1995 F-150 won't crank
I have a 1995 F-150 XLT with the 5.8l and E4OD. Bought it at an auction as a
recovered theft, so the ignition key lock cylinder was punched out. The rest of
the column looked okay, so I put a new cylinder in it, but it won't crank.
However, if I put the key in the run position, I can jumpstart it with a
screwdriver across the starter solenoid (mounted on the passenger fender).
To see if the cylinder gear was mis-timed, I removed the ignition switch and
manually moved the switch, but it still wouldn't crank. So I replaced the
ignition switch, but still won't crank. Next I checked the starter solenoid
ground and applied 12v directly to the starter solenoid signal wire (using a
scrap piece of 12ga wire from battery positive directly to the signal post on
the solenoid) and it wouldn't crank, which means the solenoid was bad.
Replaced the starter solenoid, and now the truck will crank if I apply 12v to
the signal post on the solenoid, but the truck still won't crank from the key.
Battery is good, and the truck starts right up if I use a screwdriver on the
starter solenoid, which suggests my problem isn't the battery, starter, or
wiring between the battery, solenoid, and starter. I think that either i've got a
bad signal wire to the solenoid, or something in the steering column is still
messed up and the ECU isn't allowing the car to crank. From a logic
perspective, what conditions are required for the starter solenoid wire to get
12v and crank the engine? What tests do you suggest I try at this point?
Thanks!
I suspect the vehicle has some sort of anti-theft. Does the vehicle "ding" when you insert the key? Do you have a remote? The XLT probably has power door locks. Try entering the vehicle with the key, they cycle the door locks from lock to unlock, back to lock.
note the diagram for your starter. Make sure battery has a full charge and battery connections, all good, positive and negative. Do you have starter relay, under the hood, close to battery, has two large copper looking terminals? If so, you can use screwdriver shank across both those large terminals at the same time, the starter motor should crank the engine? If you try that, make sure transmission is in park or neutral and parking brake is set, vehicle can't move. If key is in the on position, dash lights on, the vehicle may start and run, depending on the problem. At the relay, there is a smaller terminal, that is ignition feed, comes from crank position of ignition switch, through neutral or clutch switch, depending on the transmission then to relay, the relay won't energize w/o that signal. Just my opinion. If you jumped starter solenoid and it started and ran, then the security sytsem, where applicable, isn't involved. good luck
just to add, you can put mouse arrow on diagram and click to enlarge.
Good news/bad news. I can start the truck with the key, sort of. Looks like I have a loose connection in the harness connector for the ignition switch. If I wiggle the wire bundle while I turn the key to the start position, the truck cranks and starts. Based on continuity testing of the switch, it looks like pin B4 supplies power for the STA pin when the switch is in the start position, so I'm going to start with B4 and STA pins. Thanks for the suggestions, and I'll keep you posted...
