Noob needs help w/ steering column / ignition!!

[ericcasas]

Hey guys, I have a 1979 GMC K2500 long bed w/ a 5.7 that I'm tinkering with. This truck has a ton of little things wrong with it but I'm fixing things one at a time. I put in a new battery and starter and the truck would turn on and crank. Next item was the old factory ignition key cylinder. You had to crank on that thing with all of your might to get the truck to turn over. It was shot. I ordered a new one and put it in. I put everything back together the way it came apart except for one little item. That damn retaining clip that holds the steering wheel lock plate down flush. It's spring loaded and a total PITA. That thing is impossible to put back on without some sort of crazy vice contraption. Anyhow, now my truck doesn't get ACC power nor turn over at all. I even took it back apart and put the old ignition cylinder back in and still no juice. My worthless Chilton's manuals don't have any fuse information. Any ideas??? Thanks!

-Eric

[asphaltburner]

Yo! Vise contraption:
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...highlight=horn
$13 at NAPA.
Check your fuses (the box is labeled) and connections.
Finally, some of the ignition wires have internal fused links that may have fryed.
Check for 12V+.
Todd.

[ericcasas]

Originally Posted by asphaltburner

Yo! Vise contraption:
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...highlight=horn
$13 at NAPA.
Check your fuses (the box is labeled) and connections.
Finally, some of the ignition wires have internal fused links that may have fryed.
Check for 12V+.
Todd.

TODD!!! Your article ROCKS!!! Thanks a million. You should have seen me trying to force that clip on there. Holy smokes....I getting super pissed off!!! As for my fuse box being labeled, I have a fuse box right above and to the left of the foot brake lever assembly. Nothing is labeled. My Chiltons book doesn't have a diagram (or any useful knowledge of anykind for that matter).

-E

[asphaltburner]

Yo! Thanks!
The rear-facing edges of the fusebox on my '78 are embossed with the names of the fused items. I could get you a pic of mine if you cannot see anything with a bright light.
My FRANKENTRUCK is a '78 K20.
Again, thank you. I'm glad the info/pics helped!
Todd.

[CaliDude76]

Did you try replacing, or fiddling with the ignition switch itself, mounted on the column... In the past, I've had to replace the rack and sector set-up, and new cylinders with Chevy truck Columns... and seen that rods go down, and activate the switch. I replaced my non-tilt column, for a tilt one, in my 84. I had noticed that with the old column, that sometimes the starter would click, or drag when i went to start it.. like it was a bad starter, or something was starving it for power.. i.e.. bad connections or something.. anyway.. after the donor column... thing fires up all the time every time.. like a champ!, which was a total fluke, because I didnt realize to even check that for the problem, and discovered that these switches have lots to do with it (distributes juice when its activated, to gauges, ACC, and so forth)... hope this helps....

[ericcasas]

Originally Posted by CaliDude76

Did you try replacing, or fiddling with the ignition switch itself, mounted on the column... In the past, I've had to replace the rack and sector set-up, and new cylinders with Chevy truck Columns... and seen that rods go down, and activate the switch. I replaced my non-tilt column, for a tilt one, in my 84. I had noticed that with the old column, that sometimes the starter would click, or drag when i went to start it.. like it was a bad starter, or something was starving it for power.. i.e.. bad connections or something.. anyway.. after the donor column... thing fires up all the time every time.. like a champ!, which was a total fluke, because I didnt realize to even check that for the problem, and discovered that these switches have lots to do with it (distributes juice when its activated, to gauges, ACC, and so forth)... hope this helps....

CaliDude...you might have hit the nail right on the head!! That 'clicking' sound is what made me go out and buy a new battery and a new starter!! I thought I fixed it but now the truck wont get any juice at all. Where is this located? I have a non-tilt column.

-E

[CaliDude76]

I have a Chilton's that goes back to 80,... yours is a 79, can't see there being much difference.. heres a diagram for a 80 C/K....

[CaliDude76]

Here's a pic of what it looks like.... It's number 25... im pretty sure you can get em from any parts store..... It's located right at the base of the column.. your gonna have to look up under there... remove that metal plate, and plastic moulding thats under the dash bezel,.. under the steering wheel...
http://www.lmctruck.com/icatalog/cc/full.aspx?Page=161

[CaliDude76]

actually number 24.... lol my catalog, and the online one are different

[ericcasas]

Originally Posted by CaliDude76

actually number 24.... lol my catalog, and the online one are different

AWESOME!!! I'm going to run by NAPA after work and see if they have that steering wheel tool and this ignition switch item. Hopefully I'll have some time to turn the wrench tonight or it will have to wait until Sunday.

-E

[CaliDude76]

Originally Posted by ericcasas

AWESOME!!! I'm going to run by NAPA after work and see if they have that steering wheel tool and this ignition switch item. Hopefully I'll have some time to turn the wrench tonight or it will have to wait until Sunday.

-E

Good luck Bro,.. Hope it all works out for ya!

[ericcasas]

Well guys....I rented the tool to put that retaining clip back on. Boy what a difference. I can now officially take off my steering wheel as fast or faster than a NASCAR pit-crew.

I put in the new ignition switch and made sure that the rod was adjusted to specs and that it coincided with the turning of the key in the key cylinder. Still no juice. I checked all of the fuses in the fuse box and nothing is blown. I guess I'm down to fusible links. The Chilton's manual I have covers just about any GM truck from 1940 - 2020 and talks about each truck for a paragraph. I need to buy me a year specific complete Chilton's book (the ones the size of a phone book). The book I have is worthless. Is there a specific fusible link that you guys know of that I can try to snuff out? I guess it's possible that it could be the problem because as I kept trying to turn the truck over...over and over again, it kind of just suddenly went out. I'm guessing it might have heated up and just gave out?

Recap:

New Battery
New Starter
New Starter Cable
New Key Cylinder
New Ignition Switch (tied by a rod to the key cylinder)
All fuses good.

Pretty soon, my truck will be under full limited lifetime warranty from my local O'Reilly's due to replacing every F-ING part on this thing!!!

Any further advice is sincerely appreciated but it's now time to crack open this 18 pack and get my swerve on.

-E

[68 TT]

Originally Posted by ericcasas

Well guys....I rented the tool to put that retaining clip back on. Boy what a difference. I can now officially take off my steering wheel as fast or faster than a NASCAR pit-crew.

I put in the new ignition switch and made sure that the rod was adjusted to specs and that it coincided with the turning of the key in the key cylinder. Still no juice. I checked all of the fuses in the fuse box and nothing is blown. I guess I'm down to fusible links. The Chilton's manual I have covers just about any GM truck from 1940 - 2020 and talks about each truck for a paragraph. I need to buy me a year specific complete Chilton's book (the ones the size of a phone book). The book I have is worthless. Is there a specific fusible link that you guys know of that I can try to snuff out? I guess it's possible that it could be the problem because as I kept trying to turn the truck over...over and over again, it kind of just suddenly went out. I'm guessing it might have heated up and just gave out?

Recap:

New Battery
New Starter
New Starter Cable
New Key Cylinder
New Ignition Switch (tied by a rod to the key cylinder)
All fuses good.

Pretty soon, my truck will be under full limited lifetime warranty from my local O'Reilly's due to replacing every F-ING part on this thing!!!

Any further advice is sincerely appreciated but it's now time to crack open this 18 pack and get my swerve on.

-E

Did you check to make sure the battery wasn't dead? Sometimes new batteries off the shelf only have a little charge in them when you take them home.

All the stuff you have been doing may have killed it. Also you could have a draw on it somewhere in the system that is killing the battery. May be why you needed a new one in the first place.

[ericcasas]

Originally Posted by 68 TT

Did you check to make sure the battery wasn't dead? Sometimes new batteries off the shelf only have a little charge in them when you take them home.

All the stuff you have been doing may have killed it. Also you could have a draw on it somewhere in the system that is killing the battery. May be why you needed a new one in the first place.

Charged my battery overnight and tried again but still no joy. What's weird is that when I connect my positive battery terminal to the battery, there is no spark or buzz that you usually get. It's just completely dead. I'm wondering if the solinoid somehow fried on the starter??

-E

[68 TT]

Originally Posted by ericcasas

Charged my battery overnight and tried again but still no joy. What's weird is that when I connect my positive battery terminal to the battery, there is no spark or buzz that you usually get. It's just completely dead. I'm wondering if the solinoid somehow fried on the starter??

-E

I have seen bad connections at the starter solenoid do something similar. Check the condition of the battery cables and the solenoid. I had a solenoid terminal break off a section of the plastic housing on a new starter and lose contact with the guts so it got no juice.

See if you can jumper the solenoid trigger wire to the primary power terminal to make it turn over. If you have exhaust manifolds this is pretty easy but not so with headers.

[cochino12]

My old '85 did the same thing and it was the damn ground wire on the back side of the pass head, I also ran a ground to the alternator bracket and it never gave me any other issues

[84cheby]

^^ x2 i did the same thing and never had a problem again

[ericcasas]

Originally Posted by 84cheby

^^ x2 i did the same thing and never had a problem again

^^ Interesting on the ground wires. The way the truck was set up when I bought it, the starter didn't have the ground wire installed but started just fine. As it sits right now, there still is no ground wire attached to the starter. I guess I'll run one up to the alternator bracket like you guys suggested just in case. I'll also do the jumper wire test tonight after work.

-E

[ericcasas]

Performed the jumper test and the starter tries to crank. Somehow or another, there's an open wire between my ignition switch and the solinoid. Is there a fusible link between the two? Any idea where it's located? Once again, appreciate all of the feedback.

-E

[ericcasas]

Well....finally found an actual year specific manual. 1100 pages worth of actual factory info:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...=STRK:MEWNX:IT

Now I can figure this stuff out for myself. In the meantime, if you guys can direct me towards that fusible link location, I'd be much appreciated!!!

-E

[68 TT]

Originally Posted by ericcasas

Well....finally found an actual year specific manual. 1100 pages worth of actual factory info:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...=STRK:MEWNX:IT

Now I can figure this stuff out for myself. In the meantime, if you guys can direct me towards that fusible link location, I'd be much appreciated!!!

-E

It could be neutral safety switch related why it doesn't try to crank now. Maybe the switch got disconnected, damaged or moved out of adjustment during the last work session under the dash.

[ericcasas]

68TT, I should still get ACC to come on but just no crank if that were the case. My truck is as dead as a door nail. It's got to be wire related from the ignition switch down to the solinoid.

[68 TT]

Originally Posted by ericcasas

68TT, I should still get ACC to come on but just no crank if that were the case. My truck is as dead as a door nail. It's got to be wire related from the ignition switch down to the solinoid.

Check to see if you have power to the ignition switch.

Also try to cycle the ignition switch with it off the column and see if it works.

The fusible link is usually up close to the positive battery terminal and has a small plastic connector joining the typical 10 gauge red wire from the battery terminal to a section of more flexible smaller wire.

[ericcasas]

Originally Posted by 68 TT

Check to see if you have power to the ignition switch.

Also try to cycle the ignition switch with it off the column and see if it works.

The fusible link is usually up close to the positive battery terminal and has a small plastic connector joining the typical 10 gauge red wire from the battery terminal to a section of more flexible smaller wire.

Well turns out it was a fusible link afterall! There's a little protective pipe that goes under the headers and the fusible link was actually blown in there. I guess when it fried it took a couple neighboring wires with it. They are all replaced and she's breathing again!! Thanks for all of the help.

-E

[68 TT]

Originally Posted by ericcasas

Well turns out it was a fusible link afterall! There's a little protective pipe that goes under the headers and the fusible link was actually blown in there. I guess when it fried it took a couple neighboring wires with it. They are all replaced and she's breathing again!! Thanks for all of the help.

-E

Glad you found it and everything is OK again.