1964 how to wire up starter solenoid?

Garret Swanson

Garret Swanson

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Joined
Sep 14, 2020
Thunderbird Year
1964
Hello everyone, so i recently but a starter Solenoid. and foolishly didn't take before pictures to wire up correctly. so i was wondering if someone here can help me wire it up and be back to its formal glory.

so the negative and the yellow and black wire is on top (which i believe is the ignition. then on the bottom is just the positive.
again i have never worked on a car like this so help would be amazing.
Thanks,
Garret Swanson

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Good morning. There's no negative on the starter solonoid. On the upper side should probably be the positive from the battery. The lower one goes to the starter motor. The small terminals should be marked "S"&"I". Sis from the ignition switch and I is to supply power to the ignition while cranking.
 
74 Harley said:
Good morning. There's no negative on the starter solonoid. On the upper side should probably be the positive from the battery. The lower one goes to the starter motor. The small terminals should be marked "S"&"I". Sis from the ignition switch and I is to supply power to the ignition while cranking.
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Hello! So does the negative connector for the battery not connect to the Solenoid? and right now i have "S" part connected to the red and black wire should i switch them around?
 
Garret Swanson said:
Hello! So does the negative connector for the battery not connect to the Solenoid? and right now i have "S" part connected to the red and black wire should i switch them around?
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NO NO NO, do not connect the negative from the battery to the solenoid. The negative from the battery is going to be connected directly to the engine block or the frame or some other large chunk of metal. I'm not fully knowledgeable about the 64 but in broad terms the positive from the battery connects to one of the large terminals on the solenoid and the other large terminal is connected to the large wire that goes down to the starter. For the small terminals, one of them gets power when the ignition switch is turned to START. I think the other one sends 12 v to the ignition coil at that same time. Many times there will be a second large cable on the same large terminal that has the positive cable from the battery and that large cable goes to the fuse block or other places that distribute power to various circuits. Again, these are general comments, not necessarily exactly how the 64 is wired but it will be similar.
 
jimntempe said:
NO NO NO, do not connect the negative from the battery to the solenoid. The negative from the battery is going to be connected directly to the engine block or the frame or some other large chunk of metal. I'm not fully knowledgeable about the 64 but in broad terms the positive from the battery connects to one of the large terminals on the solenoid and the other large terminal is connected to the large wire that goes down to the starter. For the small terminals, one of them gets power when the ignition switch is turned to START. I think the other one sends 12 v to the ignition coil at that same time. Many times there will be a second large cable on the same large terminal that has the positive cable from the battery and that large cable goes to the fuse block or other places that distribute power to various circuits. Again, these are general comments, not necessarily exactly how the 64 is wired but it will be similar.
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Very interesting and thank you for helping me. and i think i should explain by what i mean by attaching the negative cause i dont think i did that well. basically i did attach the negative cable to the engine block and not directly to the Solenoid. (there will be a picture to show what i mean cause its hard to explain. So the older wire is what i am talking about not the new negative cable.
 

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Yes, if that older black wire is going to the starter it is most likely the one that should be connected to one of the large terminals on the starter solenoid.
 
jimntempe said:
Yes, if that older black wire is going to the starter it is most likely the one that should be connected to one of the large terminals on the starter solenoid.
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Yeah, couple days ago all the lights would turn on but the car wouldn't turn over or even try and my dad (he was with me working on it) and he said the Voltage Distributor was clicking... and I wasn't sure if it was doing that before, I don't remember hearing a click but at the same time it is volts of electricity. and now I don't hear the clicking after doing some more adjustments . I don't know if it's my battery or my car. Also by any chance do you know how to test my Tbird electrical system. I do have a multimeter.

Note for later take a picture of how things are connected thats what i learned the hard way...
Hope you have a good one!
Garret
 
Garret Swanson said:
Yeah, couple days ago all the lights would turn on but the car wouldn't turn over or even try and my dad (he was with me working on it) and he said the Voltage Distributor was clicking... and I wasn't sure if it was doing that before, I don't remember hearing a click but at the same time it is volts of electricity. and now I don't hear the clicking after doing some more adjustments . I don't know if it's my battery or my car. Also by any chance do you know how to test my Tbird electrical system. I do have a multimeter.

Note for later take a picture of how things are connected thats what i learned the hard way...
Hope you have a good one!
Garret
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There is a good chance you have many dirty/corroded connections on that car. I would unbolt all of those "big wires" from the solenoid, the body, the block, the starter and clean the connections.

As to testing with the multimeter, one thing that fools people is they test for voltage when a circuit has no load on it and see 12volt and assume all is good. That's ok when testing for continuity but won't show that you have badly corroded/high resistance connections. If the starter only "clicks" you should test the voltage AT the starter when trying to start it. You may find it's only 5 volts due to corrosion in the wires/connections from the battery to the starter.
 
Try this, take both small wires off the solonoid and have a helper hold the key in the start position. Check to see which one has power. Connect that one to post "s". Connect the other one and try to start the car. If all you get is clicking you may need to charge the battery or clean connections.
 
I have a 1965 T-bird and cannot get it started unless I use the battery to one of the small posts. The switch will not make the connection. I can reverse the small post wires and it will start with the key switch but does not run well. There is also a white wire with a connection for one of the large posts but wher I hook it up to the connection that goes to the starter it does not run well. When I hot wire it starts and runs well. Please help!
 
There should only be one wire on the post that goes down to the starter. If it will start with the key when you reverse the small wires do it. That white wire on the wrong post may cause issues.
 
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