Ford E350 Ignition Problem

When wife cranked car with head lights on did the light dim??
or did they just stay on bright??? If they dimed then the juice was
getting to starter, if they did not dim then the starter was not getting
juice, before you start getting into the steering column you might
double check the battery via a good battery shop, I have had and have
seen alot of weather problems with batteries. Remember that when the
temp goes down so does the chemical make up of the battery, it relies on
temp. to be chemically correct...Also a 350 sounds like a pretty big
truck, do you have the correct battery?? When in the summer you might
get by on a smaller battery, but when it gets cold you might just need
the correct battery,
hope this helps.

dbird - The battery is sized correctly and is less than a year old. The
lights are bright, but I did not check to see if they dim (but that is an
excellent diagnostic step - I'll have to remember this one). The reason I do
not believe it is the battery is that the car started normally 2 hours before.
Besides, the ignition switch is really odd feeling now. Something is amiss...




>hope this helps.

it the lights do not dim when trying to start it, it could be the ign.
switch, but also check the wire that goes to the selenoid, the small
push on type wire, they are know for falling off, dont know where yours
is located, dont even know what type of engine you have, most fords, at
least the older ones had the selenoid on the wheel well could be on the
left or rigt under the hood. probably on the battery side to save them
the cost of wire. if it is off, put it back on and sqeeze it with plies
to make it tighter and it will not fall off again, if on, i would take
it off and make sure you dont have corrosion, push it on and off several
times and use pliers to make sure it is tight.If that does not do any
good, you can see if the switch is bad by taking this wire and putting a
meter(multi meter on the volts setting, should be 12 volts, that's what
it is trying to give to the selenoid to energize it). To get the 12
volts you have to have someone inside turning the key like they are
starting it. ONe probe to ground and one to the wire that you took off.
If you dont have a meter you can get a 12 volt tail light type bulb and
hoock it up to two short pieces of wire, one end to ground and the other
end to ground, when someone turns key to start the light should LIGHT.
If not it is probably the switchbeats taking the switch out to see
if it is bad??????
hope this helps.

If it is the battery or the battery connection, the interior light (if
your door is open) will go completely out when you try to crank. If it is
a bad starter wire connection it will likely spark or heat as you try to
crank, watch and carefully feel the connections at the battery, relay and
the starter. Remove, clean and grease the hot connection.

Sometimes the solinoid/relay on the fender stops conducting, check it
with a probe light or meter. Sometimes the contact points in the starter
itself don't make a good contact. Giving the starter a light smack with a
hammer while someone is trying to crank it will often get it going.

All these are very common starter maladies.

Steve Best, Nova Scotia, Canada
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The curious thing you mentioned is the ignition remaining on with the
key in the off position. Have you had the ignition switch replaced
under the recall for that vehicle. If not, you may be approaching a
bigger problem than a no start as the earlier switches had a tendency
to short out causing a fire. You switch may still be replaceable
under the recall if you are on good terms with your dealer.

Turns out a broken ignition actuator. Not too bad on the bill