1957 Solenoid gets hot when hard starting | Ford Thunderbird club group 1955-2005 T-Bird models

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1957 Solenoid gets hot when hard starting

  • Thread starter Thread starter TbirdFan76
  • Start date Start date
TbirdFan76

TbirdFan76

Bronze Member
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Thunderbird Year
1957
Is it common for the solenoid to get hot and actually smoke when cranking engine 10 seconds or more? The positive cable casing has actually melted at the solenoid connector.

The engine is 312 V8 with original Holly List 1273-1 4 barrel carburetor. I've rebuilt the carb and fuel pump. It's still a hard starter the next day after being driven. Also after driving it can be hard to start at times and fine other times. A few squirts if starter fluid brings it around to starting. Haven't checked spark plugs and points yet.

It is annoying to have to watch the solenoid temperature when dealing with the hard starting.

Let me know if you've encountered the solenoid getting hot and if there is a way to prevent it (besides not cranking the engine more than 10 seconds). 😉

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Do you have a good ground, engine to body ? Have the neg. and positive cables been changed recently? How about the starter wire from solenoid to starter? Negative cable from battery to engine? You are drawing to many amps somewhere.
 
I would say its not normal. Clean all the cable ends and make sure they are tight. If it still gets hot you may have a starter that's drawing too much current or a bad solenoid, or corrosion on the inside of the cable where it's crimped to the end lug. A voltmeter can be helpful to troubleshoot as can an ammeter, particularly a clamp around one that reads DC amps. A good starter can easily draw 175 amps... a bad one can be pulling 300+.
 
have rarely found a 12 volt starter relay that when bad. It can and does happen, but many are replaced when the problem is the battery or starter. Do the tests as above. Does the starter seem to turn slowly when the engine is warm? I did have a problem with a 1955 5 volt that cranked real slow when warm. I was blaming the starter when I noticed that the relay was unusually warm. I replaced it, and problem solved!!
 
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