Need to remove double 10' run of wire/loom that interrupts the RED wire from battery to starter, I think it used to serve a kill switch on the dash, now it is just bundled up under the van next to the starter. I am taking out two butt connectors and hoping the original wire is still long enough to connect back together with a new butt connector. Need to have an idea of what size connector(s) to have on hand... I think the existing ones will be cut down the middle and mangled from the 'surgical removal' I have planned (trying to save as much length of the original wire so it might reach).

Feel free to let me know I am overthinking it and making more complicated than necessary but please offer a wire size also! hehe

 

Are you talking about the power lead that runs from the battery to the starter motor? Or the solenoid wire?

 

Good question, I only looked at the starter motor end, doh! maybe if I follow it back I will find it isn't connected to the battery... what I can tell you is the 'kill switch' wiring interrupts this lead and connects to the starter.

thanks for helping, trying to get this van sorted for a cross country summer trip, so many small things on my to do list, I did make a vacuum reservoir today to fix the 'AC through defrost only under load' so we should have good cooling up front for the trip!

 

The primary wire, unless I'm wrong goes to the starter solenoid the to the battery. This is how my '81 black panel E150 (Easy Bake) was wired. When I did it's rewire I went down to Industrial Welding and used welding wire. Welding wire is more heavily jacketed while being much more flexible than conventional battery cable, I highly reccomend it.

 

From starter solenoid to starter should be something like 6 gauge from the factory. When I replace one, I like to bump it up to 4 gauge. Unless you are going a ridiculous distance (like a second battery in the back), anything more is just a waste of copper. All it gets you is bragging rights and more weight. I get cables made by BestBoatWire.com when I need one. Marine grade cables and connectors. Basically, you build your cable to suit, and they put it together and ship it to you. I like the clear heat shrink option, myself, so I can keep an eye on things.

However, I'm very skeptical of a 10 foot run for the main power to the starter motor, though. That would be a really dumb thing to do. You really need to make sure you know where that wire is going.

 

Thought I had all my ducks in a row BUT, this wiring harness has 4 (I'm guessing 10ga) wires; a magnetic switch served by 2 white wires; one goes to the fixing nut on the negative terminal of the battery, one goes to a relay, there is a red wire that goes to that relay from the positive terminal fixing nut, another red wire comes off of that relay and runs down to the starter's 3rd terminal (the other 2 terminals are heavy gauge wires) that's a lot of connections that nobody but me is looking at but if it sounds familiar let me know if this all can be deleted and just leave one 10ga red wire from the battery fixing nut to the starter's 3rd terminal or do I still need the relay (picture above) in there?

An alternative question that might solve my issue would be: the starter has 3 terminals with one heavy gauge red wire, one heavy gauge black wire and one lighter (10?) gauge red wire serving them, is that a stock configuration for these vans? does that 10ga red wire come out of a loom with the other two??

thanks tons!