Remote Starter solenoid

[otgxa]

When you hook the battery to the solenoid are the rest of the terminals suppose to have power to them ? When I hook my battery to the 1 big term and put a test light on it I see it getting power. But if I test the opposite side term or either of the small terms I get nothing. I am wondering if the solenoid is bad ? Sorry if this is a dumb question. thanks is advance.

[66IISW]

No, you should not expect any power flowing through until the solenoid is activated.

Here is a link to an article explaining the solenoid hookup.

http://www.chevyhiperformance.com/techarticles/148_0312_hot/

Here is another at the Novaresource site.

http://novaresource.org/starter.htm

Good luck with it...

[otgxa]

great thanks ! I guess I have some reading to do :eek:

[70oneNova]

Think of the solenoid as a switch, it only lets the power flow through it when there is 12v to the S terminal.

[OB_67_Nova]

Works just like the bosch relays.

[Custom Jim]

Some solenoids or relays require them to be grounded through their mounting holes. Ideally nut and bolt this connection and do not rely on self tapping screws. Other styles of solenoids or relays will have a ground wire off of them.
The Ford style solenoids (which require them to be grounded through their mounting holes) will have two big terminals. One goes to the battery the other to the starter. The solenoid is not polarized so either terminal can be used in reverse also. One of the smaller terminals will be labeled "S" and this goes to a 12 volt output off of your ignition switch to where when the key is in the crank position, 12 volts gets applied to the solenoid, it then clunks, and then connects the one big terminal to the other big terminal and the starter is engaged.
Some solenoids will also have another small terminal on it. This one is normally marked "I". This terminal will show a 12 volt output only when the solenoid is activated and the big terminals are connected inside and the starter is engaged. This is used for powering old style points systems with a full 12 volts. Once the solenoid is deactivated this terminal goes dead as an output but may also show voltage once the car is running as then the ignition system is running of another wire off of the ignition switch. If it's an old style points system the voltage will be less on that terminal as it is then passed through a dropping resistor.
Jim