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Now I'm confused

K

Kats66Pny

Active Member
Yeah yeah I know.. what's new. LOL Previous solenoid posts are different than this new motorcraft one I have so now I can't figure out what goes where. I could do trial and error and connect wires to different posts until it works but rather not fry anything.

Old one - don't see any markings like S or I on it.
3-1.jpg



New one - This one has S and I marked on the two smaller posts. S is towards the top of the picture, I is at the bottom.
1-2.jpg
 
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There's no markings at all on the old one. I do think I might have figured it out though. Found someone who has a 65 and same type of solenoid and I can kind of tell which wire goes where. Red/Blue goes on S and Brown goes on the I.
I can guess that the big black cable on the right goes to the starter and the other big cable would be for battery. :confu

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Well nevermind. One of the push on wires (brown) don't fit on I post. The I post is small than the S post. :wtf

Think guys at O'reillys messed up which solenoid to order. I bet they ordered one for a 1990 mustang not a 1966. Again. I go there so often they know what car I have and what motor is in it so I guess they just assume order 1990 5.0 parts. Ugh! This gets annoying. Especially when I tell them I need it for a '66 not a '90. First motorcraft solenoid they ordered only had 3 posts (and I even told them it needs 4 and I have stock '66 wiring so need it to work with that), and so they ordered another one with 4 posts. Took me two days of wrong ordering to get this new one. Now my wiring doesn't even fit on it properly.

Guess I have to take this new one back and be like 'look you fookers.. order 1966 solenoid!"
 
Yes, that is a 90's style solenoid. Take the old one in to show them.....plus it works to throw also.....
 
if you look at your old one again, it looks like it is marked. look where the little blue boxes are...

SOLENOID2.jpg
 
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Took back that other one and got one for a '66 and it looks like the old one with the posts on the side. I also remembered that the old one I had was backwards when it came to the cables for the battery and starter so I put those on how they were originally when I bought Gertrude .... and...

After a long wake up, she started! :yah I let her run for a little while. Turned her off. No problems turning off either. I'm going to start her back up here in a little bit after I get dinner started and she how she does. Crossing fingers the issue is fixed.
 
Good! Just so long as the fingers don't point towards my harness work!
 
"Kats66Pny" said:
Took back that other one and got one for a '66 and it looks like the old one with the posts on the side. I also remembered that the old one I had was backwards when it came to the cables for the battery and starter so I put those on how they were originally when I bought Gertrude .... and...

After a long wake up, she started! :yah I let her run for a little while. Turned her off. No problems turning off either. I'm going to start her back up here in a little bit after I get dinner started and she how she does. Crossing fingers the issue is fixed.
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The cable positions have/had nothing to do with your issue. Think of the solenoid as a light switch. All it does in allow the current to go from point A to point B. Doesn't matter which point has the juice to start with. I'd the guess the PO (previous oaf) had them switched simply to make it easier for his other award winning wiring to reach the post that had full time power.
 
Why on earth did they have to order that solenoid? Tell the manager there he needs to work on his stocking levels. That solenoid fits lots of old Fords and should be on the shelf.
 
The cable positions have/had nothing to do with your issue. Think of the solenoid as a light switch. All it does in allow the current to go from point A to point B. Doesn't matter which point has the juice to start with. I'd the guess the PO (previous oaf) had them switched simply to make it easier for his other award winning wiring to reach the post that had full time power.
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I know that. I was just saying I remembered they were backwards on the first one I replaced when I put all new wiring in and couldn't get the car to start and I remembered to put them back to original sides so they car would start.

Why on earth did they have to order that solenoid?
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Small town :shrug It usually only takes a few hours for them to order it from Houston and have it driven up here. They carried BWD brand in stock but not Motorcraft one. Guess their way of trying to push the one brand.
 
Motorcraft is good but I prefer the BWD over the other usual brands they carry like Wells. The BWD solenoids, caps, rotors, points generally have copper posts/ contacts better than the tin stuff of the Wells. Some of the BWD stuff needs to be their select brand to be copper but it is avail. Not sure if motorcraft uses copper or not?
Jon
 
Ohhh, that explains it. O'Reilly carries Motorcraft basically as a backup for people who are picky about the name, or for things that BWD doesn't supply. They don't stock much of it at the store level. Same with AC Delco. Neither company actually makes their own parts anymore, they just buy them and rebox them.

BWD is a Standard Motor Products company (so is Napa's Echlin brand). Good parts, and vastly greater coverage than Motorcraft provides. That's what you're going to find on the shelf because of supply, coverage, and warranty issues.

O'Reilly's does not carry Wells...that's Autozone stuff. BWD does have a "P" line of economy parts that are on par with Wells, but most stores don't stock much of it because there's also a bargain line of ignition parts to sell to that crowd.
 
I'm not sure which brand it was on the last two solenoids I bought before I bought motorcraft. I went in and told them what I needed and they went in the back and got it. So probably BWD. The first two seemed like they were defective or something and I had issues with them getting stuck. So far I haven't had any issues since installing the motorcraft one. *knock on wood*

Now since that issue of stuck solenoid might be fixed... on to other issues like my fuel gauge. I'm not sure if it's working accurately or how much gas I have. :hide
 
"Kats66Pny" said:
Yeah yeah I know.. what's new. LOL Previous solenoid posts are different than this new motorcraft one I have so now I can't figure out what goes where. I could do trial and error and connect wires to different posts until it works but rather not fry anything.

Old one - don't see any markings like S or I on it.
3-1.jpg



New one - This one has S and I marked on the two smaller posts. S is towards the top of the picture, I is at the bottom.
1-2.jpg
Click to expand...

I have to ask why you have the batt and starter cables on the wrong side?
This may be causing your problem.
 
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Well that doesn't mean it's correct.
They came from the factory with the batt cable on the left and the starter cable on the right.
Add that to a poor ground of the sol and problems will arise.
 
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