how do you hook up a ford solenoid on a chevy I'm running headers and a trunk mount battery

Don't know how to wire it up. But I can offer this advice. Get a genuine Ford solenoid. Or at least try to find something with some quality. My brother (Fordaholic) went through 3 of the "cheap" ones in less than a year. Bought one from the dealer for $2 LESS than the cheapies. And it lasted for years.

67Goat,I have heard the same things from 2 good friends who are FORD enthusiasts...there is a electrical automotive company,I think it's MAD Enterprises,that knows how to run the ford stuff on a chevy...perhaps the membership knows what's up on this...maybe after 9am you can get some feedback (save for us nightowls !)from some well rested folks !

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Check out Wes's Tech Reference #4 (http://www.chevelles.com/techref/)

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Dean Call
Team Gold member #3
A.C.E.S. # 00235
N.C.O.A. # 4350
Mid America Chevelle Club (http://macc.chevelles.net) #001
chevelles.net (http://chevelles.net)



[This message has been edited by Dean (edited 02-19-2000).]

run a hot wire from your battery and put it on the left big wire terminal on your solenoid(solenoid faceing you and up). Use at least a 12guage wire. On the other big nut on the opposite side of the solenoid run that wire to the right terminal on your starter and take the wire from there (usually purple)and put it on the small terminal on the solenoid on the left ,this will energize the solenoid when you turn the key to start and give you battery voltage at the solenoid. you must ground the solenoid.

Why not just get the remote solenoid kit from Summit ??? That's what I did. Comes with everything you need except the bat. cable to run from the bat. to the solenoid.

Personally, I prefer the method described by Chevy70 over the one in the tech ref section.
Advantages:
1)Lower current going through the Ford solenoid contacts (only GM solenoid current vs. starter current + GM solenoid current), making it last longer, or less nessessary to get the real McCoy
2) Don't need to change the battery cable

I put a schematic at http://personal.riverusers.com/~mcphelps/solenoid.html


[This message has been edited by Gene McGill (edited 02-19-2000).]

Wow. Using 70Chevy's method, you're just adding another solenoid in series to the one that's already there. The original problem is low voltage to the solenoid, how does adding another solenoid in series help with this?

Run the battery cable from the battery to the Ford solenoid, then from the Ford solenoid to the starter. Run the original purple solenoid wire to the start terminal on the Ford solenoid, then run a big fat strap from the battery terminal on the starter to the solenoid terminal on the starter. Voila, starter solenoid gets full battery power, no volt drop anywhere.

I don't understand that solenoids in series deal at all. Did I miss something?

Tom

this set up works great, i have it on my 65 also you may want to try larger diameter battery cables

Tom has it right, you need the strap to the "S" term on your orig. starter or you will get nothing! You still need the org. solenoid to engage the drive gear into the flywheel. This system just bypasses the switching inside the factory solenoid for better hot starts.

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71 Chevelle 454
65 Elco 4x4
68 Firebird 400 Conv.

Neither setup does anything to bypass the original solenoid, nor it's switching.
The root of the problem is that as a solenoid heats up, the magnetism generated by the coil is less (flux density in a coil decreases with heat). On a cold solenoid, the voltage is sufficient to create enough magnetic "pull" to pull in the plunger to pull out the bendix, and at the same time, activate the high current switch (connecting the battery cable terminal to the starter terminal and “r” terminal). On a hot solenoid, more voltage would be required for the same amount of pull. If you didn’t have the voltage to begin with, you won't get the pull. The voltage that I am referring to is the voltage that is applied to the "s" terminal through the purple wire. The voltage present on the purple wire will be lower than the actual battery voltage because as current is actually being drawn through the circuit, the contact resistances of all the connector and switches in the circuit (ignition switch, neutral safety switch, firewall connectors, etc.), plus the resistance of the actual wiring comes into play, and a substantial voltage drop is developed between the “s” terminal and the (+) battery terminal, resulting in insufficient voltage at the "s" terminal.
Most people will jump a heat soaked solenoid in one of two ways: short the top post to the "s" terminal, and remove the short once it starts, or run a wire from the "s" terminal and touch it to the (+) post of the battery, again releasing it once it starts. Putting a ford solenoid in the circuit basically automates these processes:
In the tech ref scenario, the solenoid is being left in the shorted state, but to be able to have remote control of it, the Ford solenoid is used to connect and disconnect power to the starter (at the same time connecting and disconnecting power to the “s” terminal). Without it, the starter would always be engaged, just as if you were holding a screwdriver across the terminals to “hotwire it”. With power disconnected by the Ford solenoid, the original solenoid released the bendix and opens the high current connection . All of the solenoids features are still being used; if the magnetic coil fails, your car will not start, and if the high current switch fails, your bendix will engage, but the starter won’t spin, again causing a no-start situation. Again, no features of the original solenoid are being bypassed.
In Chevy70’s scenario, we are automating the “ running a wire to the battery” way of doing it. If a wire is run from the “s” terminal of a heat soaked solenoid to the (+) battery post , the starter will crank. Disconnect the wire and it will stop. Putting a Ford solenoid in line with the wire provides the automated connect/disconnect. Another way to look at it is that the wire going to the battery post could actually be relocated to the battery cable terminal on the solenoid, and the Ford solenoid is just being a switch to short the battery cable terminal to the “s” terminal, like you would with a screwdriver. It’s just easier to attach the wire at the battery post.
Both scenarios accomplish the same result: getting higher voltage to the “s” terminal of the solenoid, and both scenarios do nothing to replace any of the work that the original solenoid must do.
Another thing to consider regarding the original question is that this is a trunk mounted battery. In the tech ref method, the accessory connection to the (+)battery must be made in the circuit between the battery and the ford solenoid. If the current setup has the accessory wire going to the top terminal of the original solenoid ( that’s how I would do it, rather that running another wire clear back to the trunk), it will not work.

Gene's right. Only thing that helps is to reduce heat induced resistance and distortion in both the solenoid and starter body.

A separate soleniod just adds a switch in another place to actuate the same GM solenoid on the same starter. Same problems still apply to the starter/solenoid.

When I lived in California's Central Valley, I used to run a piece of heater duct to a shrouded starter/soleniod, and through the core support to cool air, and a 12 volt electric fan. Fan was driven by a temperature switch on the radiator or the top hose, set to come on at 185 degrees and stop at 140 degrees.

Never had another starter problem with running the cool air over the starter/soleniod. Did have some weak starters, but after replacement and the cooling duct install, all was fixed.

For those who aren't familiar with the Central Valley, summer temps can get upwards of 118/F. to 121/F. degrees air, and much more from hot soak off the asphalt (normal summer temps are 110/F. to 113/F). Cools off to a balmy 90/F. to 100/F. overnight.

thanks for help everyone
this will solve that Texas heat thing
well with starter anyway

try the summit one,it worked well for me, easy to install and looks good too.

Where is the best place to mount the solenoid? I hate the idea of drilling a hole in my 66s steel inner fender. Does it depend on a ground where it bolts on?

Chris R.

I went with the Summit one as well, which I actually beleive is nothing more than the aforementioned Ford solenoid. Setup worked well, though, no more hot start problems, and if I had to "jump", it's a hell of a lot easier to get to then next to the hot exhaust under the car. As for mounting, you're pretty much limited, as I beleive that the mounts act as a ground.