OK so 1988 2.3 160ish

sorry for punctuation and spelling before hand

So back story/log
I put a engine in it my x decided to kill it with a intake full of baby powder got 1200 miles on that one so it sat for a year I got another block with 65k miles out of a wrecked one out it in runs perfict for I did the starter and the solenoid at same time and the main wires to them also drove it for 6 months the ignition switch dies 2 hours from home with 1700 lbs of scrap on a trailer got it home finally fixed and put new relays also the ones on the fender it its always seems to have somthing running like a draw somewhere I can drive it every day will start every time if it sits for a couple days it tends to not start and just click i can jump it and it fires up its done that from day one I've put 2 starters on it 1 just quit like 3 weeks after I changed it theirs probably more

​well today it decided to not shut off the starter truck started right up and starter did not turn off I took the keys out tans sat them on the seat and was still turning over burnt the s@@t out of my fingers getting the wing nut undone to shut it down unhooking the ground I think I need to replace the ground to the starter now when I tried to restart it after bypassing the small wire that shuld come from the ignition or something I know what it dose anyhow it had a little over 9 volts negative on it even when I unhook the wire harness from the ignition key on or not switch I put a switch between it so it wouldn't turn over unless I wanted it to or to shut down the starter tried to start it and made the ground at the battery a bit smokey Its not a beauty queen but I would like to keep fire out of its future where/what do I look for what would cause the partial ground voltage after the key is turned is their a switch or relay keeping something shorted or could it be the initial parasitic voltage draw I took electronics in school I can read basic wiring diagram any links would be greatfull thank you for reading

 

Welcome to the forum

So 1988 Ranger, cool

Yes, wiring is 30 years old, probably getting a little brittle.

On the inner fender is the Starter RELAY, often called a solenoid, but it just passes voltage so a RELAY, a solenoid moves something, like on the starter motor the solenoid moves the gear out to make contact with the ring gear, lol, sorry pet peeve.

Anyway on the inner fender is the Starter Relay, it will have 3 posts, 2 large and one small
1 large post will have the battery positive cable, and that post is now the Power Distribution point for the vehicle, alternator connects here, so do all the fusible links.

Other large post just has ONE cable, to starter motor, NOTHING ELSE can be on this post.
Doesn't matter which post is which, there is no IN/OUT, but ALL wires connect to which ever post the Battery Cable is on, other large post just has ONE(starter motor)

The smaller post activates the Starter Relay, closes it, Ford used a Red/Blue stripe wire for many many years for this, and it was that in 1988

The Red/Blue wire comes from the Neutral safety switch, this is on the transmission for automatics, and on the clutch pedal push rod on a manual trans
The Neutral safety switch prevents starter motor activation "in gear".
So trans must be in Park or clutch pedal must be down all the way to start engine

Ignition switch starts the ball rolling, when key is turned to START it sends 12volts to Neutral switch, if "in neutral" that 12volts goes to starter relay

Battery----------ignition switch--------neutral switch----------starter relay

There is one other thing, you have a TFI ignition, it ALSO gets 12volts on that same Red/Blue wire, a splice, and TFI also gets 12volt when key is in RUN
So it TFI modules START and RUN wires are shorted, then starter relay would get 12volt on Red/Blue wire even after key was off START, but 12volts should have been cut with key OFF

Best guess would be your starter relay got welded ON, 60+ amps pass thru it, small gap will weld it closed.

If you have more than one wire on Starter Motor's Post on the starter relay, and that happened to be Alternators wire, then when engine started alternator would now be powering starter motor so it would not shut off, and could maybe supply enough amps just be starter cranking engine, although long shot on that.

basically the only way to get starter enough amps to crank engine is via the BIG cables at starter relay, so relay is bad

here is a diagram of 1988 2.3 starting system: http://www.therangerstation.com/tech...83to88_2_3.JPG

 

OK you answered my question so power could be found from the blue/red at the tft module / wire to and from short something causing a partial voltage time to start digging I hate messing wiring

the starter relay is fine only the starter wire on the one side i can manually engage it with a wire to the battery thank you for your

 

OK as I'm digging I have a 2 black wires going to from.the negative to the harness 1 goes into a 4 pin connector behind the battery and the other is a siingle round connecter that changes to a black / yellow stripe

 

OK as I'm digging I have a 2 black wires going to from.the negative to the harness 1 goes into a 4 pin connector behind the battery and the other is a siingle round connecter that changes to a black / yellow stripe if they are not hooked to ground it will not start but when I do they activate the relays on the fender

 

Negative battery cables
Large one goes to the engine, usually starter motor bolt but can be anywhere on the engine, this is for Starter Motor and Alternator
Smaller wire goes to Rad support, for head lights
Then usually a short jumper from there to inner fender for Relay Grounds

Not sure what the 4 pin connector is for

There should also be a Ground strap from the back of the head to the firewall, this is the Main Ground for the cab, and all sorts of odd issues can show up if this is left off after engine work.
So check for that ground strap, if you do not find it then ADD ONE, cab metal needs to be grounded, if its there make sure it is clean and tight.

If relays are closing when you add a ground then they must have 12 volts as well, if key was off then you have a short to 12volts

Ford used Black wires for 12 volts and for grounds, so don't assume wire color means 12v or ground

 

I've got 1 big 6 guage running to the fender from the battery and then another run from the engine to the body truthfully I don't know if I have one to the frame

 

??

Sounds odd
Big cable can run to inner fender but another big cable needs to run from there(same bolt) to the engine, this setup must pass 60-70 amps so needs a big cable.

Yes, there is often a ground strap from engine to frame(for tail lights), usually around motor mount area.

All the "body" parts were painted before assembly, so they have no electrical connection.
They are all isolated from each other even though they are bolted together, because of the rubber mounts and painted surfaces.
So each has to be Grounded to be used as part of an electrical circuit
Cab ground is very important, lots of electrics in the cab
Rad support for the head lights as well
And inner fender for the relays
Frame for tail lights

Just because it is metal doesn't mean it is a ground, can be, but never assume it will be a "good" ground.

There are some older Ranger wiring diagrams here: http://www.therangerstation.com/how-...ring-diagrams/


Also just looking over other diagrams.........any Black wire with a STRIPE may be a positive wire
"and the other is a siingle round connecter that changes to a black / yellow stripe"
So grain of salt for that connection

 

The black/yellow I find is a tach service connector c1005 in the crapy helms I have page that's something else that's never Ben right it's way low
ok so that one shuldnt need to be connected

My head makes It seem like something is crossed on the +side of the relays and when I ground it with the black wire that activates the fuel pump eec relays key on or off could that be the short that kept the truck turning over also I'm fighting that now I'm tempted to just clip the wire and re run it

 

Im blind it was black and green extra eyes help some times I don't know where it goes yet tho

 

Starter running all the time means the Starter Relay is stuck CLOSED, or the "S" wire(smaller post on relay) has 12volts all the time.

Those are the only 2 options for that

So unplug the "S" wire at the starter relay, hook battery back up:
If starter motor comes on then replace starter relay
If starter does not come on then "S" wire, red/blue stripe wire, is the problem

 

I put a switch between it so I know it wouldn't keep turning over I'm 100 % positive it's not the starter relay or starter
it's trying to melt the 2 odd wires now I pulled the loom and tape off them both one goes to a orange wire that I think is supposed to go to the o2 and the black green goes into the harness into a splice and back to the o2

 

So I know I'm all over the place im.sorry but I've chased a red lt green wire from the ignition switch out to the module on the distributor and its going to ground somewhere It goes thru a 8 pin connector going to the engine if I un hook this connection and check the unhooked ignition switch it shows continuity to ground at the switch or the connector going thru the fire wall at least it looks that way it's buried in the harness

 

The red/lt green wire is the main power wire for engine stuff when key is in RUN or START.

And ignition switch has no ground wires, at all, it is strictly for passing 12volts on to fuses and devices\
1989 diagram here: http://www.therangerstation.com/tech...m_1989_2_3.JPG

You have a distributor in '88 but wiring was the same