I have a 1977 4 door maverick with the 250I6. When I tried to start the car the electric shuts off. Then about 5 minutes the electric will come on then the car will do it again when I try to start it. I tried changing the battery cables and tried a new battery and the same thing happens.
check the connections at the starter solenoid. also, this sounds like an ignition switch going bad. see if anything changes by rotating the key back and forth in the RUN position. if the electricity seems to come and go, then I would look into the ignition switch. it is located on the bottom of the steering column, but on the top side.
Check all your ground wires, check all your wire connections, check all your ground wires,,, then ,,, recheck all the above!
Now I got the car to start due to one cable not tight enough around the battery. Now the car starts then shuts back off again. The only way to keep it running is to have your foot on the accelerator and the engine starts shaking. When it stops running white smoke is coming out the carb.
Time for a complete ignition tune up. Plug wires, plugs, coil, a new ignition module box (on the fender) cap (get the premium cap with the brass terminals), rotor. Make sure the coil is the correct one for a Duraspark ignition. If it won't run after a tune up, something may be wrong with the carb.
