All,
I am ready to test fire my 5.0 in my 1950 F3. I have a new battery, new cables and new 4 post starter solenoid (firewall mounted). I have the S terminal connected to my starter push button on the dash. The large left post connects to the battery and the right large post connects to the starter. I have another blade terminal on the starter but do not know what needs to connect to it. The engine and starter are from a 1991 Crown Vic and the starter was working when I removed it. I have not tested it since, figuring it is ok. I do not have any wires connecting to the I terminal on the 4 post solenoid. Do I need a wire connecting the starter blade terminal and the I terminal? It has been 3 years since I removed the starter from the Crown Vic. I have made several trips to the wrecking yard to see if I could look at a similar car to see if there was a similar setup, but of course the newer cars used a 3 terminal solenoid so its not much help.

Right now all I get is a single click when I send power to the solenoid on the firewall. If I remove the S wire and arc between it and the battery terminal on the solenoid I get one click. If I use a jumper cable between the two fat posts on the solenoid I get nothing.

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

 

Sounds as if you have a bad solenoid, a grounding problem, or a dead battery.
Elmo

 

The spade (blade connector) on the starter is for the built in solenoid and needs to have power in the start position. You can either leave your wiring the way it is and run a jumper from the large post on the starter to the spade connector or you can run a wire from the S terminal on your firewall solenoid down to the spade on the starter.

The click you are hearing is the firewall solenoid energizing which puts power to the main power feed on the starter but you need to energize the solenoid on the starter.

 

I had to ground the solenoid before my truck would start, cable from mounting bolt on firewall to neg battery post.

 

Thanks guys!! So I had the starter tested and it is good...which is what I expected since it ran the day I took it off, so that's good news. While I was at the parts store getting it tested I asked the tech about the spade terminal on the starter and he told me it should hook up to the I terminal. When I got home I hooked it all back up and sure enough....it cranks now but it won't fire. Small steps I guess. When I have an assistant I will pull the number one plug and see if I have spark. I just rebuilt this motor a few months ago and I have not had a chance to fire it yet. I did make sure it was at TDC so that part should be ok.

 

You need 12 volts at the coil on start. It normally come from the I terminal on the solenoid or the I terminal on the ignition switch.
Elmo

 

Yep...and I'm using a HEI style distributor so the coil wire plugs into the distributor and the ignition switch rather than a remote mounted traditional coil. But that's a good idea...I need to check and make sure that portion is wired up right.

 

Do you have the wires crossed on the ignition switch. I to Hei and the s to starter