starter switch? I think I just have bad wiring - - -

[P72Ford]

It seems average size to me. Just a stock replacement for a 351...

[Jill]

but enough about starters.
mainly because
MY STARTER, SOLENOID, BATTERY, TERMINALS, RELAY, AND ALTERNATOR ARE ALL BRAND NEW.

I'm going to go with stupid wiring.



ALSO; WHY IS THAT CV PINK? and where did the taillight go?

[P72Ford]

ALSO; WHY IS THAT CV PINK? and where did the taillight go?

Pink? That is purple... and it is that color because it is very hard to choose a color from a small sample card at the paint store... It was supposed to be more of a burgundy, but oh well. It was painted with a brush and a roller .

That is the burnout machine, and it is missing the tail light because it was used on my other car (when I busted the tail light with the lawn mower) Luckily, a member here (FastGallopingPonies) donated a tail light to the cause, so it does have one now.

Check the youtube link for further explanation...

[Glen]

Looks good for a brush and roller job.

[88grandmarq]

but enough about starters.
mainly because
MY STARTER, SOLENOID, BATTERY, TERMINALS, RELAY, AND ALTERNATOR ARE ALL BRAND NEW.

just because you have new parts, doesn't mean anything.
I went through SIX, supposedly new starters from the parts store on my car in 3 weeks, all them were junk, would randomly engage and if I got lucky they would click. a buddy of mine gave me a used Motorcraft starter from his Mustang, which worked for 3 more years, until I replaced it with another Motorcraft starter when I installed a rebuilt engine.

If you are sure all the above mentioned parts are good, I would check both battery cables, including the ground cable where it connects to the engine block.

I would also suspect the igntion switch mounted on the bottom side of the steering column (not to be confused with the lock cylinder) switches in these cars are notorious for failing.

[85crownHPP]

being that you've been jumping the solenoid to get the car started, I'm going to have to say that the solenoid is the problem. .

Nope, if you can make the fender solenoid work by jumping it, the solenoid is working fine.
If you have to jump the solenoid, the probelm is somewhere before the solenoid in the wiring, somewhere in the "start" circuit or neutral saftey switch, and is not going to be a problem with the starter or cables. Those parts will act up no matter how you fire the solenoid.

[Nathan in MI]

I know what you mean, I've trained myself to leave all the accessories turned off because I've heard they were hard on the solenoids and probably ignition switch. If a starter is going it may take awhile to completely go or at least that's what happened in our Park Ave. With that sometimes a couple of no starts with clicks, then it'd catch, till finally it completely went.

How do you figure that having accessories turned on would be hard on the solenoid? The power for your radio, blower motor, lighting, etc. doesn't go through the solenoid, and they're turned off during the starting cycle anyway.

[86GmLsCoupe]

Nope, if you can make the fender solenoid work by jumping it, the solenoid is working fine.
If you have to jump the solenoid, the probelm is somewhere before the solenoid in the wiring, somewhere in the "start" circuit or neutral saftey switch, and is not going to be a problem with the starter or cables. Those parts will act up no matter how you fire the solenoid.

I Didn't know that, I do know when I visiting my friend because her Mark VII wouldn't start my dad told me over the phone to jump it. I did, got it over my house, got the new solenoid, and it's worked for almost two years. I've done the jump thing on my car a couple times when the solenoid shit the bed.

How do you figure that having accessories turned on would be hard on the solenoid? The power for your radio, blower motor, lighting, etc. doesn't go through the solenoid, and they're turned off during the starting cycle anyway.

Would it just be not the best for the ignition switch or battery then? I just could have sworn that I remember being told that and figure at the very least, it'd do nothing at all. My electrical and wiring experience is very very limited so any info you all have is greatly appreciated.

[Nathan in MI]

You've got to remember that all accessory power is turned off during the starting cycle because they want to use every last bit of energy in the battery to run the starter motor. So for that reason, I can't see why having the accessories turned off while starting the car would make any difference - the car turns them off for you!

With that said, it most certainly won't hurt anything, and if you like having everything turned off when you start the car, far be it from me to tell you not to do it.

[85crownHPP]

If the solenoid is bad, its not even possible to "jump" it. This is becuase if the solenoid isnt doing its job, there is no way to "make" it work, unless it is behaving erraticly, in such case anything you do is just another roll of the dice.
Jumping it is indeed the test to see if its bad, but only if you jump a solenoid and it does NOT work, its bad, unless its not getting the current it needs from the battery for some reason.

When i did the CFI-EFI swap, I hant figured out my "start" circuit yet, so I was "jumping" the solenoid to make it start. This is becuase, of course, the problem was in my "start" circuit, before the solenoid. It most certainly did not mean my solenoid was bad.

You can "bypass" a solenoid by creating lots of sparks bridging the two fat posts, passing massive cranking amps through a metal of your choice (unless you have the 90-91 dual-solenoid system, where only the current needed for the 2nd solenoid passes through the 1st one), but its not advisable. Is this what you did? if so, then your conclusion may be correct, IF you didnt have any problems with your start circuit. There is a BIG difference between jumping and by-passing a solenoid...

[86VickyLX]

I've seen solenoids just click, and then sometimes work fine. It happened at SF with AF.

[87_crown_vic]

if the solenoid is cracked... moisture can get in it and make it act weird... it will werk and times it wont... trust me on this.... only times it didnt werk right but occassionally did was when it was wet out... otherwise it werked fine...