B
Blake
Guest
Thanks to everyone that posted ideas on what they had done.
I finally did a combination of things other people have done and I am very happy with the results.
I used a Ford remote starter solenoid mounted over where the battery used to be(mine is relocated to the wheel well in front of the tire behind the cladding) as Sean Morris said to use. Cut the ends off of the stock positive and negative cable and soldered my extensions on using rosin core solder and a propane torch like Myclone(Dave)did with his. Heat shrink and sealed up nice. The alternator, battery, and headlights were all soldered to a fitting that bolted onto the battery side of the solenoid. The starter wire(foil heat shielded) ran from the other big post on the solenoid down to the starter. Now on the starter, I used a 1/8" piece of copper ground strap about 1" wide like you get at Lowe's and drilled two holes in it so I could bridge the battery post with the post the old purple wire went to. No more purple wire to deal with as the current to the old plunger now comes from a 4 gauge wire that feeds the starter motor and the strap feeds the old plunger.
Now on the purple wire, I did like Richard did and went over top of the brake booster and opened up the loom. There are 3 purple wires in there. 1 is bigger than the others. Used a multimeter(set to check continuity) and found out for certain which one was the bastard purple wire I needed. I cut it and spliced on a new 10 gauge wire and ran it along the firewall where the windshield wiper motor is all the way over the relays for boost and CAC all the way to the passenger side fender and ran it down the fender to the Ford solenoid. On the solenoid one of the two small studs was labeled with an "S". This is the one the ignition switch will now feed with 12 volts. The signal is ground to the fender through the bracket of the solenoid where the bolts go through. Make sure you use those little washers that cut into the metal when the self tapping screws are tightened.
If you do this make certain that you keep the alternator on the side that shares the battery contact. The side with the starter wire will only be live when the solenoid is fed 12 volts through the "S" terminal.
My voltage jumped almost a full volt (while the engine is running)from improved contact to the alternator with the battery and the starter spins no matter how hot it gets anymore.
The starter I used was an AC Delco I got from the dealer. No one around here carries them anymore unless you want a rebuilt unit from China or Taiwan.
Another thing on starters. NO MATTER WHERE YOU GET IT, LOOK AT THE NOSE END THAT THE SOLENOID BOLTS TO(the side that points to the rear). If it says "SHIM" on it, make them take it back and find you another that does not have it on there. These were for 4cylinders and 2.8 V6's. 4.3 V6's don't benefit from this at all as you can shim all day and your clearance won't be right and it will scream like baby every time you crank it over.
I didn't like the Hot Shot because I didn't like the idea of all the hot wires running all over the place down by the exhaust and it still didn't address heat related voltage resistance issues.
PS:The heat shield that Auto Zone sells will absolutely NOT fit the solenoid on our starters. No matter how much you cut or trim it. Mine hit the exhaust manifold and still didn't have enough room for the starter wire. It fits the old huge solenoids but not ours.....
Thanks again,
George Blake
I finally did a combination of things other people have done and I am very happy with the results.
I used a Ford remote starter solenoid mounted over where the battery used to be(mine is relocated to the wheel well in front of the tire behind the cladding) as Sean Morris said to use. Cut the ends off of the stock positive and negative cable and soldered my extensions on using rosin core solder and a propane torch like Myclone(Dave)did with his. Heat shrink and sealed up nice. The alternator, battery, and headlights were all soldered to a fitting that bolted onto the battery side of the solenoid. The starter wire(foil heat shielded) ran from the other big post on the solenoid down to the starter. Now on the starter, I used a 1/8" piece of copper ground strap about 1" wide like you get at Lowe's and drilled two holes in it so I could bridge the battery post with the post the old purple wire went to. No more purple wire to deal with as the current to the old plunger now comes from a 4 gauge wire that feeds the starter motor and the strap feeds the old plunger.
Now on the purple wire, I did like Richard did and went over top of the brake booster and opened up the loom. There are 3 purple wires in there. 1 is bigger than the others. Used a multimeter(set to check continuity) and found out for certain which one was the bastard purple wire I needed. I cut it and spliced on a new 10 gauge wire and ran it along the firewall where the windshield wiper motor is all the way over the relays for boost and CAC all the way to the passenger side fender and ran it down the fender to the Ford solenoid. On the solenoid one of the two small studs was labeled with an "S". This is the one the ignition switch will now feed with 12 volts. The signal is ground to the fender through the bracket of the solenoid where the bolts go through. Make sure you use those little washers that cut into the metal when the self tapping screws are tightened.
If you do this make certain that you keep the alternator on the side that shares the battery contact. The side with the starter wire will only be live when the solenoid is fed 12 volts through the "S" terminal.
My voltage jumped almost a full volt (while the engine is running)from improved contact to the alternator with the battery and the starter spins no matter how hot it gets anymore.
The starter I used was an AC Delco I got from the dealer. No one around here carries them anymore unless you want a rebuilt unit from China or Taiwan.
Another thing on starters. NO MATTER WHERE YOU GET IT, LOOK AT THE NOSE END THAT THE SOLENOID BOLTS TO(the side that points to the rear). If it says "SHIM" on it, make them take it back and find you another that does not have it on there. These were for 4cylinders and 2.8 V6's. 4.3 V6's don't benefit from this at all as you can shim all day and your clearance won't be right and it will scream like baby every time you crank it over.
I didn't like the Hot Shot because I didn't like the idea of all the hot wires running all over the place down by the exhaust and it still didn't address heat related voltage resistance issues.
PS:The heat shield that Auto Zone sells will absolutely NOT fit the solenoid on our starters. No matter how much you cut or trim it. Mine hit the exhaust manifold and still didn't have enough room for the starter wire. It fits the old huge solenoids but not ours.....
Thanks again,
George Blake