1974 Travelall 4x4 starting issue

C

cowens88

New member
First off let me say I am a newb to travelalls. I bought a 1974 Travelall 4x4, 392, 4 speed stick after another shop buddy bought 1973 Travelall 2wd.. I drained the fuel tanks, new plugs, new battery and she fired right up first time after sitting for quite a while at a property. Exterior in excellent shape. Hardly any rust or cancer.

Since she was running good at idle I decided to see how it did going down the ally way. Once I got on the street and started to make a u turn... She died on me and would not start. In fact the starter was stuck on, even with the key off. Only way to turn off the motor was pull the battery terminals off.

1 month later of chasing this stuck on starter ignition, I tested everything I could test. Parts ive replaced: new starter solenoid, new ignition coil, new ignition switch, new ground wire, new alternator. I have 12.66 volts on the starter with the key on, and 10.2 volts at ignition coil!!!! Bad ground? I also noticed my r wire on the solenoid was missing. For the records, its a holly distributor "gold box".

I hate to just throw parts at it but everything so far is super inexpensive and all worth it. I think this is an electrical issue rather than a ignition issue.thanks
 
Your post is kind of rambling so I'm not sure what your questions are. Is the starter still staying on or did you get that fixed?

Do you still have a ballast resistor? That would explain the 10.2 volts.

The r terminal isn't used with a gold box.
 
Sorry for the ramble. Just trying to paint a better picture. Where is this ballast resistor located?. Would the Ford starter solenoid be worth a shot?
 
If I understand correctly your starter is stuck on. Remove the small wire from the s terminal and connect the battery. Does the starter still crank? If yes then replace the whole starter. If no then put a test light on the s wire, is it hot? If yes ignition switch is stuck on or there is a short somewhere. The s wire should only be hot with the ignition switch in the start position.
 
I will try and test it this weekend some further more. Now the ignition wire goes up to the switch located under the dash?
 
Yes to the switch, and the ballast resistor is usually on the firewall. It would be nice if you first tried google and google images before asking basic questions.

Next time you pull off the starter check the condition of the ring gear. Sometimes the starter gear gets jammed up with the ring gear and doesn't want to disengage due to chewed up teeth and/or misalignment. If it can't disengage it'll keep spinning until the battery is disconnected. Also, the starter is one part that you want to go with quality not a cheap house brand.
 
One first needs to know what terms to google. No one on earth was born with an encyclopedic knowledge of how these things tick. Learning is a never-ending process for the serious binderphile. This forum functions as a resource for folks just like the original poster with their basic questions. Certainly, forum searching and self education is encouraged as there is a vast amount of knowledge and discussion on a great variety of topics contained here. Many basic questions have already been asked and answered numerous times over. Despite all that, we generally try to make an effort to point folks in the right direction. Sometimes that involves connecting dots that have already been connected umpteen times before.
 
That would be fine except the op's vehicle isn't a Scout. Neither a '74 Scout or same year full size rig utilized a ballast resistor from the factory even if it had a points distributor. They had ugly resistor wires. Same function, different component. The rig in question has a Holley gold box, so it shouldn't have either style resistor. There's much about these old piles that people are unaware of, so they come here asking for help. Newbies must often be taken by the hand and even led down the primrose path a few steps. You were a newbie once too. Nothing here for anyone to be banging their head against a wall about as far as I can see.
 
scoutboy74 said:
that would be fine except the op's vehicle isn't a Scout. Neither a '74 Scout or same year full size rig utilized a ballast resistor from the factory even if it had a points distributor. They had ugly resistor wires. Same function, different component. The rig in question has a Holley gold box, so it shouldn't have either style resistor. There's much about these old piles that people are unaware of, so they come here asking for help. Newbies must often be taken by the hand and even led down the primrose path a few steps. You were a newbie once too. Nothing here for anyone to be banging their head against a wall about as far as I can see.
Click to expand...

Travelall, not Scout. Correct. Yes, IH went to gold boxes in '74, but some early model year '74's left the factory with points. Giddum up Scout and several people on binderplanet have confirmed that. Not to mention these rigs are 40 years old and pos tend make a lot of changes (not necessarily for the better) over the years. I have personally seen ballast resistors/wires on several later models. Nothing surprises me anymore and I don't assume anything. So anyway, thank you for the lecture and discourse scoutboy. I try to help people out, but if they don't want to educate themselves with 10 minutes research before asking questions that's no problem either. Sorry my little advice about trying google rubbed you the wrong way. I had no intention to get any bodies panties in a bunch. Peace trevor.
 
cowens88 said:
would the Ford starter solenoid be worth a shot?
Click to expand...

It's unlikely to help with your problem. It's intended to provide extra amps straight from the battery to a hot starter solenoid. If you google start'em up kit (mad enterprises) there are a bunch of write ups from the hot rod magazines on what it's for and how to install. Just be careful where you mount it. You don't want sparks flying because the exposed terminals were shorted in a minor fender bender.
 
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