starter solenoid

[leakyfaucet]

I'm having trouble wiring up my starter solenoid. The engine is from a 1993 GT. I've heard there are differences in the years.

Here's all the wires I have:

1 Skinny little ignition wire that goes on the little post.
1 Yellow wire with metal box at connection point. (I think it's an accessory)
1 Black wire with white stripe and metal box at connection point. (acc)
1 Green wire with "fusable link" written on it (I think it runs to the computer)
1 blue and 1 brown wire that connect at the connection point.

Coming from the battery:
1 big fat red wire that connects the the positive side of the battery.

And coming from the starter:
1 equally fat black wire with about an inch of red where it connects to the solenoid.
1 thinner black wire, about 16 gauge, same size as the green wire.


Now, I've heard that you put everything on one side of the solenoid, except for the thinner black wire coming from the starter, which you put on the other side. However, this doesn't work. It is a new solenoid too. Can anyone help me make sense of this mess? Any and all help is appreciated. A picture of the solenoid on a '93 car would be great!

 

[TIMMY2734]

youve got it correct. Every wire but the little black wire from the starter goes on one side. Then the red wire with the littel boot goes to the top post. Take a screw driver or something and touch the two posts together. If the car cranks then, it is either the solenoid, which you've changed or its the little red wire on the top post. Make sure that when you turn the key all the way to start, that the wire is getting 12 volts

 

[leakyfaucet]

youve got it correct. Every wire but the little black wire from the starter goes on one side. Then the red wire with the littel boot goes to the top post. Take a screw driver or something and touch the two posts together. If the car cranks then, it is either the solenoid, which you've changed or its the little red wire on the top post. Make sure that when you turn the key all the way to start, that the wire is getting 12 volts

It doesn't work though. The only way I've found to make it work is to put the thick black wire with the red end that comes from the starter on the same side as the thinner black wire coming from the starter. But then the starter will run for a few seconds after the car is started. I don't understand how that could work, though. Isn't one of the wires coming from the starter the positive, and one the negative? It works when I put both on the negative post.

Could someone explain to me what's going on, or show me a picture?

 

[TIMMY2734]

there is no negative on the starter or the solenoid. The thick black wire going to the starter mean that it is always hot. The smaller guage wire is just for the switched power. Are you sure that the wires on the starters on where they are supposed to be? Did you change your starter? If so, do you have a mini starter or a regular sized starter?

 

[leakyfaucet]

I have the standard mini-starter for that year.

I think I figured it out. The thick black wire coming from the starter goes to the positive side of the battery, and the thinner one goes to the negative side of the solenoid. Wiring it up like this works perfectly...

Do you have anything else connected to the positive side of the battery?

 

[Mavrick]

Pretty sure I only have the 1 wire (coming from the starter) on one side of the selenoid.

On the other side of the selenoid, i have my battery cable, small circuit breaker and another wire..

 

[TIMMY2734]

Now, I've heard that you put everything on one side of the solenoid, except for the thinner black wire coming from the starter, which you put on the other side. However, this doesn't work.

so you had it liek this both times then? You must have had something wired wrong then. There is no NEGATIVE on the solenoid. They are both +'s. One has constant power and the other is the switched power, for the starter