Good point


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Posted by Sherman in Idaho [108.162.245.31] on Saturday, February 04, 2017 at 11:14:26 :

In Reply to: Re: Wiring of Resistor/Coil posted by Willy-N [108.162.216.139] on Friday, February 03, 2017 at 16:27:24 :

There are several ways to do it. I think the starter relay with the extra ignition contact is known as the Ford system. On one of my trucks, I just added a spring-loaded "ignition boost" switch since it has a floor-pedal starter but a "modern" coil and ballast resistor.

It's pretty common to find a truck where somebody has changed the wiring around somehow and ended up with a ballast resistor that never gets bypassed (by any method). The result is usually hard starting when cold. It will crank at the normal speed, so you know the battery is good, but it doesn't want to fire off. An even better clue is if it tries to fire the moment you let off on the starter. At that point the engine is still turning but the voltage has jumped back up to normal. Sometimes a rig will actually start if you keep doing that.

As a rule, be suspicious of any rig where some previous owner has converted from military to civilian, from 6V to 12V, or otherwise messed with the ignition system. You can waste a lot of time polishing connections and replacing ignition components when the real problem is that the ballast resistor isn't getting bypassed. A real easy test is to just jumper across it and see how the truck starts. It's safe to run for a little while with the resistor bypassed (too long, and you'll burn out the coil). If bypassing the ballast resistor solves a hard-start issue, you know what you have to fix. Of course ballast resistors themselves can occasionally open up or get intermittent, but it's not common.



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