Ford Lehman 120 not starting

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jpar1972

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Aug 17, 2014
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I did some rewiring over winter and went to start my engine, it turned on but my tack was not working and oil and water gauges where pinned to max. I shut engine of disconnect some wires started her back up and went to engine room, i then shut her off with the shut off lever on engine, now she won’t crank, for the life of me I cannot figure out what is wrong,
 
I'll just post it again here. And yes, It came from ADC.
 

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If it is like my boat it won't start unless it is in neutral on the gear shift, maybe you accidentally moved the shifter, just a thought........:banghead:
 
I tried the shifter and nothing, also my starter does not have any wire from ignition key to solenoid. I don’t know if it’s something to do with the stop lever on engine?
 
Pretty hard to diagnose what is wrong when you rewired, then took off some wires and one of your solenoids doesn't have a wire to it..

Can you take the diagrams linked above and show what wires you have?
 
I tried the shifter and nothing, also my starter does not have any wire from ignition key to solenoid. I don’t know if it’s something to do with the stop lever on engine?

Wire from ignition should go to small helper relay, then to starter solenoid.
Stop solenoids van get stuck in either position but will usually work with manual assist. 3N1 oil on the shaft may help. You might have disconnected a critical ground.

The wiring to a lehman is basic but PO's may have created a spaghetti nest under the dash so debugging an electrical issue can be a real pain. Reconnect everything and start over by removing wires one at a time.
 
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Greetings,
Mr. jp. Seems the last thing you touched was the stop solenoid. Is there any way to bypass that and try again?
 
If you manually shut off the engine by handling the stop solenoid the shutoff rack inside the fuel pump may have stuck shut.

Not sure how you release it, I know it has been discussed here before.

But that should not prevent the engine from cranking as far as I know, it just wont start. Noyhing about the shut off lever or stop solenoid should prevent cranking.

Are there any fuses/breakers in any of the ignition circuits?
 
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Greetings,
Mr. jp. Seems the last thing you touched was the stop solenoid. Is there any way to bypass that and try again?

Stop solenoid shuts off the fuel. If it is stuck in shutoff position you can manually push lever back. If totally jammed, engine might start but would quickly run out of fuel. The engine starter will work no matter what position stop solenoid is in.

Lehman starter wiring is very simple and diagnosing a non start is a quick process with a voltmeter. If engine is not cranking at all, and the starter solenoid is not clicking or spinning, and it is getting 12V, then you have a bad starter/solenoid. Same with helper relay or ignition switch. If you don't have a voltmeter then use jumper cables direct to the starter.

I suspect a disconnected wire but relays and solenoids can fail at any time.
 
On mine there is a red wire going from solenoid to starter. When I am in engine area I have had that wire come loose and starter will not turn without it. Check solenoid to starter wiring very carefully to be sure all are connected

John
 
Pic of starter and relay
 

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Pic of starter and relay

Interesting Jay.... mine was bolted to the side of the engine almost hidden by the air intake filter.

Seem there are a lot of variations to where the pieces and parts are on these engines, but schematics for the systems are generally accurate enough to trace connections between components.
 
Looking at my picture again made me think of something. Just went into my garage and verified that I still have a new spare relay. LOL Generic old school automotive relay like I had on my 63 Falcon.
 
Looking at my picture again made me think of something. Just went into my garage and verified that I still have a new spare relay. LOL Generic old school automotive relay like I had on my 63 Falcon.
Yes, looks like the one on our '65 Mustang, too.
Your arrangement looks redundant, though, in that there is a solenoid that appears
to only be switching the signal to the starter solenoid so really any 12v relay could
be used to do that including bypassing the solenoid and connecting the white wire
directly to the starter solenoid. That would give you one less potential failure point.
 
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LOL Generic old school automotive relay like I had on my 63 Falcon.

Yes. Bob Smith added the 12V relay so he could use smaller gauge wire from ignition switch to starter solenoid. Old school but pretty robust.
 
My starter must have an internal relay. 14 gauge wire from starter button an inch above + cable from battery. Is it original starter or ?
 
My starter must have an internal relay. 14 gauge wire from starter button an inch above + cable from battery. Is it original starter or ?
Have a remote heavy duty selnoid somewhere?
 
Id check your grounds be sure you have the right signal wires and ignition wires sre. Id ohm out each signal wire. The starting problem check that starter is getting signal. You could have your ignition switch wired wrong.
 
I’m guessing that you’ve had the starter off and done some painting of the engine block. Try running a jumper lead from the body of the starter to negative battery terminal and giving it a whirl. Then try putting a screwdriver across the main solenoid terminals for a second to buy pass the start signal and see what happens ( be careful that the screw driver only contacts the terminals it will be carrying a descent current)
 
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