resistor wire to coil and starter relay

[65f100beater]

Hello,I have been reading the posts trying to solve my problem of no power to coil.Had an engine fire and fried my wires and while being careful to write down where all wires went I lost my diagram and none of the ones I have seen are exactly like mine.I would like to replace resistor wire because I grounded my distributor lead to the engine and I couldnt get any reading at the switch and the engine cranks over but doesnt start or get power to the plugs.My question is that both the coil power wire and the brown ignition wire connect at the fire wall and turn into pink resistor wire to ignition switch.Can I use the resistor wire (if it is still useable) for the coil power and just run the brown wire from the starter relay straight to the ignition switch? Any help anyone can give me will be greatly appreciated.thanks

[Hawkrod]

Hello,I have been reading the posts trying to solve my problem of no power to coil.Had an engine fire and fried my wires and while being careful to write down where all wires went I lost my diagram and none of the ones I have seen are exactly like mine.I would like to replace resistor wire because I grounded my distributor lead to the engine and I couldnt get any reading at the switch and the engine cranks over but doesnt start or get power to the plugs.My question is that both the coil power wire and the brown ignition wire connect at the fire wall and turn into pink resistor wire to ignition switch.Can I use the resistor wire (if it is still useable) for the coil power and just run the brown wire from the starter relay straight to the ignition switch? Any help anyone can give me will be greatly appreciated.thanks

The brown wire runs from the solenoid I terminal directly to the + side of the coil. It provides 12V while cranking only. It is connected on the coil side of the resistor wire so that power is not reduced by the resistor. I think you are actually looking at it backwards from what you write. The resistor wire gets power from the switch to feed the coil, it does not get power from the brown wire to feed the switch. Hawkrod

[65f100beater]

Thanks for the reply.I guess I was looking at it backwards.Electrical problems I have always shied away from due to lack of knowledge but I have learned a ton here and feel a lot more confident I can get this beast to run.Thanks again for the help.--well I ran a wire from my starter relay to the coil and when I ran a test I had 12 volts at the coil with the coil to distributor lead grounded and the ignition switch off and a jumper from battery to starter relay cranking it over .the voltage drop was big and went down to 4 volts or something.I was wondering if this is a coil problem since I have replaced just about everything else except the ignitionswitch.Just a little side note but the negative wire from the coil to thedistributor got fried as well and I had to make a new one without the black rubber piece that fits into distributor hole.Any help would be appreciated.

[65f100beater]

would anyone be able to tell me if my starter relay is bad because my motor will crank over but I have a big voltage drop at the coil when I start it and I was wondering if the relay could still crank the starter but not provide enough power to the coil or is my coil no good?Thanks again for previous suggestion.

[Hawkrod]

would anyone be able to tell me if my starter relay is bad because my motor will crank over but I have a big voltage drop at the coil when I start it and I was wondering if the relay could still crank the starter but not provide enough power to the coil or is my coil no good?Thanks again for previous suggestion.

You have a big voltage drop because the points ground the wire when they close. Hawkrod

[65f100beater]

Thank you for the reply.I hate to sound so stupid but I am trying to become better at my truck repairs but alas I am a novice and need to be walked through like a child.Do you think I have a problem with the points.The thing that happened after my engine fire was that I bought a new cap,rotor,points,rebuilt carb,redid all the wire related to starting that I could and replaced all the crappy grounds I could find.I was wondering if it is okay to wire the brown ignition wire directly from the solenoid to the coil and if the 1,5,4,2,6,3,7,8 firing order is common for my 390?thanks again for sharing your knowledge with me.

[70-360fe]

Take a wire and hook it up to + side of the battery with key on touch this wire to the where the pink wire connects to the coil. (Do not hook up to the coil just touch to the coil) If the truck starts you problems is the pink resistor wire, coil or the ignition switch. If you have power at the end of the pink resistor but truck will not start most likely coil is bad. If you have no power at the of pink resistor wire I would visally check wire for breaks etc. The pink wire is in 2 pieces, just inside the firewall is a connector take the connector apart and see if you have voltage there. If no voltage there most likely ignition switch is bad. Check switch for continutity where the pink connects to it. If it checks good them most likely your pigtail is bad, I just had to replace mine. they can be brought at your local parts store.

Just notice the black wire from dist to coil is bad, mine was old and cracked and gave me problems. Would start and quit right away. Not saying this is your problem but could be. If all else fails you can get this.

http://www.napaonline.com/Catalog/Resul ... tk=Keyword

I did not feel like waiting a day or 2 to get so I just got a rebuilt dist from advance auto.

[65f100beater]

Thanks for the tips-I did what you said and the truck did'nt start.I had already bought a new coil and I have a new resistor wire that I use directly from the coil and a wire I ran from the ignition spot on the solenoid to the coil.Why does the voltage drop when I test the coil with a remote starter and the key off? I had 12 volts till I startted cranking her.Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

[70-360fe]

The volt drop should be around 8 volts at the coil thats what resistor wire is for. If you run a coil not design to handle 12 volts it will burn out the coil. Is voltage drop at the coil less than 8 volts, if so it may not be switching the coil on. Don't know for sure if condensor could cause problem but if it looks old I would replace it, not very expensive.

[65f100beater]

thanks again for all your tips-I replaced the coil and I now get the right voltage at the coil but still no spark at the plugs-I replaced the points and condenser-is it possible they are bad or could it be something else?I am really stumped and I sure appreciate all your help.

[70-360fe]

thanks again for all your tips-I replaced the coil and I now get the right voltage at the coil but still no spark at the plugs-I replaced the points and condenser-is it possible they are bad or could it be something else?I am really stumped and I sure appreciate all your help.

http://www.napaonline.com/Catalog/Resul ... tk=Keyword



You said the black wire from the coil to dist got burned maybe that is the problem. My was bad cracked and gave me problems, I just replaced the complete dist because it was old and did not want to wait for the wire. If you look at the link above it does say primary wire so maybe the wire you put in is not working correctly. Is the black wire hook up tight. Are you sure you are not getting spark and not just a spark that is out of time. Did you ground out a spark plug and see no spark. Just throwing things out there. Is the rotor in correctly. Are points set correctly, don't know what size engine you have but my 360 fe is set at 17 mm.

http://www.fordification.com/tech/wirin ... gauges.jpg

May not be exactly like yours but should be similar, color code maybe off.