Here I am stranded at work.
I thought I had this problem fixed...but no.

The clutch pedal rod has a switch on it so you have to push the pedal down for starting. It is cylindrical and looks like an LVDT for the electrical guys. It is spring loaded to push against the firewall. It has been acting up so you have to push very hard on the pedal to get a start. I even had to take the mat out. After sliding it up and down on the rod a few times it worked fine. Now it just stopped altogether. I tried adding a shim to space it up farther but that didn't work. I also tried pushing it down against the firewall. It has 2 wires coming out of it on a connector. A while back someone wrote that they had disabled this start feature so the truck could be started without pushing in the clutch pedal. Can I just jump these wires together??? Maybe I can add a couple temporary wires and just touch them when I go to start it. I'll try that after work tonight.

Any other ideas???

The clutch hydraulics work just fine so it is not a soft pedal and there are no leaks. I also looked under the hood and there are no wires that I can see coming out of the clutch master cylinder area. I also checked for blown fuses but everything seems ok. Also the starter seems to be ok. I do have the new contacts but have not put them in yet.

batteries are only 3mo old.
clean contacts and cables
Charging seems very good.
the lights do not dim
the starter doesn't click or try to engage
there is no draw when trying to start
headlites are bright and do not dim
all the gages work fine (ex ABS)
all systems seem ok.

It's cold and raining so it could be a nasty walk home.

 

can you explain your situation a little bit more? is there a clicking noise when you bump the starter, or is there nothing? have you checked the connections at the starter? can you hear your lift pump running(put the key into the on position and listen for it. im sure your contacts are crapped out but you should still hear a clicking noise if the starter was getting power? the other guys will chime in with other info.

 

I get absolutely nothing from the starter. no clicks no nothing.
The fuel pump runs fine ...14 psi after the filter.
I cycles nicely.
It's cold out too and the grid heaters work fine.
I tapped lightly on the starter, but nothing.

I just pulled the saftey switch plug apart and tried jumping it with a jumper wire but I still get nothing. I even carefully put it in neutral and wiggled the jumper while I turned the key. ( I was completely in the truck and it is facing a field.)
I think the connections are ok as everything else is pretty clean under the hood. The battery wires are good and tight and clean. I did wiggle the wires and tried again but nothing.

I beginning to think it is the ignition switch itself. I'm not sure if there is a multi function switch or just the ignition switch.

I don't know if I can scare up enough tools to do the contacts or not. everybody is gone for the weekend. If not the Zone is 5 miles away. 3 hours round trip in the rain. I have sick time so if I catch cold I'm covered . haha

I'm going to search the forms about the switch. Can't do much but take it apart and try to fix it as the only dealer is closed.

 

I did a search on the ignition switch and found that the wires can be too short and will pull out of the plug ?? or at least check it out.

How much trouble is it to take the column apart and fix this.??

I can probably go buy the tools for the starter if I knew what to get.
What do I need???

I have the good contacts already

 

i don't know if you have the same starter as me(i think they are). you will need a 10mm 12 point wrench to get the starter out. take the top one out first(a little bit of a pain). By the way, make sure you take both positive battery cables of the terminal, i took only one off and i was lit up like a christmas tree . there should be three little hex nuts(i think they are 8mm or 9, cant really remember. you will also need a 17mm(i think anyway), to take the positive post off so you can change the contacts. the main positive is usually the one that is fried. it is about a 20-30 minutes job, not too dificult and a lot cheaper than 500 bucks on a new starter.

 

Thaks for the help. It was a long walk home. I'll be back again in the morning to do the starter. I sure hope that's the problem. I have that sinking feeling.

again thanks for the help

 

At least you're home and dry now.

Try not to sink too far....it can be fixed. Good luck.

 

Well at the truck after another long walk. 1st the co hyd. jack was low on fluid and would only go up about 4 inches under load. After a lot of switching blocks I managed to get the truck up on a a coulple 4 x 4 and blocked in securedly.
I slid under it to check out the tools needed and the situation. I brushed against one of the little rubber vents on the starter and ...zzziiittt and sparks came flying out and it was glowing red hot inside. I slid out and grabbedthe 1/2 inch and quickly got the neg wires off the batteries. By this time smoke was pouring out from under the truck. I ran in the building and grabbed 2 fire extinguishers and came out. Fortunately the heat was gone and the smoke was pretty much gone too. I checked the wires but the heat was confined to the starter itself.

I proceeded to remove the starter. The top bolt is a bear but I was able to get another wrench teamed up with the 10mm and a screwdriver in a hole in the frame to pry against and got it loose. The rest was was easy.
I took the starter apart and about 2 full cups of grit, ashes and particles came out. One contact was totally worn away. It appeared that the plunger made it's final trip and either shorted out or jambed and the starter must have run untill it burned up. I sure didn't hear it running or notice any unusual current draw while driving. Never the less it was burnt toast inside. Talk about stink. yuk
Fortunately the co truck was back so I drove over to AZ and picked up a rebuilt starter (all they had) Guaranteed for life. (except for labor) so I came back and installed it in a few minutes. I set the truck back on the ground and put everything away. Turning the key and rrrreeeerrr. No more battery. Dang. So I go get the shop truck. It's a 96 Dodge 1/2 ton. I open the hood and the battery looks original. So I think let's be gentle and not blow up the battery. I hooked up the jummper cables (everyone has them right) and let it charge the big truck for a few minutes but no go. I let it sit for about a hour then and finally on the last sputter the truck came to life. It's alive..Now I know how Frankenstien felt. haha

It's fixed for now. The lesson learned. ...replace the contacts at 100k $35 or replace the starter at 150k $206.

I also did the APPS reset as the batteries were disconnected for a long time. Other than the radio lost it's mind and the clock is 4 hours off and the trip odometer went to "0" everthing is ok. The truck seems to have gained some response too. It just seems sharper for some reason. I suppose the APPs might have helped but it was find before. Just a little sharper now.

Thanks for all the help and encouragement.