1976 bronco solenoid wiring help

[Crazz]

once again i need some help, finally getting the bronco back together after a year.

does anyone have a good picture of the solenoid all wired up, mines mounted on the fender well near the battery. its been apart for so long i cant remember what goes where.

any help would be greatly appreciated

 

[DirtDonk]

Don't have pics, but someone will I'm sure. They're all over the forums here and a few have been posted up just recently to cull from.

Basically though, the connections are like this:

1. The left side large post (or lower if yours is mounted in a tilted position like some) has:
a. Large positive side battery cable.
b. Yellow wire for horn relay.
c. Black (may have red stripe) wire to the fuse box.

2. The right side large post has:
a. Just the large cable from there down to the starter.

3. Small left post (may be marked "S")
a. Red w/blue wire usually with a 90° push-on connector

4. Small right post (may be marked "I")
a. Brown wire with the same push-on connector as above.

That's all assuming a stock original wiring harness and stock type starter.
Any changes to that stuff? New high output alternator maybe? New harness? Different starter type?

Paul

 

[B RON CO]

Hi, later electronic ignition may not have the small wire on the right side. Also many of us use the battery post side to add extra circuits. Good luck

 

[Crazz]

Appreciate the help, i believe i got it

 

[savage]

If you have a Centech Wiring harness, this is how mines hooked up.

 

[Steve83]

The thing on the fender is a relay; the solenoid is the small cylinder attached to the starter (on starters that HAVE a solenoid). This caption explains how to wire a starter relay:



This shows how to use a solenoid starter on an early Bronco:



This shows a solenoid starter:



This is a stock-type eB starter:

 

[savage]

So my starter on my 74 does not have a solenoid on it,so when you go on line or to a auto parts store, it comes up as a Starter Solenoid or starter relay.

 

[Steve83]

You can go online & find someone who'll sell you a microwave transmission for your eB; that doesn't mean it's the correct name for the part. Ford calls that a starter RELAY, and so do I - you can call it anything you want. But calling it a solenoid doesn't make it a solenoid.

 

[savage]

I even went to Fordparts.com, and looked up the part for my 74 bronco, Part Number: 11450(SW-7663), http://www.fordparts.com/Commerce/P...&search=true&year=1974&make=Ford&model=Bronco, That's what I've all way known it to be called, so know big deal.;D

 

[DirtDonk]

Yes, it's the human entering the info to the computer that has also always called it a solenoid and grown up hearing others call it that.
So do companies that make them nowadays too. But as far as I know, that's just so that the people that have been calling it that for so many years will know what it is they're talking about.
Kind of the usage changing the dictionary, instead of learning from the dictionary. Which does happen in the modern English world of course, but keeping at least some of the old knowledge alive is a good thing, even if it's not always used.

But so that we're on the same page, and why I often refer to it as a relay/solenoid/thingy, is because though Ford calls it a relay in their service and repair books, millions have called it a solenoid for so long it stuck. Kind of like calling all limited-slips a "Posi" because GM's Posi-Traction was such a great name. Doesn't make ours a posi though.
Same for coupe and sedan. It's not the 2 or 4 doors that makes the difference, but whether there is a pillar or large frame between the door and the rear glass/panel, or just glass or very thin strip of framing. A sedan has a frame or pillar, so a 2-door can be a sedan, and a 4-door can be a coupe.

A relay is a magnetic switch (mag-switch) that closes an electrical contact (just a regular switch) and a solenoid moves a physical load (lever arm pushing a starter gear into engagement in our case) so while a solenoid might have a switch inside it, a relay doesn't move anything other than to close the electrical contacts.

Yeah, I know we're picking nits here, and if you call it a starter solenoid we all know what you mean. But as more and more Bronco owners are changing over to the newer PMGR starters with their integrated solenoids, calling the fender mounted relay a relay will hopefully come in handy.
Or at least the knowledge itself might come in handy in some future bench racing or campfire discussions.;D

Paul