frosty383 Posted January 13, 2009 Share Posted January 13, 2009 Ok heres the deal. I have a 74 260Z with a SBC 5m in it, I have a one wire alternator in it which means that its not wired to the factory harness, battery and chassis ground and thats it. OK I recently noticed that every so often when I would try and start the car I would get a couple of clicking sounds from around the fuse box area and then it would just start after a couple of tries. I had an extra ignition switch and changed it but same deal. I tested the yellow wire on the solenoid while someone turned the key and sure enough no current to the solenoid. I have a shop manual and tried to trace the yellow solenoid wire through the firewall to test inside the car and could not. so what I did is test the incoming and outgoing wires on what seems to be some sort of metal relay above the fuse box that clicks when the ignition switch is turned and the motor does not turn over but I am not sure thats the outgoing solenoid wire to the engine bay that leads to the solenoid due to its different color but when tested it has outgoing current with ignition switch in the run and start position. So what I propose to do is simply purchase a pushbutton starter switch like this one from jegs http://www.jegs.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplayPopup?storeId=10001&partNumber=555-10310&langId=-1&showValue=1 wire that to a 30/40 relay then send a wire from that aftermarket relay directly to the starter solenoid so when I turn the ignition to run with the key I can just push the switch and start the car. Now my question here to the electrical Gods would be: when I run the wire from the aftermarket relay which is activated through the pushbutton switch to the solenoid, Do I have to disconnect the existing yellow factory wire thats on the starter solenoid now? or can it be connected over it and would that cause any type of electrical problems later? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZZZeee Posted January 13, 2009 Share Posted January 13, 2009 Sounds like a loose connection to me. Try checking all crimp-on and screw-down connections... maybe even the battery terminals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frosty383 Posted January 13, 2009 Author Share Posted January 13, 2009 Sounds like a loose connection to me. Try checking all crimp-on and screw-down connections... maybe even the battery terminals. well the battery terminals are clean and tight. negative is well grounded and positive is tight and both terminals covered with their rubber covers. checked all prong type connectors and crimp connectors around firewall inside dash and outside as well and at ignition switch and down the harness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZZZeee Posted January 13, 2009 Share Posted January 13, 2009 Did you actually remove and clean the contacts? If so then I don't know the problem other than maybe a relay coil going bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zedman240 Posted January 13, 2009 Share Posted January 13, 2009 I've noticed with one of my zeds that if you turn the key to far the starter doesn't operate. Back it off a tad and the starter operates. After 30 odd years the switch behind the ignition key tends to wear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrism Posted January 13, 2009 Share Posted January 13, 2009 Check to see if you get a short across the relay contacts. The coil could be working but the contacts could be worn out. If you want to check the yellow wire to seed if it is connected to the relay in question, I would take a long wire and connect it to one side of your DVM. Connect that wire to the yellow wire at the solenoid. Connect the other end to one of the leads on your DVM. Then probe the relay lead with the other DVM lead that you suspect is the same wire and see if you get a short. Don't forget to sent DVM to Ohms setting. Should get close to 0 ohms if the wire is the same. Also, If you do add another relay, just wire it to the start wire on the ignition switch like the original. You should be able to wire over the existing solenoid wire with no issues but why not clean up the harness when wire is no longer used. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danc Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 Frosty383 I got tired of dealing with start or not and installed a pushbutton in the dash a couple of years ago. I'm sure I have the poor-boy wiring diagram around somewhere for the relay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArnZ Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 Adding the output of the relay to the existing starter wire will not cause any problems, it would be the equivalent of adding a remote starter. You could disable the starter wire in the column and connect that directly to the relay and utilize the factory wiring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pyro Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 a chevy solenoid pulls about 40 amps! You are cooking the factory relay. Use a ford remote starter solenoid to power both the gm starter and gm solenoid (at the same time). The ford solenoids cost about $20.00. wire the battery to the ford solenoid with a #2 wire then wire the solenoid to the starter with a #2. Then loop the gm solenoid to the main power coming into the starter with a short piece of #10 wire. Also, run a #2 to the engine block then add #4 from the engine block to the body. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danc Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 As I mentioned earlier, I have a functional push button starter with a 40 amp relay, push-button starter switch (Honda S2000) and it has been working for the last 3 or 4 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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