Hey everyone,

Just wanted to get your thoughts on what to do next...

My old solenoid was clicking, engine would not start so I replaced it. I had to move one of the wires around on the left front post to get it to crank... ran fine for a couple days... now it won't start again, have the clicking sound back and moving the wires, cleaning the connector not fixing the problem.

Thoughts?

Thanks for reading the post and offering a suggestion.

 

Clean both ends of the positive battery cable and also the solenoid-to-starter cable.

Clean both ends of the negative battery cable and verify that they are snug.

 

Thanks HIO Silver...

 

Also clean the mounting bracket of the solenoid and were it mounts on the the inner fender. make sure all mounting surfaces are clean because the solenoid grounds through the mounting bracket. Bad ground it will just click or do nothing.

 

Started solenoids almost never go bad, I think I've seen maybe 3 in my life. A clicking or buzzing noise is a bad connection 99.% of the time. Slight chance it's a bad starter, the relay would still click (not buzz)

 

*** update ***

Replaced the battery (with an Optima Red 35) and both cables. Started right up! Cables were showing wires, etc.. needed replacing.

Thanks to those who looked and responded... now on to the coolant system.

 

I have experienced two that have gone bad. One was on a 77 F-150 with a 4spd, of which I was checking the battery cables and hooked them back up, and it started up and backed out of the garage. There was no key in the ignition. Moral of the story is to do any electrical type work with it in neutral or in park. The second time happened on my wife's 74 AMC Gremlin which used a Ford starter.

 

Lordy, I bet THAT caused some excitement!