Slick 60's

Ok I think many of us know that a Ford Starter usually has but one big thick wire to hook up.
But this high torque Mini Starter has me baffled for my 302

It has 4 terminals on it, like the main Starter Solenoid on the firewall....!?
anyone hooked one of these up before? Someone in the club must have one..

need some help here boyz... I am LOST.. and many apologies for the crappy pics
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my 460 stock starter looks like that. It is a relay/sylinoid much like the one on your firewall, only this one is all wired up (it is on my 460) I just had to hook up the cable from the relay/sylinoid on the firewall to the top post.

I would hook it up on the bentch with a set of jumper cables and see if it turns over, just remember that it ground through the bolts that hold it on so conect the neg to one of the "ears" and just tap the positive end to the top nut (don't do it to the threds, it will dork them up.)

Hope this helps.

Johnny,
This starter only requires 2 connections and you can lose your solonoid on the fender. Your starter has the solonoid on top. The top connection on the solonoid is the battery positive hookup. The small terminal is the S or start terminal and it comes down from your original solonoid. It energizes the solonoid and connects your battery cable to the lug on the starter motor (you should see an l strap or connection between the bottom solonoid heavy lug and starter lug). Remember you have a solonoid and a motor bolted together.

How do I post a pic?

needmoretime wrote:Johnny,How do I post a pic?

scroll about 1/2 way down this thread http://www.fordtruk.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=13
Jim will tell ya.


So... which one is it boys? one wire to the top terminal or one to each?

If I get rid of the solenoid on the fender/firewall, what do I do with all the other wires from the starter switch, etc. that actuate it?...

Need a definitive answer here fellas

Johnny: First of all, my opinion is that you figure out which large stud on the new starter requires the cable from the existing solenoid to work, and ignore the other connections.
You can use either the fender mounted solenoid, or the new one on the starter. I recommend you just continue to use the fender mounted one for the following reasons:
1. It is easy to access and replace.
2. You can keep your existing wiring intact.
3. You don't have to change anything.
4. To use the new starter solenoid, you have to run extra wires down there, down around the exhaust or headers.
5. That new solenoid is not easy to replace.
6. You don't have to do a lot of reverse engineeering every 3 or 4 years when you have to figure out what you changed 10 years before.
7. It looks Ford.

If you want to completely wire up the new starter, though, an explanation of the existing wiring setup is in order.

This is the existing electrical setup on your truck (if close to original, anyway):
You have several sets of wires on that existing solenoid.
Looking at the solenoid with the two small posts facing you:
Left large stud: This has numerous wires mounted to it, the battery positive cable, truck electrical supply wires, alternator charge wire, regulator wires, other miscellaneous supply wires to the truck. These wires are hot all the time.
Left small stud: One push on wire; this is the wire from the key that tells the solenoid to send juice to the starter and turn the engine over. This wire is hot only when you turn the key to START.
Right small stud wire: This single push on wire sends a full 12 volts to the coil when the engine is cranking. This wire is needed to give a hotter spark when cranking to help the engine start. This wire is hot only when the solenoid is energized (when the key is turned to START).
Right large stud: This wire is the power supply to the starter. It is hot only when the solenoid is energized.
Finally the ground is through the tabs or ears holding the solenoid to the truck.
It is important to note that the solenoid has a primary purpose of a heavy duty switch; it is really a heavy duty relay that has become known as a solenoid because people think that is all it is. If the key START switch were to send all the current to the starter, the switch would burn up. So, the truck uses the weak START switch to turn on a heavy duty relay to make the starter work.

Having said all that, the new starter is really no different in principle.
The new starter simply has the solenoid on the starter, instead of on the firewall as a separate piece.
It will have the current supply (like the Left large stud), Key start connection (like the Left small stud), 12V hot wire to coil (like the Right small stud) and the starter main supply cable - just like the wire on the Right large stud.
You will need to figure out which one is which, and then run extra wires down there. Poor choice, if you ask me. Just my opinion, though!

I hope this helps.

Johnny, if you want to keep your original solenoid, it looks to me that you want to connect your battery cable (from the original solenoid to the original starter) onto the LOWER post on the new starter.
This post should have a tab or wire going from it down into the starter motor.

Test it like this:
With a set of jumper cables, clamp one on the starter body, frame or ears as suggested earlier.
Touch both large studs separately.
The one that fires off the starter to make it spin (NOT just make it click!) is the one you want.

Now for the bad news. I forgot about how the gear engages; I do not know how they do it on these mini starters. When you touch the lower post with power, watch to see if the gear jumps forward. If it only SPINS and does not jump forward (so as to engage the flywheel) then we need to add a connection in there.

Let me know.

John! That is EXACTLY what I was looking for... where is that thumbs up icon?

Thank you very much, I will be trying that tonite or tomorrow morning

Sigh.
I just talked to Garbz, and he told me how those mini starters actually work. They work like a Chebby starter instead of a Ford starter to engage the gear. The solenoid on the mini starter executes two functions:
1. As a relay, it sends high powered juice to the starter motor.
2. The solenoid also pulls on an internal lever, which kicks the starter gear forward. (Ford doesn't use the lever, it uses an inertially actuated gear colloquially called a Bendix, after the inventor.)

If you wish to keep your original solenoid, here what you will need to do:

1. Connect the starter supply wire to the large UPPER post on the new starter.
2. Connect a jumper wire between the upper large stud and the small stud marked KEY or START.

I stil think that is easier than re-wiring everything.

John wrote:If you wish to keep your original solenoid, here what you will need to do:

1. Connect the starter supply wire to the large UPPER post on the new starter.
2. Connect a jumper wire between the upper large stud and the small stud marked KEY or START.

I stil think that is easier than re-wiring everything.

John, hang on,you are losing me now.
I get the starter supply wire to the upper post part, just like a Ford.

Does the jumper wire go from the 'S' to the Large gauge starter supply wire at the Firewall solenoid or at the Starter solenoid? What gauge wire will it need to be?

Sorry Johnny.
I'll try this again.
Thanks for being patient.

1. Make a jumper wire. It can be regular gauge wire, like you use in the rest of the truck.
a. One end will need a large connector hole (or spade width) to go on the same large stud the battery wire connects to. Connect the large end of the jumper wire to the large UPPER stud on the mini starter. (Put this jumper wire on first, underneath the battery cable, then put the battery cable on. The thick battery cable end will protect the thin jumper wire connector from getting messed up by the nut you have to screw down on.)
b. The other end of the jumper wire needs a small connector, to go over one of the other small studs.

2. Take the large wire off your old starter, and connect it to the large upper stud on the new starter. The battery cable will have a large hole, for the large stud.

3. The small end of the jumper wire needs to go over the small stud labeled S or START or KEY - but I do not know how they are labeled.
If you can tell me how the studs are labled, I can tell you which stud to put the small end of the jumper wire on.

Is that better?

the way John said is correct. that is the way my 460 starter is done.

Nice job John

Thanks kindly once again Gentlemen
Seems clear in my frazzled grey matter now...

Hey! No problems!! It's all good!! :

Hahaha! that's hilarious