Starter solenoid problem

[SS MAYFLOAT]

I'm helping my friend get his 89 Rienell 190 ready for the water. (has the L6 250 chevy that says OMC, but attached to a Mercruiser OD) I have everything working on it except for the starter. When I bypass the solenoid on the starter itself it cranks great.<br /><br />I followed my starter wire from the switch back to another solenoid/relay that powers the starter solenoid. So I unhooked the starter switch wire and jumped the solenoid with a wire directly to the battery. It did not energize that solenoid, but when I take the starter switch wire and jumper it directly to the starter, the solenoid does engage the starter.<br /><br />Is the first solenoid there to pevent the starter switch from burning out prematurely? I haven't encounterd a starting system that uses two solenoids for the starter. Can the first solenoid be replaced with a ford type one? Thanks

 

[Trent]

Re: Starter solenoid problem

Ok SS... Dont shoot me if Im wrong. I dont have a wiring diagram in front of me. You also have a strange setup. But the second solenoid your talking about is a slave solenoid. It normally is used during cranking to provide full battery voltage during cranking for the ign. circuit. (most setups) On the slave solenoid look and see on the small termanal, Does one wire go to the positve side of the coil??? If so the other small termanal goes to the ign. switch if my memory serves me correctly. The switch on the dash controls the ground for the slave solenoid to work. Their should be a second wire on the positive side on the coil which is normally a resistance wire (and is normally run to the choke I believe)This wire provides around 9.5 volts for the coil while the engine is running. Try running a jumper wire to the other small termanal on the slave solenoid to the battery GROUND and see if she works.

 

[SS MAYFLOAT]

Re: Starter solenoid problem

Thanks Trent for responding so quickly. I just went out and looked at the wiring. There is a yellow wire that comes back from the starter switch. When the key is turned to provide power to the start position, I'm getting 13.5 volts to that wire. This wire goes to the small post on the slave solenoid. The other post has a black wire on it. I used my VOM to verify that it went to ground, It does. This engine is not equiped with electronic ign or choke. I unhooked both yellow and black wire from the solenoid and used my jumpers to get the coil to kick the solenoid in. All it did was spark just a tad bit (not like a dead short) but it didn't close the contacts of the slave. Sounds to me like the slave solenoid is bad. Battery voltage is 13.57vdc, should be ample enough to engage it. Thanks.

 

[Trent]

Re: Starter solenoid problem

Sounds to me its bad also... Good luck.