I had the intermittent hard starting problem I've seen reference elsewhere in the Help! forum - but only after I smoked my solenoid troubleshooting it. I found that I could run the engine if I manually forced the fuel shot-off solenoid. I Ohmed out the relay and it checked ok. I then discovered the solenoid would open the shut-off valve if I manually closed the relay contacts. I had no 12-volt command to the relay. To limp the truck home, I wrapped a Ty-Rap aroung the exposed contacts of the relay and the truck ran fine on my short trip home, but when I popped the hood to shut off the engine, I had smoked the high $$ solenoid. Now I'm afraid to spend the money on a new solenoid because I don't understand why closing the relay smoked the solenoid - Isn't that the way it runs normally? Can someone answer my questions, fax me a wiring diagram, or reference me to a link that shows it????

 

You have one circuit that pulls it up when starting
and another circuit that holds it up when running.
I suspect you jumped the start circuit instead of the run circuit this
will burn it up in a matter of minites.

 

Sounds to me as if you have the poor connection of the "blue wire" syndrome.

Consider using a manual cable instead of replacing the fuel solenoid.

 

The blue wire is a cable coming off the driver's side battery. When I had fuel shutoff solenoid problems, it was the last thing I checked... I could have saved myself over $2000 in un-needed repairs.

Check yours to see if it has a blown fuse in it. A 40 cent fuse could be the difference between a lot of high dollar repairs.

 

Try the choke cable fix found here on the boards. For $11. at napa and a little work you've a bullet proof fix. I did mine about 18 months ago and it works sweet.
warden