Went to start after running perfectly and starter will not crank.. i tested the battery the battery is strong. i noticed the connections were dirty so i put on a new positive and negative post and cleaned up connections with wire brush very thoroughly.

tried to start still nothing.. this time with lights on tried to start - lights did not dim. i figured it was the solenoid so i by passed it and the starter cranks. so i tried to start it that way to move to a location to work on the solenoid. however it won't start..

now i test for spark at the spark plug there's no spark.. i put a multimeter + and - across the ignition coil to see if there's voltage with the ignition on and there's no voltage at the coil.. there's supposed to be voltage there right? so i'm thinking the ignition switch. but with the ignition on i can turn on the AC - if the switch is bad how would there be AC.... hmm

i did some research and read it could have to do with the neutral safety switch.. i seen that it was very dirty so i cleaned it up.. also take note that the reverse lights did not work and i believe they are part of the neutral safety switch.. since i don't want to dump money into this i tried to test it by hooking my meter to ground and went through all the connections (3 in total) that go to the 3 prongs of the Neutral Safety Switch on the transmission.. None read a voltage - no voltage to fire the switch.. so i'm thinking well the switch might not be the problem either..

What could this be? advice please..

 

The wire going to the center tab on the NSS has to be grounded in order to bypass it and test the starter. The two outside tabs are cold contacts for the reverse lights and have no connection at all to the center tab. Obviously you will only get continuity across the 2 outside tab when the shifter is in reverse. For the center tab, you will get continuity to ground only in park or neutral.

 

That's good advice but there's no voltage reading going into the sensor from any of the 3 wires including the center one... shouldn't there be a voltage when the ignition is on?

 

There will be voltage on one of the two outer wires with the key On and on the second outer wire ONLY when the shifter is in reverse. There will be voltage to ground on the center wire ONLY if the connector is NOT connected and the key is in the Start position.

 

didn't get any voltage out of any of the wires with it in park - ignition on - and unplugged (no helper to check start position).. not sure what to do here next.. i don't have a book, i ordered one but don't know when it will get here.. i am pretty much stranded in a rural area.

 

i got it started but i have no idea what i did.. it still isn't fixed..

i was in the fuse box and decided to bypass the fuses with a jumper wire but being tired i accidentally jumped 1 fuse to another and the ignition light up so i decided to try and start it and it started perfectly. It was having trouble staring before too..

so is the fuse box bad?

What should i do here guys. please my health isn't good i have to build up the energy to work on this..

 

You probably have a burnt fusible link and by jumping the fuses like that you temporarily powered up a dead circuit.

 

Would you know where these are located on my 86 Van by any chance? i have no idea what they look like or are located.. i can look on autozone to get an idea of what they look like but chances of finding on the internet where it's are pretty slim. i ordered a book on the van but book delivery could take over a week.

edit
also many of the fuse slots in the fuse box did not have power with ignition on.. there no labeling on the fuse box either lid is missing. i tried to find that online / fuse box labels / diagram to no success for 86'

oh and thanks for helping be thusfar

 

They're built into the wiring harness and are located up around the brake booster under the hood.