79 midas edition

[towpainter3]

Ok finally got to pickup the new edition to the empire lol!!!
Suposedly there were only 25 of these done in 79 dont know but here's my question. With a hot battery I'm not getting any response with a turn of the key to start it. I can cross the starter and she spins great. Am hearing a clicking noise somewhere in the dash or under the hood when the key is rotated to the start position like a relay is trying to operate,but no starter action.
I'm kinda steering toward the neutral safety switch but was wondering if these year models had a reley added somewhere in the mix.
Hoping to get her fired up soon, got to replace the fuel pump for sure and probably everything else . Lol!!!
Any help on this and any info on the conversion would be greatly appreciated.
My kids are trying to convince me to trash the body and build a truggy, but I'm sorta swaying toward making her a tow pig. Hell its only there college fund and my long term retirement funds. What better way to spend your golden years , listenin to yer ol lady bitch about ridin around in a 79 Scout.

 

[ihpartschad]

Sounds like the ignition switch me, mayben should chime in he is the pro with this stuff. Definately keep the Scout. I don't know about 25, that number seems a little low but I will say there aren't hundreds of them running around anymore. Is this a Scout or a traveller? I think most of the ones midas did that late were travellers????? I am not a midas expert though......... Either way good score!!

 

[71 Scout 2]

Most likely the contacts on the starter solenoid are getting wore, or something is dirty not allowing a good connection. In my past experience, if you hear a "click" and no spin, but you can bypass the solenoid and get it to spin, the solenoid is weak or the contacts are wore/dirty.

 

[Michael Mayben]

"if" it's a slushbox tranny, then there is a relay component along with the nss switch which is mounted on the side of the tranny.

The nss relay is the exact same part as the horn relay. Just a "common" horn relay (three terminal) available anywhere.

The actual mounting position of the relay can vary for sii over the years, but most common location is look straight up under the dash on the passenger side of the steering column, you should see the silver relay canister mounted to a bracket. That is the source of the clicking sound you are hearing.

If the nss relay is "clicking", then the nss switch itself is functional. Simply unplug and clean the connector and contacts and then try again. If that doesn't work, then "tap" the relay. You can also swap it with the horn relay for a quick test.

However...ya need to disconnect and clean/repair the bulkhead connector! That's the first thing to do on any sii that has been sitting. Any voltage drop created through the connector will prevent full voltage from hitting the starter through the starter relay/solenoid.

Same for battery cable ends and battery terminals. Make certain the battery ground path is complete and the battery cable connection at the oem starter relay is clean and tight.

 

[towpainter3]

Thanks again o wise one. Will check these things and get back. Just needed some steering in the right direction once again thanks
dont know what im gonna do yet but being a bodyman I see a project at hand
to answer chads question it is a Scout 2. Its a 345 /4bbl auto d20, was hoping for a 300, but oh well and d44s with 3.07s
this thing has a/m under dash air,swivel buckets and all kinda cheesylights throughout the interior. Full door panels with junk bags and a really kickin audiovox tune system. Lol oh yea cant forget the dual pop-up sun roof / fart vents in the top.gonna try and find out some more info on the numbers before I make any rash decisions though.

 

[towpainter3]

Some more news on the midas.
Got the fuel pump changed and disassembled the thermo quad and cleaned out 14 years of gunk. Gonna change the plugs and diz cap today to see if that will get her fired up. It is hitting but just intermittent. Got fire at the top of the cap so the point dizzy is workin, could be a pertronix but I havent looked yet.doesnt look like the po did alot, just tried to get rid of the goverment bog stuff. Lots of blocked off vac lines. This little project is gonna take some time but what the hell there's junk iron is fun lol !!! Hope to get some pics with next news story.

 

[towpainter3]

It's alive !!!!
After changing the plugs and swapping in some used plug wires to replace the rat eaten ones, it fired right off , actually scared the hell out of me. Topped off the oil and tranny fluid added some water to the rad and she runs good.haven driven it yet due to no brakes and a horrible clunk in the rear end when it goes in gear. The power steering is hanging up but it May clear up after a little while. I hope.
After further investigation on the no crank problem ,it was the nss,seems the shift cable or something is out of adjustment.moving the shifter thru its paces allowed it to start so thats resolved . Another one saved from the scrap heap!!!!

 

[Michael Mayben]

Great! Another productive turkeeday, the pilgrims will be proud of ya!

The shift cable adjustment on these rigs is very tedious, especially when combined with a worn shifter and a rotten cable! Sometimes ya just have to replace the cable with a new one to make it all play nice again.

Also, that little strap clamp that retains the cable conduit can be problematic, we have those new in stock. It must hold the conduit tightly in position or ya never can adjust the throw.

So the nss relay was actuating thus the clink sound, but the switch was not in exactly the right position on the rooster comb. Also, the switch pigtail connector down on the tranny end can get real crappy, a replacement pigtail is available which can spliced to the oem harness for repair.

Here's a pic of what that looks like inside, notice the plastic insulator that is riveted to the rooster comb, that part will sometimes break off or the rivets get loose and prevent proper positioning. There is a "repair" procedure for that but the valve body has to come out so it can be repaired on the bench. This is a picture I provided to a friend..."chuck", he did a great job in labeling the pic for us, I'm not smart enough to do that stuff! So chuck gets the credit for the pic!

That's not rust on the pressure regulator valve adjusting screw, that's a thread locking compound! And that is a transgo manual shift valve next to it.

 

[towpainter3]

Ok more news,after getting it runnin,still looki for a fuel tank and sender thats reasonably close to me in ga. But the 2 gal lawnmower can will do for now.brakes are null and void at this point but its drivable actually pushed my sons rock crawler out of the garage with it and lapped the yard .I think the clunk in the rear is coming from the tranny mount its seen better days.
Im still in amazement that it runs as good as it does.had to move it out for some work my other Scout,but will get back to it soon. As soon as I hit the lotto!!!. Gonna use this tme to forage for parts and make a plan as to what im gonna use it for but right now I think the towpig route is where im going with it.I just cant see cutting it up to make a rock crawler.