Parf
Registered Member
Cross posted on TheDieselPage.com
First a big thank you to Calcide, for all his help.
I have been so frustrated with an intermittant total powerloss due to bad connections on the wires that take power off of the starter that I decided it was time to take action. Also the fact that the wires shorted the starter into running continously until I could disconnect both of my bateries, and frying it in the process gave me some additional motivation.
I dropped the old starter, and cut all the wires off of it. I threw away the old positive cable that went to it, and pulled the other bundle of wires (3 I think) up into the engine compartment. 2 self-tapping sheetmetal screws secured the Ford starter solenoid into the top of the frame below and to the left of the alternator. I ran the old harness that went to the starter along the side of the block, next to the glow plug harness, and extended it the short distance to the solenoid.
Before installing the new starter, I made a short wire jumper that connected the main power of the starter to the stud that triggers the chevy starter solenoid, about an inch long. This way, whenever the starter gets any power, the solenoid kicks in.
I crimped up some new battery cables, one from the starter to the Ford starter solenoid, one from the Ford starter solenoid up to the positive terminal of my battery, and used a T-junction sort of bettery terminal that let me continue the positive cable up over the radiator, and down to the second battery on the drivers side.
The last thing to do was hook up the single wire that triggers the starter solenoid to the new Ford one, and take the 2 other wires that took power off of the starter and put them on the side of the solenoid that is always hot (directly between the Ford starter solenoid and the battery). A little wire loom here, and a good deal of heat-shrink there, it looks really good. Since I was already fixing all of this, I figured that I didn't want my ground cables to be the weak link in my system. So I crimped up 2 more 4/0 battery cables for the negative.
WOW! Does this system crank over fast!!! And never again will my truck be dead because the connection of those 2 wires on the starter shook loose. No more starter heat soak starting problems in the summer, because of the remote solenoid. Just one simple cable goes down to the starter.
Lastly, I'll admit it. 4/0 cables everywhere are excessive. They really are. But, it's bulletproof, and it makes me happy.
A view of my new 4/0 cables and Optima red tops.
A look down at the solenoid and the Powermaster 140amp alt.
A detail view of the solenoid and the connections. From left to right, cable to starter, stud that triggers solenoid, 2 wires that need always on power, cable to the positive batt. terminal.
First a big thank you to Calcide, for all his help.
I have been so frustrated with an intermittant total powerloss due to bad connections on the wires that take power off of the starter that I decided it was time to take action. Also the fact that the wires shorted the starter into running continously until I could disconnect both of my bateries, and frying it in the process gave me some additional motivation.
I dropped the old starter, and cut all the wires off of it. I threw away the old positive cable that went to it, and pulled the other bundle of wires (3 I think) up into the engine compartment. 2 self-tapping sheetmetal screws secured the Ford starter solenoid into the top of the frame below and to the left of the alternator. I ran the old harness that went to the starter along the side of the block, next to the glow plug harness, and extended it the short distance to the solenoid.
Before installing the new starter, I made a short wire jumper that connected the main power of the starter to the stud that triggers the chevy starter solenoid, about an inch long. This way, whenever the starter gets any power, the solenoid kicks in.
I crimped up some new battery cables, one from the starter to the Ford starter solenoid, one from the Ford starter solenoid up to the positive terminal of my battery, and used a T-junction sort of bettery terminal that let me continue the positive cable up over the radiator, and down to the second battery on the drivers side.
The last thing to do was hook up the single wire that triggers the starter solenoid to the new Ford one, and take the 2 other wires that took power off of the starter and put them on the side of the solenoid that is always hot (directly between the Ford starter solenoid and the battery). A little wire loom here, and a good deal of heat-shrink there, it looks really good. Since I was already fixing all of this, I figured that I didn't want my ground cables to be the weak link in my system. So I crimped up 2 more 4/0 battery cables for the negative.
WOW! Does this system crank over fast!!! And never again will my truck be dead because the connection of those 2 wires on the starter shook loose. No more starter heat soak starting problems in the summer, because of the remote solenoid. Just one simple cable goes down to the starter.
Lastly, I'll admit it. 4/0 cables everywhere are excessive. They really are. But, it's bulletproof, and it makes me happy.
A view of my new 4/0 cables and Optima red tops.
A look down at the solenoid and the Powermaster 140amp alt.
A detail view of the solenoid and the connections. From left to right, cable to starter, stud that triggers solenoid, 2 wires that need always on power, cable to the positive batt. terminal.
