Thread: WhaT tHE 7734!

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Why ThE 7734! do all of my ford fender mounted selinoids hang-up ?
Every one ! after about a month ? What am I doing wrong here ?
I'm not used to messing with fords so help me understand ,tell me how to fix it ,tell me what i need to buy/do ...

"I'm not buying another till I understand whats'up. " .

I could understand if it was just one but 3 diffrent rides !

TL

Several thoughts:

1) Wells seems to be the most common brand of these out there. Not sure how good they are, but I've used them for years with really no problems.

2) Are you getting a good ground? Just having a fender well bolted to the car may not be enough. Try using some of the small, braided straps between the fender wells and the frame. Make the grounds clean and tight, as well as the solenoid to fenderwell mount. It is a ground source.

What do you mean by hanging up? Do they quit working or what?


Don

"hanging up" = keeps trying to turn the starter even with the switch turned to the off position so i have to hop out and pull the ground off the BAtt to stop it. They will do fine for about a month then I start having problems.

I've made sure they are tight on the fenderwell but I'll pick up a few of the braided straps tomorrow and see if that makes a difference.

So it is just me then , no one else has this problem ?

T L

Never had the problem, find a different parts store maybe????

Like Dave said, this just never really happens. How about this.............if you look directly at the solenoid, you should have the positive from the battery on the left (obviously, on the fat terminal) Next is the skinny stud that goes to the ignition switch and is triggered by the "start" position. The next skinny one is for the 12 volts that you feed to the coil to give it a hot starting voltage. And finally, the other fat one goes to the starter.

Not a lot to go wrong here. Maybe the starters are drawing too much an frying the insides of the solenoid?

Also, as Dave suggested, maybe go to Ford and try a different brand. But I have used even the most common Autozone type, and never get any failures, especially with the symptoms you are describing.

Try the ground thing, it is the only thing I see that could possibly cause some trouble.



Don

I'll recheck my wiring as soon as it gets day light .
and I'll make it a point to pick up a different brand also.
Been shopping at OReilly's , my hit up the ford dealer and see what they have.
I'll do all suggested and report back in about a month.
Thanks for the responses, "I thought maybe I just needed to swap wiring/engine to a chevy to make them reliable "

FoRd don't like me
T L

Did you check your ignition switch??

More than likely it's just a cheap solenoid, after thirty some odd years of turning wrenches I make it a point not to purchase electrical parts from 2 certain parts stores, My first choice is Napa and the backup is Carquest,but you have to beware that they both carry the cheaper brands to compete with those other guys,so ya need to be sure and ask for the good stuff......

Originally Posted by treekiller

"I thought maybe I just needed to swap wiring/engine to a chevy to make them reliable "

FoRd don't like me

T L

Yup, just like Santa, The Blue Oval Gods keep track of who's been naughty and who's been nice !!!!!

i used to have the same problem on one of my 60 galaxies it'd always eat up starter solenoids even with 3 different engines and a few starters, so finally i decided to buy the bosch ceramic solenoid and never had a problem since.... it ran about $15 at pepboys

Had same problem with 6cyl. Mustang. Tried several sol. and same problem. I replaced ignition switch and no more problems. Later a Ford mech. told that was a common problem.
Jim