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  1. #1

    Default Hail Mary (No Power)

    Hey guys, just picked up an 84 last night. Buckle up for some stupid questions and please go easy on me.
    The original owner passed away. Its a 5.0 swap and also a Manual to Auto swap. The steering column is Toast. The original owner died while in possession of the keys so his son in law drilled out the ignition lock cylinder and screwed up the housing. I hooked up a battery to it from my 4.6 GT (so I know its a good battery) and im getting no power what so ever to the car from the battery. Meter on the battery reads 12V, Battery to a stud on the car reads 6V. Please forgive my ignorance in all of this but where do I start? Id assume with the battery connected id at least get a buzz in the car and some lights on. would the column being messed up cause me to have no power at all? Should I check the ground? I looked in the fuse box on the left side of the steering wheel and I didnt see anything blown. is there another set of fuses somewhere besides that? I appreciate the help.

  2. #2

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    Hopefully someone close to you is a member and can come over and assist. No way to diagnose this on the internet.
    Liberty once lost is lost forever.

    John Adams
    July 7, 1775

  3. #3

    Default

    So the previous owner said theyd start it by using a screw driver on the start solenoid and touch a wire on the ignition switch. Hopefully someone can educate me...It is my understanding that most the accessories are powered by 12V from the fuse box. The fuse box is powered by a wire connecting to the solenoid coming off the battery. I may be wrong thats why im asking. Could the "no power" issue be because they fried the solenoid by basically hot wiring the car? (I have the title and everything so its not stolen). I know its hard to diagnose through the internet, im just trying to get a feel for things

  4. #4

  5. #5
    FEP Power Member
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    Sounds like you are missing a ground wire. The starter engages by the red wire on the right side of the drawing. Jumping with a screw driver from the hot side of the solenoid to the small post next to it will engage the starter. It will not put power to the coil like turning the key on. That part may still work.
    Fox Body/3rd Gen MCA Gold Card Judge
    84 SVO 24K miles, 85 Mclaren Capri Vert. 84 GT Turbo Vert.
    88 Mclaren Mustang Vert 20K miles, 89 Mustang LX Sport Vert,
    03 Mach 1 7900 miles, 74 Mustang II, 69 Mustang, 67 Mustang, 07 GT500,
    14 Mustang CS/GT, 15 F150 FTX Tuscany, 16 F250 Crewcab, 67 Tbird 47K miles

  6. #6

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    You can take a pair of regular metal pliers (obviously ones that don't have rubber grips) and open them and touch one handle on one solenoid post and touch the other to the other post on the other side and the starter should engage and the car will start. We used to do that when doing carb tuning all the time. We were lazy and it was easier and cleaner then getting in the car all hot and greasy and starting it properly. Keep in mind, you need to have the car in neutral, not be in front of it, it should not be in gear etc. Yes, there will be some sparking and it will likely leave a small black circle on the pliers but that will bypass the ignition switch. That is literally how easy these cars are to steal.
    Liberty once lost is lost forever.

    John Adams
    July 7, 1775

  7. #7

    Default

    You guys are awesome! Thank you for the legit responses. Just a quick update, I jumped the two post and the car turned over. Not getting spark or fuel though. I need to figure out how to get the fuse box to power up I guess to get that stuff to work?

  8. #8

  9. #9

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by CharlieT View Post
    Mines Carb, is it almost the same minus the injector stuff?
    That would be my guess.
    You should check the schematics to be sure.
    The good/bad thing is that there's not much in the Fox ignition system. As mentioned above, there's no security. If I park somewhere for any length of time, I just yank the distributor to coil wire, and throw it under the rear seat. Having a kill switch is also a good idea.

    Thankfully, at work, I don't worry about the car being stolen. Tons of cameras, active badges required for the closed area, armed security personal at area entrance/exit, armed patrols, plate readers, many cameras looking at the driver as they enter/exit the closed area, etc, etc.
    Yea, they take the security of my '86 Mustang very seriously! Well, there may be other reasons also.

    Try the following for a direct link to the '84 schematics.
    https://web.archive.org/web/20160311...m/pdf/1984.pdf


    Fwiw, I very strongly suggest that you grab the sole '84 EVTM (Electrical & Vaccum Troubleshooting Manual) on ebay while you can, before the cost goes to $100++ for just that one manual. Factory manuals are very good to have, when trying to fix or troubleshoot something.

    https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?&_nk...+EVTM&_sacat=0


    Good Luck.
    Last edited by stangPlus2Birds; 05-03-2021 at 03:24 AM.

  10. #10
    FEP Senior Member
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    May 2016
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    Check for a blown fusible link wire coming from the starter solenoid to inside the car. There are a couple of them.

  11. #11

    Default

    Ive got one on the way hopefully!! I got the schematic as well from the link you shared. Thank you. From what I gather the yellow wire coming out of my ignition switch is the be all end all for power distribution. That should be going to the solenoid and when I turn the key it allows power to goto the fuse panel....I hope my assumption is correct, thats how im reading these schematics. Does that book go into better detail or is it basically the same schematics? Thank you again for your help brother.

  12. #12

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by dynodon64 View Post
    Check for a blown fusible link wire coming from the starter solenoid to inside the car. There are a couple of them.
    Stupid question, how to I know if one is blown? Also a lot of the wires are hacked in this car. The guy swapped in a different motor and a different transmission. I seen a fusible link with the wire cut lol

  13. #13
    FEP Senior Member
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    May 2016
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    If the fusible link is blown, the wire will pull apart just like a broken one. Just tug on them to see if it's burnt.

  14. #14

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    Quote Originally Posted by CharlieT View Post
    Ive got one on the way hopefully!! I got the schematic as well from the link you shared. Thank you. From what I gather the yellow wire coming out of my ignition switch is the be all end all for power distribution. That should be going to the solenoid and when I turn the key it allows power to goto the fuse panel....I hope my assumption is correct, thats how im reading these schematics. Does that book go into better detail or is it basically the same schematics? Thank you again for your help brother.
    On my car, the single yellow wire comes from the always hot side of the starter solenoid, goes through the firewall, and then splits into 2 and then eventually 3 yellow wires. 1 of the yellow wires goes to the fuse box to power the “battery hot” circuits like headlights, brake lights, hazards, etc, circuits that operate without the key.
    The other 2 yellow wires goes to the ignition switch to operate those circuits such as blinkers, wipers, ignition, etc that only operate with the key in start/run, and also in the accy position.

    So you are correct that 12v+ power comes from the starter solenoid, and it does go to the ignition switch, and it does go to the fuse box. If you are getting power on all of the yellow 12v wires, then that is good.

    On my car, their seems to be a wire going from the ignition switch to the coil. It is a brown/pink wire coming out from the ignition switch, that turns into a red/light green wire at the coil.
    79 Zephyr, 4.6L 4v/4r70w swap, with team z front and rear suspension, 8.8 and upgraded brakes and coil overs. Running Holley Terminator X Max.

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