1985 Ford F-150 Straight Six

I have been having a problem with my truck, I was driving down the interstate and it just died, no previous notice, no problems, nothing, I personally drive Dodge, I was raised around them and if anything goes wrong I can fix it, but when it comes to Ford I am lost, This truck was given to me as a gift from my mother for my birthday because I needed transportation, but anyway, the truck died, i have changed the ignition switch on the steering column, the ignition modulator on the distributor, and the solenoid, still nothing, the battery is fully charged, i can put a screwdriver to the posts on the solenoid and the truck will crank but it will not start no matter what i do, the rotor is about a month old, just put in the day before the truck was given to me 4 weeks ago. I have no power anywhere at all other than putting the screwdriver to the posts, the truck cranks, the rotor moves, the headlights will not turn on, the dome light will not come on, the cd player (ran directly through the fuse box) will not turn on, I bought a new ignition modulator, everyone I have asked says "oh its on the fenderwell" no its not, believe me, i have spent three days trying to find it to take it off to put the new one on, i read another thread here that says that year and model does not have the modulator im trying to find on the truck, just the one on the distributor, yet any auto parts store sells the part for that year and model truck, I am at a loss. IF this part does exist on this truck I need to know where it is, I am about to lose my job over this because this truck is my only way to and from work, if this part does not exist could someone possibly tell me what the problem is. And if you do know where or at least think you know where the modulator is, do NOT tell me its on the fenderwell, the firewall, or inside the truck under the glove compartment, I have had countless people tell me that in the past week and believe me it is not in any of those places.

Hi,

So you have no power anywhere at all, no headlights, dome lights, etc. even if you turn the ignition switch on nothing comes on?

The cable for the starter goes directly from the battery to the starter solenoid and usually do not pass through anything else on the way so it makes perfect sense that you would have power there.

Anyway, on to the problem...

Having no power anywhere is usually caused by a master fuse / fuse able link, OR the power feed coming off of the battery. Your battery should have at least two wires coming off of the POS or + terminal, the big fat one going to the starter and a smaller one that feeds power to the rest of the car.

The small one is what you need to focus on, check the battery to make sure that it is even still connected, a friend's car had so much corrosion on the + terminal that it ate through the wire causing it to fall off, his car, like your truck instantly went dead.

Assuming that it is still connected follow it from the battery to where ever it goes, check all the connections you may need to get a wiring diagram to figure out where it goes and if there are any fuses along they way that may have blown.

Somewhere along the way it is going split and go to the inside of the car, and also go to the B+ terminal on the alternator.

Good luck.

In 85 there were several different ignition systems available on the ford trucks. Yours should have either the Duraspark 11 or the TFI, being a 6 cyl its probably the TFI unless someones changed it. That would be the module that bolts directly to the distributor that you say you changed, it sends signals to the EEC module(computer) which controls timing. The Duraspark system used a module that was about 5" square and 1 1/2 " thick, it mounted to the fenderwell. Thats probably the module everyones telling you you have that you dont. If you have a module on the distributor, thats the only one you have, the wiring from it goes directly to the EEc.
The power for chassis electrical and all accessories should come from the battery side of the solenoid. You should have a battery cable going to one side, and several smaller cables(probably 10 gauge) attached to the same post. These are the power cables for the chassis electrical, and they should be fusible links. Make sure you reattached them when you changed the solenoid, and trace those wires and see where you lose power.

Ok as of today I have checked all wiring, everything was connected, there are no loose wires, everything is where its supposed to be, I put a new ignition coil in, and still nothing, still no power anywhere, i cut the battery cables and reconnected them ( ALOT of corrosion) but still nothing, i somehow ended up with a haynes manual today which has the wiring diagrams, but none of it really helps me, the cables going into the truck that SHOULD be from the solenoid dont exist where they should, EVERYTHING is rigged all to hell and back, they are wired directly to the battery cables, was like that when i got it, like i said it was given to me not bought or i wouldnt have it anyway, it ran fine when i got it, the rigged wiring had no effect, it worked, but come to find out my sister was driving it the day before it "just died" and didnt bother to tell me she had had a problem with it, she was about a half mile from the house and it did the same thing to her, she waited about ten minutes (wiggling wires on the solenoid thinking that werent connected well) and it started right back up, drove around the rest of the night with no problems, the next day i made it 10 miles and it died and hasnt started since. i was told "that sounds like an ignition module failure, you need to get a new one" but i already replaced it and it doesnt start still.

Ok Jeff, but even if the wiring has been rigged and it was running and you had power, youve lost power for some reason and the new ignition module cant work if its not getting power. Trace the wires that were providing power for the cab and see where your losing it. Check your grounds and make sure you have a good ground to the frame and chassis. You obviously have a ground to the engine if the starter will turn but if thats isolated from the frame/chassis, youll have no cab power. If the grounds are ok, you can get by temporarily by running some jumper wires to the fuse panel.

Ignition components have nothing to do with you not having power anywhere, that is going to be an electrical problem with a wire somewhere, even without the key in the ignition you should still be able to turn the headlights on and make the brake lights come on if you step on the brakes (and have your dome light come on as well when you open the door).

Take another look at that wiring diagram, find the headlights, follow the wiring backwards through the circuit, eventually you will come to a place where the wiring splits off and goes over to the ignition switch and then back to the starter solenoid, the wire that goes back to the starter solenoid is the wire you need to investigate.

Quote:" Ignition components have nothing to do with you not having power anywhere, that is going to be an electrical problem with a wire somewhere, even without the key in the ignition you should still be able to turn the headlights on and make the brake lights come on if you step on the brakes (and have your dome light come on as well when you open the door)." Quote

Torch , you need to go back and reread the posts, especially his first one. What is power if it is not electricity in the context of this thread. You can stick all the keys in the ignition you want, if you have no power(electricity ) going to the cab, nothings going to work

quote: "I have no power anywhere at all other than putting the screwdriver to the posts, the truck cranks, the rotor moves, the headlights will not turn on, the dome light will not come on, the cd player (ran directly through the fuse box) will not turn on,..." quote:


If he has no power (electricity) anywhere, no headlights, nothing....the ignition cannot work, because ignition DOES have something to do with not having any power(electricity, it wont work without it. He has already said in a previous post that the power wire(electrical wire) that should come from the solenoid isnt there and the wires have been rigged. We`ve already established that he needs to trace the wires that are there and find where he is losing power(electricity)

Thanks for your help everyone, really, but nothing helped, I have decided I'm tired of it and the only thing left to do is say to hell with it and sell it, anyone live in GA and want to buy it? Kidding, I dont think any of you would want it anyway. I went and changed almost everything now and its still has nothing, new distributor and rotor, new ignition coil, new pick-up coil, new ignition switch, new solenoid, only other thing I can think is to change the ignition cylinder and i dont think that would help considering on this specific model the steering wheel has to come out for that, I dont have the tools, time, money, or patience for this truck anymore, if I have to do anything else to it and it still doesn't work I will end up with a car-becue in my front yard. lol. anyone want to come? I'll supply hot dogs and marshmallows if you supply the beer.

Sorry we couldn't have been more help, good luck with whatever you end up doing with it.

I dont know if its the same one but we had trouble with the switch on an 87 f150 and the switch itself is purley mechanical, but theres a small box under the steering column the switch has a rod that runs down to it and connects ,but we had a different problem it was stuck on, turning the starter if you have no fire whatsoever that is a main wire or main relay switch burned up