Ignition switch trouble (electrical gremlin in the starting system)

[Sidetracker]

Hey, some of you may remember me from a previous discussion. I've been trying to debug my starting system in my 2001 Ford Ranger. I bought it recently and it worked for a couple weeks then started having difficulty starting. Finally it wouldn't start and I was up in the woods I wasn't in a place where I could bump start it so I crawled underneath and hit the starter with a rock. It started. "Bad starter moter" , I thought, so I replaced the starter. It still didn't start. No power was coming down the control wire.



I checked the fuses and relays and decided that the problem might be the nuetral safety switch. I spliced the Pink and Pink/white wires together to bypass the clutch. It started when I turned the key. "I fixed it!" I thought. The next day I tried starting it again and It wouldn't crank, nothing.



After a lot of diagnosis, I decided to replace the ignition switch. After the switch arrived I put it in and the truck started perfectly over and over again for about a week. Now, it's not making any noise again. No click, no crank, nothing. I'm assuming that the ignition switch went bad again. Why would It go bad? Why so soon?



The previous owner said that he replaced the starter and the ignition switch and the clutch so maybe he was dealing with a similar issue.



Has anyone dealt with this? What could cause a (mechanical by the looks of it) ignition switch to go bad so fast? Is this problem related to the false positives I got? (Truck starting after banging the starter) and (splice through the NSS working for a moment)

 

[franklin2]

I would do some more testing. Your problem is intermittent, so it's more difficult to find.

First thing I would do is get a small 12v bulb with socket, and wire it to the starter solenoid. Wire one wire to a good ground and the other side to the small s terminal. Then try to start it. Does the light light up? Does it crank over or not? If the light always comes on, but the starter doesn't crank, it's not the ignition switch.

 

[sgtsandman]

It sounds like a wire issue and when you are doing thebwork to fix it, things are getting disturbed, "fixing" the problem.

 

[mikkelstuff]

If not too difficult, wire in some LED indicator lights as franklin2 was suggesting. I did this to my '75 Ranchero to sort out problems with the Holley Sniper fuel injection system.

 

[pjtoledo]

cheap stuff to check,,
loosen, wiggle, inspect, clean, retighten battery cables, both ends.
same with trigger wire at starter.
peel some insulation back, look for corrosion or loose crimps.

one of my tricks is to slightly smush the female connectors for a better grip on the spade lugs.

then go find that rock