On Feb 11, 12:45*pm, "Phil Kangas" wrote:
"Gunner"





On Sun, 10 Feb 2013 22:15:47 -0800, Gunner
wrote:

My roommate has a '97 F250 7.2L gas, XLT 4 door
pickup with a starter
problem.

She hits start..the starter solenoid on the
fender well clicks..no
start.

I shorted across the primary power leads of the
starter solenoid..no
start.

I had her hold the key in the start position and
crawled underneith
and shorted across the two big nuts on the
starter.... and it started.

I didnt think at the time to measure the small
red wire power to the
solenoid ON the starter and only realized it as
I sat down to type
this..damnit. I should know better..sigh

Assuming there is a start signal TO the bendix
solenoid "coil"...can
they be repaired or is a starter replacement
required.

I used to be pretty damned good at this sort of
thing..the
stroke...shrug

Hell..I cant even remember the name for the coil
that drives the
bendix.

Or am I missing something? *This LOOKs like a
basic starter with
switch operated solenoid ON the
starter...powered by the small red
wire...but come to think of it..that fender
mounted solenoid...wtf?

Sigh.

Help?

Some assistance is required in defining terms.

The black round thingy on the fenderwell with a
battery lead coming
in, a cable going out to the starter *and a wire
to operate it , is
called a what? *Starter Relay? Solenoid?
Big honking relay?

The "electricly engaged" gizmo on the starter
itself is called a what?

Starter Solenoid? *Electric Bendix?
Thingabobbie? Hodendragon?
Gizmatso?

Relay: a low power electrical circuit that
controls a high power circuit.

Solenoid: an electrical circuit controls a
mechanical function.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Well, the starter relay is called a "solenoid" in well over half the
Ford manuals I have, also on the online parts sites. That's because
it IS a solenoid, has a thick copper disk on the core inside that
shorts out those big copper terminals to supply starting current. On
later versions, there are various other smaller terminals running to
other bits and bobs. At one time these solenoids/relays could be
taken apart, the contacts reversed in their holes in the case and the
disk flipped to get more life out of them.. Riveted together now,
good luck with it! If your time is worth anything, get a new one.
They run $10-$20, depending on who's doing the raping and where the
things were made, normally not the US now. Can be had off the inner
fenders or firewalls of most Ford vehicles in the wrecking yards for
cheap, they haven't changed the design much in decades, used one of
two configurations on most vehicles. The engagement solenoid on those
starters so equipped is also called the "starter solenoid", so if
you're looking for parts, you have to make it clear which part you're
looking for. Ford did make starters without an engagement solenoid,
they used a pivoted pole piece that flipped the starter gear out via a
bellcrank arrangement. Has a hump on the side, the pole piece cover,
instead of a tubular solenoid casing. Haven't seen one of those in
years, though.

The O.P.s primary problem is the starter relay/solenoid, but if it's
going, the starter might not be far behind. Brushes do wear, bearings
do give out. Had one quit in the grocery store parking lot, got out
and gave it a hammer rap, that jarred the brushes enough to start it
one more time, next stop was the car parts place, left the engine
running. Got to listen to what the buggy is telling you...

Stan