Solenoid wiring question

I got a 79 F150 pickup. I had to replace the solenoid on the fender. When I took off the two small wires, I didnt label them. Now i am not sure which goes to the front and which to the rear. One is red, the other brown. I took a guess, and the truck starts, but does it matter? (these are the thin wires, not the battery cables).

Thanks

Mark

Reply to
maredcliff
Loading thread data ...

most ford selenoids have just one wire.. the positive goes to the one wire push-on post... and the ground is from the fender well of the vehicle.. so it probably does not matter in your case as you have a positive and negative wire going to the coil in the selenoid..... one way to test it is to take both the wires off.. and then put a meter on it to test continuity form one to ground and then the other..you probably not gonna get any continuity on either as its probably just a direct wired coil which is seperated from the body of the vehicle....

Reply to
jim

OK, so one wire is for starting, and the other is for running. I understand it now. I sort of expected it would have something to do with the key position.

Thanks

Mark

Reply to
maredcliff

if it starts and runs ,you did it rite. if you hooked them up wrong, it would try to start when the key is in the run position

Reply to
Falcoon

Actually, one wire energizes the solenoid, the other relays battery voltage to the ignition system during cranking.

Reply to
Neil Nelson

MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.