Hey guys , I've used the search and haven't quite seen what I'm dealing with directly. Several threads like it , but none answering my specific issue. Back story , I bought the old truck about 15 years ago from my then boss. Sold it back to him 11 years ago as a farm truck for his property. Just bought it back last week. It needs everything (maintenance wise) , and it had a cute little jumper wire stuck through the grill with a wire nut on it when I went to pick it up. It stopped starting , so he ran a hot through the grill off the battery and another lead to the hot side of the coil. When he needed to drive it , he would wire nut them together and presto. Penny tech solution , but not really for me.

I get it home (drove fine , no issues) , he replaced the coil thinking it had failed , to no avail. When I take the hot rod jerry rig jumper loose , it remains running , in fact , I started it without issue a half dozen times that day without a problem. It needed a battery , so I put a new quality battery in there. Now , when I go to start it , it just swings.......no catch. When I run a jumper (alligator clip) from hot battery side to hot side of coil , I hear something energizing under the hood , and it fires right off. I can leave the (less redneck) clip on for a couple minutes , and it will start fine the rest of the day (or at least for a few hours after being ran).

My Haynes manual covers 71-93 , and is either too vague , or I'm just not seeing the proper thing to look for that is failing or has failed. I'm not too bad around motors , but have a much better grasp of the Carburetor and the simple systems of yesteryear , than of the newer stuff. I would love someone in the know to help me get pointed in the right direction , So I can start it with just a key and move on to the next job on the old girl. For reference , everything on the truck is stock , No aftermarket modifications.

Any takers?

Thanks ,
Dan

 

i would be double checking for power at the relays on the drivers side fender. 1 of them should be the asd relay which controls power to the fuel pump, coil, injector and everything under the hood that needs power to run. worst case scenario if you can't find the issue you could always add a second relay to do the same job as the asd relay. it is not the best way to do it but it would be cleaner than having wires sticking thru the grille.

 

Thank you Crazzywolfie , I will do just that. Any insight as to why it needs "help" on its initial start up and then works fine afterwards?

 

maybe it has a bad relay or a bad connection or something. i really don't know. it seems like a pretty strange issue. just like anything tho you just test things 1 at a time and you will eventually track down the problem.

 

Wrong post

 

With fuel injection the pcm supplies power to most things.The asd relay will supply power(12V+) to the coil. Get a wiring diagram and go from there. What you will find in the Haynes or Chiltons is below. If you need more detail you need to get a factory manual.