if you want. http://www.fordification.com/tech/wirin ... rging2.jpg

duh. i almost forgot until i looked at the diagram. when this happens again grab the shift on the column and pull it towards the drivers side. then start the truck. if that works then the neutral safety switch is out of adjustment.

[civilsteve]

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll definitely try these things out and report back here.

[civilsteve]

Between wiggling the key around and pulling on the gear shift, I am able to get it started now every time. I still want to take out the ignition switch to see what it looks like, but since it is raining today I'll let that wait until another time.

So is there something that I should do to fix the neutral safety switch, or is it realigned when I pull it over?

Again, thanks for your help.

[fordman]

if it is the nss that needs adjusted. it is located on the bottom of the column inside of the cab. it is held in place with two 5/16 headed screws. you can loosen those two screws and slide the switch all the way over to the passneger side of the truck to get it right next to the tang that coems out of the column. the tang is hooked to the shift tube of the shifter on the column so when the shifter is moved it also moves the tang to activate the nss properly. dont pull it competely as tight as it will go and force it up against the tang though. that wil push it slightly past the correct spot and it wont work properly either. just push it out so it either touches or moves the nss all the way over. give it a try and you will see what im talking about.