I just made a post about my starter issues. I thought of something else they may play a part in it. I am by no means an electrical guy

I believe i have 18 gauge wire maybe 16 gauge going to the relay side of the solenoid. Is this too small? Would/could this result in not enough current getting to the solenoid to allow the solenoid to push out all the way or hold the bendix drive out under cranking conditions?

 

First, is the wiring stock or was it added to and spliced later on? If it is stock, it is sufficient for the job. Next, the trigger wire only closes the solenoid so that the main starter cable activates the starter. The main cable is responsible for the bendix movement. If you wish to see this in action, place the starter on the bench, hook up battery charger leads (positive to starter post, negative to starter body) and plug in charger (hold onto starter during plug in, starter will turn a little due to torque). Bendix arm should extend and starter run, if it is good.

 

Are you referring to the Red w/blue wire on the small "S" terminal next to the large battery terminal? This is the one that energizes the relay when you turn the key to START, so like 84espy was saying, that's more than sufficient to trigger the relay. It's the relay that sends the power to the starter, so if you're getting the click when you turn the key, the small wire is doing it's job.
Stock is probably no larger than 16ga like you were saying. Probably 18ga on some even.

It's actually a good thought. But unfortunately in this case the small wire works fine. Only has to pass maybe a couple of amps at the most and it's more than big enough for that. Now, if something is wrong with that wire and it's failing, then that would cause a no-start problem. And smaller wire has less leeway for deterioration, but if it's in good shape it's big enough.

Hey Kyle. I don't know if anyone has mentioned it in the other threads, but by my count you now have FIVE threads currently going on about your starter.
Seems to me that since this is all about your starter you should be talking about it in the same thread so that everybody viewing will see what others have already gone over. And also so that anytime you have something to add, the others that have replied will get a notification.

Maybe there's some reason you want to start fresh with each angle, and maybe I've even read some of them, but now I'm going to go back over all the previous discussions to see if there is something that can help.

Paul