All,

I purchased this 55 Ford with a 429 Ford motor in it. Originally, when I hooked up the battery, the fender mounted solinoid would click, but the starter would not engage. I later found that I needed a wire from that solinoid to the one mounted on the starter labeled S. Should this wire be on the small terminal nearest the large terminal from the battery (where it is now) or on the other small terminal near the large terminal leading to the starter? The truck starts, but after about 8 starts the battery is dead and when running it has a horrible noise (thinking running starter). I believe the starter stays engaged, hence the noise and dead battery.

Thanks,
pat

 

S comes from the ignition switch, and is hot ONLY when the key is turned to start
I comes from the ignition switch and is hot in both run and start, and not hot when the key is off

Sam

 

^^^What he said. I don't think it would be possible for the starter to remain engaged with the engine running without tearing up the starter, and/or flywheel.

 

What kind of starter are you running? A stock starter only has one wire hookup, and that is for the fat wire coming from the solenoid providing power to the starter. If you have something different, you need to explain further. If not, you've been given some really bad info.

Bad noises while running can be from many different sources or problems.

 

The "I" terminal on the solenoid is the ballast resistor bypass; when cranking (only) power goes directly to the coil (+) terminal.