No power

Even a '73 would be the same situation with points. There are ways to ID the exact year of the truck if you have interest in that. Chances are, the wiring issues were more to blame than the old starter and solenoid combo. It's good that the old one is still available. One thing to avoid on these old rigs when you're trying to bring them back around is turning loose the parts cannon up front. For one thing, it get's spendy in a hurry. For another, when you replace 20 things all at once just throwing mud at the wall hoping something sticks, even if you do luck out a little, you don't know for sure what one or two things out of the bunch was what really did the trick. Best course is to spend some time diagnosing, getting advice and working with what you have at first.
 
jjthejetplane50 said:
So I have been working on a buddy's 1972 Scout 2 and at first it was a crank but no start but after replacing the ignition coil and the ignition control module it got Spark. And then I put a small shot of gas down the carb since the tank was empty just to see if it would kick for us and after some trial and error it finally kicked on for a brief moment and I wanted to show my buddy of it running for a moment. And then there was no power for anything I couldn't crank it, I couldn't turn on the lights, I couldn't turn on anything and I checked the battery see if the connectors might have gotten loose and I also checked the glass fuses and none of them were blown so I have no idea what could be wrong. If somebody could point me in the right direction that would be great
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jjthejetplane50 said:
Well it could be a 73 but the old owner was adamant that it was a 72 but the insurance on it said it was a 73 so we don't really know but we still have the old starter so I might fix it and slap it back on because I did a test with it with the battery and it seemed like it still worked so when it cools off I'll try to slap it back on and see if we have any luck. I know my buddy got the starter for roughly 150 so it could possibly be it I know when I try to start it with the new starter it did kick on it's just not kicking on anymore so it's completely possible something failed with the new one. I'll get back with you once I fixed the fusible link and replace the starter
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Okay so here's some news I just replaced the starter with the old one and I electrical taped the fusible link for temporary just to prevent it from causing a fire and it did turn the engine a little bit but it was acting like there wasn't enough current going to it so I'm definitely going to rewire it once I get the proper tools and I also check the battery and it was showing 12 volts so that's really strange but the fact that I saw the engine turn a little bit gives me some hope and I was looking at the battery terminals and just to confirm isn't there supposed to be a ground that goes to the frame as well as the engine? cuz as of currently (no pun intended) there's only a ground going to the engine. I also checked the new starter with jumper cables and a battery and it also seemed to be working fine so I think there's something to do with not enough current going to the starter
 
Couple things. 12.0 volts isn't a fully charged battery. A fully charged battery will show a resting surface charge of about 12.6 volts. Also, a battery showing a full charge can have a bad cell in it that will allow the voltage to drop really low once a load like a starter motor is placed on it. So you need to assess battery condition. Make sure it's fully charged and a good battery. Not some weak, old battery that's just barely clinging to life by a thread. Also, that fusible link connection is bad not just for the exposed copper that could touch metal, but also from a current conductive standpoint. Even if the battery is solid and well charged, you could easily be losing too much juice right at that connection. I wouldn't get too excited about anything until that's been fixed beyond slapping some tape on it.
 
Scoutboy74 said:
Couple things. 12.0 volts isn't a fully charged battery. A fully charged battery will show a resting surface charge of about 12.6 volts. Also, a battery showing a full charge can have a bad cell in it that will allow the voltage to drop really low once a load like a starter motor is placed on it. So you need to assess battery condition. Make sure it's fully charged and a good battery. Not some weak, old battery that's just barely clinging to life by a thread. Also, that fusible link connection is bad not just for the exposed copper that could touch metal, but also from a current conductive standpoint. Even if the battery is solid and well charged, you could easily be losing too much juice right at that connection. I wouldn't get too excited about anything until that's been fixed beyond slapping some tape on it.
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Of course. The battery is new so I'd hope it's good, but yes I will definitely fix the fusible link properly when I get the chance. Also should I wire another ground to the frame since there's only one going to the engine?
 
Ground to engine block is the main thing. A secondary ground from the battery NEG cable to a nearby sheet metal bolt like a fender bolt etc is probably more important than a frame ground for now.
 
There could well be other as yet undiscovered wiring issues in need of addressing further on down the line, so this one bad spot is unlikely to be the cure all. It's a necessary step in the right direction. Keep expectations low for now.
 
Scoutboy74 said:
There could well be other as yet undiscovered wiring issues in need of addressing further on down the line, so this one bad spot is unlikely to be the cure all. It's a necessary step in the right direction. Keep expectations low for now.
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Well I have some excellent news. I put a new ground on the fender and when I was rewiring the fusible link and blue wire together I noticed that the rubber sheath that was still in the blue wire melted with the coating of the wire itself so I trimmed it back a little bit further and soldered it together and after letting the battery charge up She Cranks good now and now the next part is to put some fuel in or use some starter fluid and see if she kicks on again
 
Scoutboy74 said:
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That's progress. I told you to keep your expectations high didn't I?
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Okay so now she cranks and she gave me a puff of smoke out of the carb but I was wondering since my buddy who owns this Scout replaced the ignition coil. If it was properly wired up. I can take more pictures if needed
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We can certainly explore the GB and coil wiring. I'm wondering though, since I see the distributor cap and spark plug wires are brand new, did the owner replace the wires one at a time, being careful to maintain proper wire routing and firing order, or did he yank them all at once in shotgun fashion?
 
Scoutboy74 said:
We can certainly explore the GB and coil wiring. I'm wondering though, since I see the distributor cap and spark plug wires are brand new, did the owner replace the wires one at a time, being careful to maintain proper wire routing and firing order, or did he yank them all at once in shotgun fashion?
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Well I would think/hope he did. If not I'll redo it if needed
 
Pretty important that it be right. It won't run worth a shit and might not even start at all if they're far enough out of order.
 
You're very right. I'll look up a firing order and whatnot just to make sure. I asked my buddy and he said he did it one at a time But it doesn't hurt to double make sure because that's easy. I was just worried about the ignition coil just in case it was wired backwards or anything silly like that
Scoutboy74 said:
Pretty important that it be right. It won't run worth a shit and might not even start at all if they're far enough out of order.
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IH V8 engines time off cylinder #8 unlike just about every other make which times of #1. The even bank of cylinders, 2-4-6-8 from front to back are on the passenger side. The wires are arranged on the cap in clockwise order as viewed from above. The firing order is 1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2.
 
The GB module has a 4 wire pigtail connector. A fifth wire grounds the box to the firewall. The color codes on the pigtail connector are as follows:
1. Brown wire connects to wire 16C (black) which terminates at the coil NEG terminal.
2. Red wire connects to wire 16B (black), then runs to a connector and becomes two wires. One of them, circuit 19 (black) goes to the coil POS terminal. The other wire (green) goes to the anti-diesel solenoid.
3. Yellow wire connects to wire 16D (black) and goes to the distributor.
4. Blue wire connects to wire 16E (black) and goes to the distributor.
And let's not forget the wire that provides key switched power to the coil POS terminal, known as circuit 16. This is where things might get wonky since this Scout originally had breaker points before the gold box came along. So you'll need to examine the wires that are connected to the coil POS terminal and trace each out to see what's what.
 
Scoutboy74 said:
The GB module has a 4 wire pigtail connector. A fifth wire grounds the box to the firewall. The color codes on the pigtail connector are as follows:
1. Brown wire connects to wire 16C (black) which terminates at the coil NEG terminal.
2. Red wire connects to wire 16B (black), then runs to a connector and becomes two wires. One of them, circuit 19 (black) goes to the coil POS terminal. The other wire (green) goes to the anti-diesel solenoid.
3. Yellow wire connects to wire 16D (black) and goes to the distributor.
4. Blue wire connects to wire 16E (black) and goes to the distributor.
And let's not forget the wire that provides key switched power to the coil POS terminal, known as circuit 16. This is where things might get wonky since this Scout originally had breaker points before the gold box came along. So you'll need to examine the wires that are connected to the coil POS terminal and trace each out to see what's what.
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Okay I'll do that when I get off work. Also out of curiosity, because the Scout is low on oil I was thinking about doing an oil change for it and I was wondering what type I should do (I'm in Florida if that helps) and how many quarts I need
 
I'd just top off what's there until it starts and runs reliably. A full blown LOF now is kinda cart before horse stuff. But, these are flat tappet engines. Old school tech. Today's conventional motor oils do not contain enough ZDDP. If you don't know what that is, google and youtube university will get you learned up on the topic. The simplest solution is to use a 15W-40 diesel engine oil because it has enough ZDDP in it. Some people say diesel oil is not so good in a gas engine. Probably not in a high revving, high performance engine, but these IH engines are slow revving, industrial work horses...kinda like a diesel. Also, don't use Fram oil filters. Wix, Baldwin, Hastings, Purolator are all suitable.
 
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