1948 - 1956 F1, F100 & Larger F-Series Trucks Discuss the Fat Fendered and Classic Ford Trucks

Correct wiring for ignition, starter, and 4 post relay?

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Old 02-22-2007, 12:16 PM
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Question Correct wiring for ignition, starter, and 4 post relay?

I own a 1959 F100/ 460/ C6/ alternator/ 4 post ford relay/ 2 wire starter.
I installed a 22 circuit EZ-wire kit to replace the old brittle stock wiring.
Currently I have the following hooked up:

Ignition= bat to battery + on relay. ST to the S terminal of the the relay. IGN to ballast resistor and then to the + side of coil.

relay= Battery lug on the left to battery +/ Bat on ignition to batterry + lug on relay/ I lug to coil +/ Large black cable from starter solenoid to rightside of relay/ Small red wire to S terminal on relay.

Is this correct, the stock ford manual is no help?
The other question, I put a meter to the red wire from the starter and battery negative post I get a dead short with the key off. Is this correct?

Thanks for any help!
John
 

Last edited by TestDepth; 02-22-2007 at 12:21 PM.
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Old 02-22-2007, 03:36 PM
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I don't know how much, if anything changed between my 56 and your 60, but will this help?:
https://www.ford-trucks.com/user_gal...142899&width=0
 
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Old 02-22-2007, 04:58 PM
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Question

I'm not sure either. I dont know if there is a difference between 56' and 59'.

There are a couple of differences between the drawing and what I have wired though. The starter in your picture has only one wire where my starter has 2. one red about 18ga and the other black about 6ga?
Should it be hooked up like your picture? I wish the book was better.
JD
 
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Old 02-22-2007, 07:52 PM
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Originally Posted by TestDepth
The other question, I put a meter to the red wire from the starter and battery negative post I get a dead short with the key off. Is this correct?
You may be measuring from the positive wire thru the starter brushes, thru the amature to ground...which would be normal. Basically you are reading the resistance of the starter motor windings....which is pretty much a dead short on some meters....may be 10 ohms or less on a wild guess.
Randy Jack's diagram looks like the stock Ford start/ignition circuit that was used for many, many years.
The above is just my opinion.....no animals were harmed in the writing of this opinion :-)
 
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Old 02-22-2007, 08:58 PM
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More revelations, beer is our friend :-) , anyway if the 18awg wire is on the same terminal on the starter as the 6awg wire it is not required........it really is doing nothing electrically.
Starter relay should have 1 large wire from battery to one large terminal, 1 large wire from other large terminal to starter, 1 small wire to "S" terminal from ignition switch, 1 optional small wire from "I" terminal to coil +
There may be other wires on the large terminal of the starter relay that the battery positive goes to, but this is just a convenient spot to get 12 volts from for other things.
The "S" terminal receives 12 volts from the ignition switch to close the starter relay and turn the starter, "S" for start.
The "I" terminal sends 12 volts out to the coil during starting, when the relay is closed, for a stronger spark for quicker starts, "I" for ignition.
The starter only requires a large positive wire....maybe the harness you have is also used on a Chevy.....they have a built in starter relay on the starter and require 1 large and 1 small wire.
Oh yeah what year is the 460 from? Not that it matters as I said before Ford used the same basic start/ignition circuit for years.
Hope this is clearer than mud :-)
 
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Old 02-24-2007, 09:12 AM
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Wiring fun!

Thanks for the help.

The motor I believe is from the 70's and has 429 heads.
All of this is frustrating wiring a 59' ford with a 70's motor, electronic mallory distributor, alternator conversion and what looks like a chevy starter. All while sober! Could it be any more fun?
JD
 
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Old 02-24-2007, 10:25 AM
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Originally Posted by TestDepth
Thanks for the help.

The motor I believe is from the 70's and has 429 heads.
All of this is frustrating wiring a 59' ford with a 70's motor, electronic mallory distributor, alternator conversion and what looks like a chevy starter. All while sober! Could it be any more fun?
JD
You mean people do that kind of stuff sober
Just concentrate on one circuit at a time, less confusing that way. Ask lots of questions help is only a click away :-)
 
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Old 02-24-2007, 12:34 PM
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The starter in question is a 460 only version that has a solenoid mounted on it like a Chevy. Use a jumper wire from the S post on the relay to the exciter post on the starter. On my old 79 that used this starter for the 460, I did away with it and used a standard Ford starter.
 
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Old 02-24-2007, 03:09 PM
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Originally Posted by mechmagcn
The starter in question is a 460 only version that has a solenoid mounted on it like a Chevy. Use a jumper wire from the S post on the relay to the exciter post on the starter. On my old 79 that used this starter for the 460, I did away with it and used a standard Ford starter.
Cool...never saw one before learn something new everyday :-)
So did the stock truck not have the fender mounted relay? Or did it have both the relay and a built in one in the starter?
I think I would be inclined to ditch it for a "normal" Ford starter when it dies....I like less failure points :-)
 
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Old 02-24-2007, 03:15 PM
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This system used both fender mounted relay and starter mounted solenoid. The starters were pretty expensive to boot. I never had a problem using the standard Ford starter on my 460 and it was 10:1 compression.
 
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Old 02-25-2007, 05:49 PM
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Thumbs up Thanks

Thanks for your help Mr.Jack. The drawing did the trick and my system is charging. Everything is hooked and operating properly so far.

Thanks for everyones help!
 
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