Not sure this is the right forum but I don't see one for a 1997 F350. My son went to replace the relay and didn't pay attention when he took the wires off So I need something that shows me what goes where.

This is the relay that is on the passenger side fender well.

Thanks for the help!

 

You have one Red wire on one of the large studs that goes to the starter.
One small red wire with a blue stripe the that goes to the coil of the relay.
All the rest go on the other large stud with the wire from the battery.

 

Hey Bill,

Thanks for the quick reply. I'm stupid when it comes to wiring so I have one more question. For the red wire with the blue strip, how do I know which small termal (relay coil) it goes to? Does it matter? Do both small terminals go to the relay coil?

Thanks for the help!

Mike

 

There should only be one small terminal on top.




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Diagram:



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Thanks Bill, You da man!

Mike

 

Bill,

Here is the history of this whole event. My son installed a new flex plate and starter (including solenoid) into his 7.3 F-350 because the plate teeth were gone when he bought it. After this all worked well until the screws on the starter solenoid came loose and messed it up. He installed a new starter solenoid and after doing so every time the key is turned the solenoid will stay engaged until we disconnect the battery.
Given he just installed a new solenoid and this issue started, he returned it thinking it was defective and installed a new one again. STILL THE SAME ISSUE.
As a result of reading the forums we have installed the switch in the steering column once and the relay on the firewall now for the 3<SUP>rd</SUP> time because it appears to stay hot across the terminals using a test light.
What’s weird is after installing I think the fender well relay it worked for a few days but started again.
Last night we put in the third firewall relay with the exact same problem, hit the key and the solenoid stays engaged until the batter cable it pulled.
After replacing the relay so many times my son questioned if he had the wiring right which is why I started this thread. You of course provided us with great detail but now we’re stuck.
This sounds like a short or something but we have traced the wires and can’t find a thing.
I always work on my own stuff and am reluctant to take it to a shop because of the costs but I’m baffled on this one.
Any ideas?
I do have one thing that I have been wondering about. When the screws came out of the starter solenoid they got stripped so we replaced them with some I got at the local Napa store, not like the original. The screws that were on the original have like a cone shaped rubber insulation under the head and I’m wondering if this has something to do with the shorting. This really doesn’t make sense to me because any screw would still make contact with the starter, just something I noticed.
Thanks
Mike

 

I have heard of this before, the starter relays at the auto parts stores are sub standard and the only way to solve the problem is to go to a Ford dealer and buy a starter relay from them.

 

Hello, I believe my starter relay went out tonight in front of my house, 2001 Ford V10 chassis motorhome. Battery and everything checks out good and now after installing a new starter, same problem. Starter does not move. So now I am thinking it's the relay. The photo in this thread shows it's riveted to the frame. I can hardly see mine behind some rubber shield on the side of the radiator mount (passenger). Are these easy to replace? It's dark outside now so I'm screwed at the moment till tomorrow (thanksgiving day)...

 

On a psd, the fenderwell solenoid only sends voltage to the solenoid on the starter, not like the pre 92 gas trucks that didn't have a starter mounted solenoid. If changing the fender mounted solenoid didn't fix it, I'd lean towards the solenoid on the starter itself hanging up. the starter is fed with a cable directly from the battery, so if it's solenoid hangs, it will keep running.

Purerockracing: the solenoid is not riveted on, those are the rivets holding the base on the solenoid. It's a bolt on affair. However, I'm not sure about motorhome chassis, but trucks around your era were bad for the lead going to the starter corroding and rotting off. You may not have a solenoid or relay issue, but a bad wire somewhere.

 

Purerockracing:
You may have a bad fuse also if the starter relay does not click when you turn the key, check fuse number 7.

2001 F53 start circuit:


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replaced my relay like shown here, all wires in the same location as they came off, hooked up the jumper cables because battery was dead and now the wire coming off the right side of the relay to the alternator caught on fire... key was in the off position. ????????????? any help?