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1963 Ford 2000 4-cylinder Solenoid Problem

B

BuckeyeFanInFL76

Member
I bought a 12 volt 4 post solenoid off of Amazon that I believe would fix my starting problem. However once I wired it up and connected the battery it started cranking the starter without pushing the ignition button. So I removed the wiring coming from the starter button terminal and tried it again but the same thing happened when I hooked up the battery. So I removed all the wiring from the smaller terminals and only had the 12v wires connected to the solenoid and the same thing happened. Anyone have this happened before?
 
4 post solenoid has two big honkin
terminals and two little ones.
It sounds to me like you have the little
wires hooked up to the wrong posts. Try
switching them around and see if that
helps.
 
(quoted from post at 13:24:05 08/17/19) 4 post solenoid has two big honkin
terminals and two little ones.
It sounds to me like you have the little
wires hooked up to the wrong posts. Try
switching them around and see if that
helps.
Click to expand...

I don t have the little wires hooked up anymore and the solenoid still cranks the starter when the battery is hooked up
 
Pretty Scary!
I had this happen on an 841 diesel 12V. I bought a solenoid through a tractor supply dealer that was supposedly for my 841. Luckily, I didn't run myself over!
The solenoid works by grounding through the starter switch.
The one you bought probably grounds through the mounting bracket, so as soon as you connect everything, it works!
You need a solenoid with an isolated coil. Maybe Napa ST542 would work. They all look the same, so you should check it with an ohmmeter before you buy it.
 

In the beginning you likely had the wrong solenoid. As others have said, there are two different 4 post 12V solenoids. The one you need is activated by an external ground. The other is activated by an external power source and passes 12V power to the coil for more start ignition power.

Regardless, your new solenoid is faulty and may have been from the get go. There is no way the starter should crank with only the large terminals wired.
 
More interesting news. I went to tractor supply and picked up a new solenoid and installed it. Now the tractor does not automatically crank when the battery is connected as before which is good, but now when I hit the starter button, I do not hear anything, not even clicking from the solenoid. I disconnected the Wire from the push button and tried to ground it else where on the tractor thinking the button was bad but still no clicking or cranking. So I connected a jumper wire from the hot "I" smaller terminal of the solenoid to the 12v large terminal on the starter side of the solenoid and the tractor started cranking.

Any ideas on what could be wrong? Could the ground "S" terminal be bad? I believe I previously had it wired correctly with the push button wire going to "S" and since I do not have a key ignition anymore, I had a jumper from the 12v hot side large terminal to the "I" small terminal.
 
(quoted from post at 19:28:36 08/17/19)
Always that the tractor in neutral right :wink:
Click to expand...

Not sure what is meant by this!

When you attached the I terminal to the starter side of solenoid, that should have supplied a ground source to the solenoid pull in coil. Try connecting that terminal to your starter switch and the other to a power source.
 

And another thought: Your tractor was originally 6V+ (unless it's a diesel). Has it been converted to 12V-? If not, you need a 6V solenoid.
 


So if I hear you right, I should try wiring the push button to the "I" terminal and wire the "S" terminal with the 12v power jumper from the large terminal on the battery side?
 
Napa part number ST-542 is the solenoid you need for a 12V conversion. ST-542 is ground activated and what is needed.
cvphoto33724.jpg
 
I have seen this wiring, to bypass a resistor for starting, on many solenoids with S and I markings. This style was common on Ford, and other, vehicles from the 1950's thru the 1980's. They look like the ones needing an external ground. The S terminal coil is internally grounded and grounding the I terminal on these will create a dead short when the solenoid is engaged. A parts store should be able to confirm the wiring and design of a solenoid in their buyer's guide if you are unsure of the circuitry of the solenoid you are getting.

mvphoto41270.jpg
 
Ok so some more new information. I switched the push button to the "I" terminal and the powered jumper to the "S" terminal. Immediately after hooking up the battery the solenoid clicked a bunch of times before I disconnected the battery. I am not sure what this means....anyone?
 
First, is your battery fully charged and all connections clean and tight?. Second, all 12V solenoids are not the same even though they all look very similar. See my earlier post about the Napa ST-542 being the solinoiod you need. It is a ground activated solenoid which is what you need.
 
Well I went to Napa and got the solenoid and it worked....thanks! I was a little leary about it at first since the other two were recommend as well.
Thanks everyone for your help.
 
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