Good day.

It's been a long time and I hope all viewing are well.

Interesting incident on the way to work this morning. I got in the truck, cranked it. It ran fine and idled smoothly.

I drove about 12 miles without issue. Made a stop. Truck cranked right back up and I drove the final mile to the office. As I rounded the final RH turn, the truck cut off and now it won't even turn over.

Interestingly, when I open the door, the open-door light on the dash will light up; insert the key (door open) and the buzzer comes on. But, when the key is turned, nothing...not a thing AND then, the buzzer will not sound and the light on the dash goes out for a few minutes. The only other clue I have to offer is that going over a couple of bumps, the stereo cut out, but came right back on.

The battery is putting out 12.75 volts, so that's good.

Really bizarre.

I'm thinking it might be the ignition switch. It's original to the car, so not a stretch. Is there an ignition relay? All that would be original, too as I've never messed with that system much at all.

Any ideas out there?

Thanks in advance.

Which ride?

Do your headlights come on? If so, turn them on, try to start. If they stay bright, it's the switch. If they dim, probably the starter. If they go out, the battery's dead. Maybe your alternator's not charging, but the dash light is not working.

My bad, fellas...

It's the 87 turbo truck - 2.6.

I'll give the headlight thing a try, but pretty sure the ignition switch must be operational for them to come on (at least on the 87 model).

Battery shows 12.75 volts, so perfect voltage which steers me away from the alternator and the battery's definitely not dead.

Hit a bump and your stereo cut off....

Check your wiring in the column for rubbed spots. Also, grounding is critical in virtually any model of vehicle. Bad ground connections can cause real weird problems.

And simple corroded connections at the battery.

Update for 10/15. Finally had some time to look seriously at it.

Pulled the column cover and checked all wires. They were all tied back nicely following the turbo conversion, so no rubbing was expected and none was found.

One new development is the key was able to be turned to "run" without everything going black. Figured to turn the headlights on as cheesegrater suggested above. As soon as the light switch was activated, it all went black again.

As stated above, I believe the ignition switch must be in the "run" position for the headlights to work. Should have tried the lights with the car off just to see what happens, but I only have one shot, then must wait a while before getting dash lights back again.

An any case, it seems that any power put through the ignition switch shuts everything down for a bit. No battery drain, though. Battery still testing at 12.4 V.

More to come.

I would say so too,

Problem is fixed.

You guys won't believe it. Such a rookie mistake (or oversight) that I'll put it up as a glaring reminder to not take the stupidly simple stuff for granted.

At the outset of this saga, I'd checked battery cables first thing. Grabbed the cables and gave 'em both a good rattle. Battery moved a little, but cables on the battery terminals did not. All cool, right?

Nah.

This evening, out of sheer desperation, I broke out the wrench and took the positive cable loose and picked it up off the terminal. When what to my wondering eyes should appear, but a goddamned piece of pine bark. Almost like someone had put it there. Never even occurred to me to pull that lead as it wasn't loose and I never take it off to work. I always pull the negative cable. There are also fresh, treated non-corrosion pads on both terminals.

Hooked the cable back up, opened the door and saw the "door open" light. Reinforced, I put the key in the hole and got a good, strong buzzer. Turned the key and she fired right up.

So, I cranked up the awesome audio and basked in the stench of the exhaust for a few minutes while dancing a little jig in the driveway.

Thanks very much to all who contributed. I was damned stumped.