New member + old truck + dead cylinder

I think that's natural. Why I kinda miss having @BubbaW around, I felt like he had a knack for reading EWDs and for figuring out which connector was the right one.

 

So I’m just poking around with the multimeter again. The only leg of the starter relay that has connectivity to the starter, is also grounded….
So as it’s sitting now…. No.3 on the relay is both grounded, and trying to send 12v to the relay….
I really really don’t want to start unwrapping the entire loom, but I just can’t wrap my head around why that is…

 

Hang on a sec…. The plug for the trigger wire on the starter itself is grounded.

 

So…. Is this supposed to happen?
I pulled it out just to satisfy myself, and the plug for the trigger wire is still grounding to the body of the starter…

 

So I just double checked and the starter DOES work hooked right up to a battery.
Maybe I’m just thinking a little too much into that…

 

Sorry for firing off the posts one after another…
I’m pretty much out of time in the garage tonight anyway…

But I just rechecked all the contacts at the starter solenoid, since I couldn’t quite remember what was going on there.

Leg 3 goes to the starter, and is also showing some resistance to ground.
Legs 1, 2 and 4 are all hot with the key in the start position.
So…. Tomorrow I’m just gonna start tracing wires back through the loom as far as I can, and hopefully find some stripped wires shorting against each other.
I really can’t imagine what else would cause it

If I'm reading this properly, 1 and 5 should be switched 12v, 3 should go to the starter, and 2 should just be ground.

 

what is that chewed up wire in the photo?

 

Thats the trigger wire for the starter. I broke the old plug and just stuck the one from the 4x4 harness on for now. It'll get cleaned up and wrapped with heat shrink before the intake goes back on

 

check that its got good continuity to the leg on the relay.

 

It does. I wish it would be that simple...

 

I feel like this is the most suspenseful post I've read in a while lol.

 

Impressive work OP. Question, if you remove the starter relay from the truck can you get it to click? Are any of the pins labeled?

 

Yes, with the key in START, you should have power at pins 1 and 5.
1 is your main power to the starter (though the switched/high load side of the relay) and 5 is the coil power to activate the relay.
2 is, like you said, ground for the relay coil to complete the circuit to turn on the relay.
3 is the power out of the relay to the starter.

I would start by checking continuity from pin to pin on each individual leg.
For example, Pin 8 on I23 at the ignition switch to leg 1 of the 5A ST2 fuse.
Also Pin 8 on I23 to leg 5 on the starter relay.
Leg 2 of the 5A ST2 fuse to leg 1 on the starter relay
Leg 2 of the starter relay to the chassis
Leg 3 of the starter relay to pin 3 on connector 1L(?)

While checking those, you can also check adjacent connectors to ensure you aren’t seeing low resistance, but that is likely a needle in a haystack.

I don’t really know much about the Gen 1’s, but I always start with confirming continuity from point to point in the shortest/most direct paths possible. Looks like a hell of a project!

 

@kirbotc watch this, I just linked for another user having starter issues. Pay special attention when he gets to the in-engine-bay fuse/relay box.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jWouSQYTnU

 

OK, I'll have another update tomorrow, but right now I just need you all to put yourself in my shoes for a second.
Follow along with me, on this grand adventure for a moment....

A few months have gone by since any real progress. Work/life got in the way, plus I was just fed up with it.

So tonight, I go out to the garage after dinner. Wiring diagram in hand, to start tracing every wire back from the relay.
It's late, I'm tired, but I need to put at least a little time into it.

Between some finesse, and brute force, I yank the fuse block free from it's plastic housing so I can see every wire at the relay.
I start with the ground. Spot that it's pink, with silver bands. It's heading towards the firewall.

So I'm inside the truck, peering up at towards that fuse block, I spot the pink/silver wire going into a large plug with about 25 other wires. And while I'm looking.... I see another, empty plug.
Small... Just dangling there. And I think, wow, that looks really similar to the plug I just posted about. The one that was just dangling there, after yanking out the alarm.

So I get both ends of the plug together. I feel like I'm in Back to the Future, about to plug the freaking DeLorean into Big Ben or whatever the hell that clock tower was. You know, that one scene in all the lightning. I'm pretty sure the Doc gets all blown to hell, but everybody survives, they travel through time again and everybody lives happily ever after until the next movie.

The fit together. Alright.
So I go check ground at the starter relay. Suddenly, I'm getting ground at the relay.
I feel a wash of relief, combined with embarrassment. Here I was, two days prior on facebook marketplace, considering just starting all the hell over with another truck.
And it was one, tiny little plug the whole time. One little plug, kicking my ass. Could I swap a motor? Sure. Could I plug one little wire in under the dash? Nope, that's too complicated for me!

I run inside to grab the GF and have her turn the key while I'm checking for power at the starter, for the 30th time.
We get back out to the garage and I notice my propane heater getting dim.

She turns the key.
The fan blows cold, as the heater dies out completely.

Nothing happens. The relay doesn't click. No power at the starter.

I start to shiver.


I wish I had some beer in the fridge.

 

About now is when I’d find I’d left the battery disconnected, the shifter in gear, or some other simple and seemingly obvious thing disconnected / apart.

You got one of the tough puzzle pieces fit in place! You’ll get it.

 

LOL!

Good visual. But yo - PROGRESS. First three letters are PRO. You got this bro.

 

Forget the beer, sounds like you need a rusty nail !!!!!

 

And a rusty trombone!!

 

This is disheartening. you'll get it. keep at it!

 

Hey @kirbotc you've left us hanging for almost half a year waiting on an update, what's the status!?