This is purely out of curiosity. As some of you might know I've been plundering the junkyards lately, more than what's healthy for anybody. Looking for diamonds in the rough, hoping one weekend I'll see a Trac-Loc rearend, some good AC parts, a Bobcat, unicorn or some other mythical beast prance in with the week's shipment of Tauruses, Camrys and Saturns. Of course I spend most of my time there wandering among the Fords, and I notice things. For one, cars from the 70's have solenoids like what belongs on our Mavericks. Four terminals mounted horizontally at the base of a vertical cylinder. A heavy one for the battery, another for the starter, two smaller ones labeled "S" and "I" for start and ignition. Cars from the 80's and newer have a solenoid that seems functionally identical, same terminals, but the cylinder is horizontal instead of vertical and the terminals are all mounted on the end. Is there a difference between these other than size and appearance? Was there some reason for Ford to change the design? Is the newer one more reliable, more durable, or just cheaper for them to make? Have anything to do with the EFI? Or the electronic ignition? Do I just think too much about stupid things that don't matter and shouldn't be questioned? I must know...
You can't think too much - your curiosity is a good thing, hang on to it. The solenoids are electrically the same. The shape was "modernized" for cosmetic reasons. If you want a stronger, long life solenoid, find a "Material Handling" or Forklift dealer in your area and buy a 12 V solenoid for an electric pallet jack. They have to be connected differently but they are designed to be used full time and handle up to 300 amps. the difference is that the two small terminals are for the power from the "Start" terminal of the switch and a ground. You will need to connect a 10 amp diode to the large terminal and connect it to the "I", ignition wire that would normally connect to one of the small terminals. The diode keeps the coil from trying to keep the starter engaged after the switch is released to the "run" position. I can work up a diagram if you decide to do this. The industrial solenoids are better sealed and will outlast the Ford solenoids by a long time but they are very expensive and under normal conditions the Ford unit works fine.
Thanks, Paul! I think I'm going to run one of the newer Ford solenoids then, both for "cosmetic" reasons and because it puts the terminals in a much better arrangement for the way my stuff's wired.
I'm already running the newer one, off a '93 Aerostar. I guess that makes us Virgos ahead of the curve.
According to Ralph Price ... this is what his car came with from the factory in 1971 ... St. Thomas built Grabber
and Ralph is a Virgo too! That is strange... If Ralph's car wasn't so nice and original, and I didn't know Ralph in person, I wouldn't believe that... I have three St. Thomas cars, a '69.5, and two 73's, and both have the older style. There should be a part number on that somewhere if it's the original..
From what I have seen on my Fords over the years is that the two styles have been available concurrently and used interchangeably. No rhyme or reason, like many other things FoMoCo does...
I'm sure Ford had multiple suppliers so whatever was in the parts bucket that day is what was installed ... obviously the other style was more predominant though ...
Yeah it will work, I did this starter swap with a 289 at school . The teacher wanted to show us how the pistons moved while running the starter. The 289 didn't have a starter and I saw this Ford V6 around, I think it was a 3.8, and took the starter. My teacher said it wouldn't work because it was a different engine and flywheel. I bolted it on the 289 and it was a perfect fit! I'm Piscis, btw.
