Solenoid/starter replacement

[Mr Bob]

OK ol'George. Please refresh my memory. What is a bowtie that you were driving? I am old enough to know but can't remember. Thanks and everyone have a great day. And to the OP, The old cars that I drove had a bad solenoid if you could jump the two large terminals and the engine turned over. Flipping the washer would last for a while.
Bob

[ejl6658]

What you are doing when jumping the posts on the solenoid is making the connection that the solenoid should make when you here the click. I totally disagree with your statement. The solenoid probably has burnt contacts in it that cannot carry the current to turn the starter intermittently.

[ol'George]

Jumping the 2 large terminals, takes the contacts out of the picture.
You are putting current directly to the starter MOTOR input wire,
but while the starter will run, if it is good, the overrunning clutch/gear will not slide into the flywheel because no power is applied to the induction windings of the pull in coil causing the plunger to move it.

If you apply a jumper (screwdriver) to the large terminal ( battery terminal)
and to the small terminal and it starts, the problem is usually in the wiring circuit, as it's not feeding battery power to the starter from the switch

The starter assembly is a starter motor, switch and induction solenoid, that engages the gear/overrunning clutch into the flywheel.

so it is really does 3 things.
the plunger moves engaging the gear into the flywheel
and while doing so, it also pushes the contact washer to connect the the 2 large terminals together allowing current to the starter motor, allowing it to run

Bowtie: affectionate name for chevrolet of any years/models.
As "blue oval" is for ford

[EternalArianne]

Ok that makes since George. If I jumper the pegs the starter spins but won’t engage the engine until I put the key in the “start” position, then it will fire right up. So I guess the wiring is working as it should?

[ol'George]

When you turn it to start, you should hear a "thunk" not a feeble "click"
if it is a thunk, then the sol is throwing the gear into the flywheel as it should, but the contacts in "cup" on the end of the solenoid are burnt/corroded from usage and are not making contact to make the starter spin.
So take the starter off and if it is like a Delco, the Bakelite cup is retained with 2 screws. remove them and if the cup seems to not come off easily like there are wires on the inside holding it on,-- they are.

Put the screws back in and remove the nuts on large stud with the bat terminal, and the small one holding the start wire stud on. This should allow the studs to stay attached to the wires inside but allow the cup to slide off the studs.
note: sometimes you have to also remove nut on the large stud going to the starter wire, but since I've never worked on your model of starter I can only advise how the Delco starters are built starting after the war. (WWII)
With the cup off, it should be obvious what the problem is.
on the Delco's, one used to be able just purchase a kit, including the cup with studs and contact washer, who knows today what is avail. most just want to replace the complete starter assy.
with a little thought, one can usually flip the movable contact washer over and turn the studs *180 in their square pockets and renew the contact area.
All that said even if is not fixable, you will get a good knowledge of how it works.
Wished I had worked on your model, so I could tell you 100% just get kit or a new sol. or repair yours.

[EternalArianne]

In that case, I would call the sound I am hearing a “thunk” instead of a “click”. I’ll check into it and see if I can get the solenoid apart and clean/rearrange the washers and contacts.

I did find a replacement solenoid by Caltric for $20, that’s not too bad (I’m not sure if Caltric is a good brand or not).

[EternalArianne]

I put a new solenoid on it and it and now its totally dead no lights or anything. But I know it has power because I can jumper the posts on the solenoid and it turns over. I double checked all the wiring and then magically I had lights again, but it was still doing the "thunk" and not turning over.

My neighbor happened to be over and he thinks it's something with the ignition switch itself. Could it be as simple as that?

[R Bedell]

Sounds like something is not wired right. If you like.......I can send you a Factory Wiring Diagram. All I need is your Chassis Serial Number so you get the right diagram.

[EternalArianne]

I'll see if I can get you the serial tomorrow once it's light out. The wiring seems pretty straight forward from what I can tell. It is weird that sometimes I can just hold the key in the start position and I will hear the thunk, turnafter a minute or so it will just then over magically. It's very weird

[Farmall450]

Originally Posted by EternalArianne

I'll see if I can get you the serial tomorrow once it's light out. The wiring seems pretty straight forward from what I can tell. It is weird that sometimes I can just hold the key in the start position and I will hear the thunk, turnafter a minute or so it will just then over magically. It's very weird

I've had bad ign switch and/or pto switches cause intermittent issues that are hard to diag b/c they never show up when you're running the test light.