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electrical trouble, wont start

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Old 05-02-2011 | 12:22 PM
  #16  
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From: hesperia ca.
was the blown fuse wire a white fuse link wire, they might have cut out the traceable color, youll also have a dk blue link, an orange link, my scehematic shows 2 blue wires at the solenoid for the fuel pump, is this correct? my 1990 only has 1 wire, just trying to isolate the area of failure, you also said there is some power wiring to the trailer plug, inside the trailer connector, wire for the charge trailer battery will come loose from heating/expanding/contracting, that can short to chassis or ground wire internally, remove plug from socket for wire inspection, also check front to back along frame for wire damage, these added circuits are vulnerable to damage because of exposure.
Old 05-02-2011 | 04:07 PM
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From: victoria bc
The fuse that blew is a fuse holder that is yellow. On the side that splits off into 4, there are 2 grey and 2 red. The other side of blown fuse turns to a thicker red wire that either goes through the fire wall or accros to the other side. And ya I have two blues on my solenoid one dark one light
Old 05-02-2011 | 09:51 PM
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Originally Posted by grim
No my jump is a wire straight. From the batt to the solenoid terminal on the back of the ip.
So far I can't see how the fuse that keeps blowing is related to the shutdown solenoid. Previous owner done some weird trailer additions. And as far as I've traced so far, the side of the blown fuse that still has power with key on, goes to a trailer plug and headlights

Which side ofthe fuse would my short be on?
The short is somewhere downstream of the fuse. In other words, the power starts at the battery, then travels to the fuse, then travels to all the components that are powered by that circuit, such as the shutoff solenoid. The short can be anywhere after the fuse. The problem is that you are now powering that whole circuit through the wire you added. The intermittent short is still there, and there is no fuse to protect your wiring next time the short happens.
Hope this makes sense, it's hard to describe it clearly over a computer.
Old 05-02-2011 | 09:52 PM
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From: hesperia ca.
it sounds like the fuse holder was added, im not seeing any color combos with the fuselinks, that are relative, im looking at the dk/blue feeds for ignition on power to asd, intake man heater, wot cutout, ac cycling sw., fuel heater, fss, ksb and thermo sw., electronic vacuum sw., and od lockout sol. is your trailer wiring added to this fused circuit?
Old 05-03-2011 | 08:25 AM
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From: hesperia ca.
all of these blue wire ignition feeds need to be set aside till you isolate the problem to them, im always finding added electric circuits failing from lacking insulation, and loos connections, you need to eliminate the obvious potential failure areas, before you dig into isolating components in the original circuit. ill help walk you through the elimination process, youll need a cheap test light to plug in to the fuse holder.
Old 05-04-2011 | 04:31 PM
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Thanx that's exactly what I wanted to know. Now I will focus on the non battery side of the fuse to find the short.

Yes I do believe my trailer lights or possibly trailer brakes were added to this circuit. But they are in the battery side of the fuse. Could they still be the problem?

I would very much appreciate the walkthrough. I have a test light and multimeter.

Also yesterday, I tried to put a fuse in for the hell of it and it worked. So is finding the short still even possible since it disappeared for now?
I was kinda hoping it stayed so I could find it and fix it cause now it's gonna come back
Old 05-04-2011 | 06:54 PM
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From: Bridgewater, Maine
Originally Posted by grim

Yes I do believe my trailer lights or possibly trailer brakes were added to this circuit. But they are in the battery side of the fuse. Could they still be the problem?
If they are on the battery side of the fuse then they are not the problem with your blown fuse. If the added trailer stuff does not have a fuse between the battery and the wire that goes to the back of the truck then you should add one. before it becomes a problem

Originally Posted by grim

Also yesterday, I tried to put a fuse in for the hell of it and it worked. So is finding the short still even possible since it disappeared for now?
I was kinda hoping it stayed so I could find it and fix it cause now it's gonna come back
Yeah that makes in much harder, what size fuse was in the holder to start with? I had this same thing happen to me several years ago and thats when my truck got the fuse holder in place of the fuseable link. I lost half the electronics in the cab, it was powered from one of the relays on the fender

One thing to check is how that added fuse holder is tied into the wires, make sure that its into an actual wire not a piece of the old fuseable link. pull on the fuseable links in there to make sure they are all good and not burnt up. If you have a bad connection there it could be your problem.

If the truck is back to running fine then put the regular wire back the fuel shutdown solenoid and start the truck. then move that harness all around to see if you have a loose connection there somewhere around the fuse holder and relays, if the truck dies then it could be there. Thats how I found mine, If I bent the harness just right it would start and run.



Also if the truck dies again, then remove the original wire from the fuel shutdown solenoid and run a jumper directly to it then you are fine. You are correct that if you have just the jumper going to the solenoid that it will not back feed and you can keep moving.

Thats about all I can think of, If my harness was still in my truck then i would go take a photo to show what I did but the entire harness is in a pile on the floor so thats not much help.
Old 05-08-2011 | 02:41 PM
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From: victoria bc
Hey sooty, still up for that walkthrough?
Old 05-08-2011 | 06:24 PM
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From: hesperia ca.
always, just need patients, did you disect anything?
Old 05-08-2011 | 07:46 PM
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From: Malakoff, TX
For sure you need to isolate the fuel solinoid. Far a temporary repair put a switch in the wire you are heating it with and you can turn it on to go and off to kill the motor, But you need to unplug the original plug until you isolate the short. Sounds more like a main line feeding the fuse panel since you have no dash lights. The trailer plugs do have a rep for shorting out things though. There is usually a line directly to the plug from the battery for auxillary voltage that will blow those fusible links. But at least on these 1st gens you can drive them home with no power at all as long as you can crank it. I have simply pulled the arm up on the fuel solinoid with a wire and got a push start and ran 500 miles to get one home. Just left it idle while I fueled up and didn't lay over anywhere. Got home to find the solinoid was shot. But electrics can drive you crazy some times. Especially if they are intermittent! Good Luck!
Old 05-10-2011 | 09:43 AM
  #26  
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From: victoria bc
ive just been tracing wires so far. Did a bunch of tests with the test light and was mixed results. and thats when i noticed that it would hold a fuse again
Old 05-10-2011 | 08:19 PM
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From: hesperia ca.
you sure about the trailer feeds? some times wiggling the wire will cause a reshort.
Old 05-10-2011 | 10:12 PM
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yea i wiggled wires for about half an hour.couldnt find anything at all.
Old 05-11-2011 | 08:03 AM
  #29  
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From: hesperia ca.
intermittant shorts can take some time, if you have the circuit restored, carry the provisions to jump the pump, in case of failure. you have the trailer socket apart for loose wire inspection? after securing the wire, i wrap tape around the connector barrel to insulate from the base, a common problem area.
Old 05-12-2011 | 09:23 AM
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Not sure what you mean by carry the provision to jump the pump.

Took apart the trailer Plug. Wires all looked good. No amount of wiggling would cause a short. Re-wrapped the wires and pluginsides with tape.


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