Ignition Brown Wire is Engaging Starter - HELP!
 

I installed an aftermarket push to start system and it worked perfect for about a year. Then when I’d engage it to start the starter would not disengage. I thought it was a relay in the push-to-start system so I put it back to the original keyed ignition. Problem continued and I ended up burning up a starter. New starter, new ignition and the problem continues.

I have since isolated the problem to discover that the brown wires at the ignition are also causing the starter to engage. Here is how I figured that out. I jumped a wire from res to purple and the starter engaged. Then I did the same thing but connected the red wire to the brown and same thing, starter engaged.

I’ve followed wires to see if perhaps the brown or purple were shorting out to a ground and causing a loop to the starter but have not found anything. I’m at a loss and wanted to see if any of y’all have dealt with this or know how to trace the problem down.

Thanks.

Ignition Brown Wire is Engaging Starter - HELP!
 

I installed an aftermarket push to start system and it worked perfect for about a year. Then when I’d engage it to start the starter would not disengage/turn off. I thought it was a relay in the push-to-start system that failed so I put it back to the original keyed ignition. Problem continued and I ended up burning up a starter trying to figure it out. New starter, new ignition and the problem continues.

I have since isolated the problem to discover that the brown wires at the ignition are causing the starter to engage. Here is how I figured that out. I jumped an ignition wire from red to purple and the starter engaged like it should. Then I did the same thing but connected the red wire to the brown and same thing, starter engaged. From my understanding brown should be ACC or On and not engage starter.

I’ve followed wires to see if perhaps the brown or purple were shorting out to a ground and causing a loop to the starter but have not found anything. I’m at a loss and wanted to see if any of y’all have dealt with this or know how to trace the problem down.

Thanks.

Re: Ignition Brown Wire is Engaging Starter - HELP!
 

This does seem pretty weird. Can you please tell when you jumped from red to brown and from red to purple, was that with the plug connected to the ignition switch, or unplugged from the back of the ignition switch?
Was the pushbutton start system something added on and the key switch remained connected, or was the key switch completely removed when the pushbutton controller was added?
I see the brown and purple wire connections are next to each other on the connector that plugs into the key switch. I suppose it would be possible for a short in the connector between those 2 terminals, or in the switch. Have a really close look at that connector.

Re: Ignition Brown Wire is Engaging Starter - HELP!
 

Also, the wiring under the dash has the brown and purple wirings traveling in the same wrapped bunch. If there was some damage to the wire bundle, or some melted insulation at some point along the way between the key switch and the fuse panel and firewall terminal connector block, there could be a short. If in the 50 years since the truck was made somebody hacked into the wiring harness to connect some accessories, they may have damaged something, that is very common.

Re: Ignition Brown Wire is Engaging Starter - HELP!
 

Do you still have a yellow wire running from the starter to the coil/distributor? If you do, and you have the yellow and purple wires swapped, then the yellow wire could be responsible for making your starter motor turn over constantly. I don't think this makes any sense based on what you said about the brown wire, but I thought I'd throw it out there anyway.

Re: Ignition Brown Wire is Engaging Starter - HELP!