changed purple wire and still not working ?

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scotty230

New member
i just picked up a 93 ty a few days ago and i got the no start thing all u guys get, i replaced the starter with a mini starter and it worked once adn then stopped again , i then did the ford relay trick and it worked like 2x and now it wont start , what dose that purple wire go to, i am gettin so pissed with my truck , i can jump the starter to start but i would rather just start it like an average suv lol


thanks in advance
 
kentuc

kentuc

Member
Re: changed purple wire and still not working ?

Make sure your battery connections are both clean and tight. Especially between the cable and the stud that goes to the battery
Then try starting in neutral instead of park.
 
gjp

gjp

another post whore
Re: changed purple wire and still not working ?

Bad park switch? :2cents:
 
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scotty230

New member
Re: changed purple wire and still not working ?

it dont start in park or nutral and it will start sometime and sometime it wont it really sucks
 
Jimmy

Jimmy

Banned
Re: changed purple wire and still not working ?

Ditch the Ford crap,it is not necessary.
I put in a mini starter and a 10 gauge purple wire a few years ago,and it works like a champ.
 
tnsyty

tnsyty

Active member
Re: changed purple wire and still not working ?

Clean the battery terminals 3 or 4 times, mine acts funny on my terminal sometimes. ALSO, check to be sure there is not an alarm on it. I replaced a starter and starter solenoid on my truck when I first got it becasue of an intermiting no start issue. Turns out I had an aftermarket alarm on the truck with starter kill switch. Every 4-5 times I drove the truck it would go from vallet to armed and I had no clue because the siren had been disconected. I had been crawling under the truck and jumping the solenoid with a dang wrench for weeks until i found the alarm.
 
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scotty230

New member
Re: changed purple wire and still not working ?

yea i checked and no alarm. the funny thing is this, i just went out and it started right up, went for a drive and turned it off and it started again. WTF is going on with this thing, it will start up great for a while and then not start at all, i cant figure it out , maybe i should just replace the purple wire from were it starts at , what do u guys think
 
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wantingasy

Active member
Re: changed purple wire and still not working ?

Check the voltages at the batter, ignition switch and solenoid. Mainly the reading from the ignition switch to the solenoid. I had that same problem too, and just got mine fixed by running a new wire from the switch to the solenoid.
 
Don W.

Don W.

Stab it and steer it
Re: changed purple wire and still not working ?

All great suggestions. Check your connections. Don't forget the bat ground wire at the engine but if that was loose you'd have all kinds of other probs. Maybe a little dielectric grease on the bat terms? Have a helper activate the key while you check volts at the purple wire. I'm also thinking that you may just have a bad starter. See if you can get it to fail while you're at the starter (friend helping again) with the key in start position, tap the solenoid if it cranks then I'd say bad starter. Intermittent sticking solenoid.
 
willyson

willyson

trollin'
Re: changed purple wire and still not working ?

scotty230 said:
it dont start in park or nutral and it will start sometime and sometime it wont it really sucks
Click to expand...

If it starts cold and wont when hot, I had the same problem as you. The starter is being heatsoaked. Make sure your intercooler pump is working first

http://sportmachines.com/maintenance/aldl.php

then I'd run new cables to the battery along with the purple wire fix. pick up some plug wire insulators to go over the bottom of the wires at the starter where they are close to the downpipe. Get a starter heat shield (either the wrap or metal plate, i have both) and exhange you starter for a new one and youll have your bases covered. voila! no more problems! It may sound extravagant, but it worked for me.
 
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pinellas50

New Guy
Re: changed purple wire and still not working ?

I hadn't seen this post. I now have this truck.

Just to give the answer to the question, it was a bad neutral safety switch.

I thought I would update the post with the final answer as that is seldom done in the world of forums.
 
George Blake

George Blake

DONATING MEMBER
Re: changed purple wire and still not working ?

Thanks for putting that up.
FWIW, I have the Tahoe starter and I replaced the purple wire with an 8 gauge and ran the original wire to a big ass relay to take the load off of the ignition system. Starts every time now.
I still have a Ford solenoid in the mix but it is for personal piece of mind so that there isn't voltage down there to the starter all the time. Had a small fire. All is well. 99% of you won't need to do what I did.

Do NOT do the Tahoe mini starter with the Ford relay. There is a special way I did mine. If you jump the contacts on the starter, it will grind a slot in the flywheel. The gear will spin before the armature is extended. This starter is completely different than the stocker.
 
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v6stanger

New member
Re: changed purple wire and still not working ?

I have the same problem from time to time where i need to turn the key twice to start the truck. I was thinking a bad ground or starter.

Who makes a mini-starter for these trucks?
 
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pinellas50

New Guy
Re: changed purple wire and still not working ?

George Blake said:
I still have a Ford solenoid in the mix but it is for personal piece of mind so that there isn't voltage down there to the starter all the time. Had a small fire. All is well. 99% of you won't need to do what I did.

Do NOT do the Tahoe mini starter with the Ford relay. There is a special way I did mine. If you jump the contacts on the starter, it will grind a slot in the flywheel. The gear will spin before the armature is extended. This starter is completely different than the stocker.
Click to expand...

A new starter and Ford starter solenoid was put in my truck by the previous owner trying to figure out this problem. He said the starter was a mini for a big block Chevy. This is the first Chevy I have ever owned so I don't know squat about identifying what it is except a mini starter.

It's interesting that you mention starting issues with the Ford solenoid. My starter likes to stay engaged for a little while after you release the key. For mabey a second or so. I just figured it was a cheap starter. Is there mabey another reason it does this? I have no problem with the gear spinning before it makes contact with the flywheel......it just takes a little while to disengage.
 
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v6stanger

New member
Re: changed purple wire and still not working ?

A had quite a few fox-body 87-93 5.0 stangs with starters that liked to stay engaged about a second after start-up. Very annoying..
 
George Blake

George Blake

DONATING MEMBER
Re: changed purple wire and still not working ?

It's the same issue. The Ford solenoid cannot be used with a high torque GM ministarter unless you run your starter wire to the ford solenoid and the new stock gm starter solenoid. Just "Y" it off. If you want to, you can eliminate the ford solenoid altogether and just run a big ass wire off of a 40 AMP relay that's activated by your starter wire. This takes the load off your starter switch and you get a full amp charge off the battery instead what little goes through the switch(lots of safetys to go through before going to the starter). If you've ever done the click click click with your gauge cluster out, this is REALLY bad. It makes a nice lightening show inside when your switch is under load and the starter doesn't take it. It will make you want to fix the problem pronto.
 
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pinellas50

New Guy
Re: changed purple wire and still not working ?

v6stanger said:
A had quite a few fox-body 87-93 5.0 stangs with starters that liked to stay engaged about a second after start-up. Very annoying..
Click to expand...

My 86 loved to do that at one point. But it would never disengage until you smacked the crap out of the solenoid with something to make it unstick internally or you pulled a battery cable off. The Ty isn't behaving like that.

George....this may be a stupid question but I am still new to the whole Chevy thing. But with the high torque GM starter......The Ford mini starters are wired just like mine is now if memory serves and I never saw any of them having any kinds of issues with stock starter solenoids. Is there something about a GM style starter that would be different?
 
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