Hugger-4641
Junior Member
- Joined
- Apr 16, 2024
- Posts
- 9
- Reaction score
- 26
- Location
- TN
- First Name
- Jerry
- Truck Year
- 1985
- Truck Model
- K20
- Engine Size
- 350
New to the group here. I've got an '85 Scottsdale 3/4ton 4wd that's been sitting for about 10yrs now and finally made it to the top of my list of projects. It was my daily driver back in the early 2000's but a couple breakdowns and a long story of life events caused it to get parked circa 2015. The body is still solid other than some surface rust on the cab and small holes in the cab corners. I'll be addressing that as soon as I have it mechanically sound again. I've taken care of it as much as possible while it sat, but obviously it's got issues now that it didn't have when I parked it so I'm hoping you guys can help me get it back in shape.
So I have periodically started it and moved it over the last decade, kept it full of fuel, oil, TFF, coolant, etc. The main reason it got parked was my life situation at the time. I had other trucks to drive, so when the brake booster went out, rear brake cylinders seized up, and heater core started leaking it got parked and months turned into years, you know the story.
So after some fluid maintenance and a day of replacing battery cables, killing wasps, removing mud dauber nests, etc, I finally got around to dragging it up to my shop. I replaced the rear cylinders, bypassed the heater core for now, and drove it a few miles the other day. Not real fun driving it with inoperable brake booster, but it was good to get it out again. Got a new heater core on the bench, brake booster ordered, and working thru electrical issues now. First one being: I've lost the starter solenoid circuit. I can short out the starter lugs and get started, but turning the ignition switch will not engage the starter. I've probably lost one of the fusible links because I have no dash lights, but the wipers, headlights, and horn work fine. Looking at the wiring diagrams I have, they show the NSS is in play on this year truck. It's on the steering column, so I unplugged and bypassed it just to see, still no power to starter solenoid when key is turned. So I'm trying to determine if it's my ignition switch contacts actually not working or something else. When I turn the key, all the warning lights function and choke light comes on, but no clicky clicky from the starter. The diagrams I have show a yellow wire from the NSS goes to ignition switch, but ignition switch diagram does not have a yellow wire. So I suspect I'm looking at flawed wiring schematics. I'm hoping I can narrow this down without tearing the dash apart to trace wires as I'm getting a little old for laying upside down in the floor board. Can anyone recommend an accurate wiring schematic or suggestion for finding this problem?
So I have periodically started it and moved it over the last decade, kept it full of fuel, oil, TFF, coolant, etc. The main reason it got parked was my life situation at the time. I had other trucks to drive, so when the brake booster went out, rear brake cylinders seized up, and heater core started leaking it got parked and months turned into years, you know the story.
So after some fluid maintenance and a day of replacing battery cables, killing wasps, removing mud dauber nests, etc, I finally got around to dragging it up to my shop. I replaced the rear cylinders, bypassed the heater core for now, and drove it a few miles the other day. Not real fun driving it with inoperable brake booster, but it was good to get it out again. Got a new heater core on the bench, brake booster ordered, and working thru electrical issues now. First one being: I've lost the starter solenoid circuit. I can short out the starter lugs and get started, but turning the ignition switch will not engage the starter. I've probably lost one of the fusible links because I have no dash lights, but the wipers, headlights, and horn work fine. Looking at the wiring diagrams I have, they show the NSS is in play on this year truck. It's on the steering column, so I unplugged and bypassed it just to see, still no power to starter solenoid when key is turned. So I'm trying to determine if it's my ignition switch contacts actually not working or something else. When I turn the key, all the warning lights function and choke light comes on, but no clicky clicky from the starter. The diagrams I have show a yellow wire from the NSS goes to ignition switch, but ignition switch diagram does not have a yellow wire. So I suspect I'm looking at flawed wiring schematics. I'm hoping I can narrow this down without tearing the dash apart to trace wires as I'm getting a little old for laying upside down in the floor board. Can anyone recommend an accurate wiring schematic or suggestion for finding this problem?
