Can I use this Starter Solenoid / relay??

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misssonja
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Can I use this Starter Solenoid / relay??

Post by misssonja »

Hey everbody! buying some parts for my XR , can I use this? It says it goes up to the 86 XR , but not my year ( 87 ) , why is that , there's also dozens of other 2.3s it's capable with. Did Ford change the Merk's wiring design or fiddle with the engine's electronics are something during the later years of production? Thanks. Sonja. 8)

http://www.amazon.com/Motorcraft-SW1951 ... &carId=002
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Esteban
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Re: Can I use this Starter Solenoid / relay??

Post by Esteban »

You should be fine with that one sonia. It looks like the factory one and has the same terminals.
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misssonja
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Re: Can I use this Starter Solenoid / relay??

Post by misssonja »

Thank you estaban! I'm gonna check out if the part number is still on my solenoid I have right now on the car , in the morning.
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duncan1437
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Re: Can I use this Starter Solenoid / relay??

Post by duncan1437 »

just a minor point. in terms of fitment, the amazon solenoid has the terminals in a different location, compared to the solenoid mounting bracket, than the OEM one. when installed, the small middle terminal is at 6 oclock on the OEM solenoid, but at 9 oclock on the amazon one.

OEM

Image

amazon

Image

i only notice this, cause i recently bought a couple of solenoids myself which turned out to similar to the amazon one.

(in my case the starting problem turned out to be the starter itself, so i left the original solenoid in place.)

edit...if you dont like the way the new solenoid is fixed to the mounting bracket, you might be able to drill out the rivets which hold the solenoid to the bracket, realign the bracket and rivet it back in place.
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Re: Can I use this Starter Solenoid / relay??

Post by duncan1437 »

fyi, just read this article on the rockauto site about problems with the starter solenoid:

Heard the Click, but Still a Problem

Occasionally nothing happened when my wife turned the ignition key in her 1993 Ford Tempo. Repeatedly holding the key in the start position for about five seconds was the surest way to get the starter to finally turn on.

The culprit this time was the starter solenoid mounted on the inner fender near the battery. This Ford and a wide variety of other vehicles of many ages and brands have two starter solenoids. Turning the ignition key activates a small solenoid that sends power to the large solenoid mounted on the side of the starter.

I always believed hearing a “click” from the smaller solenoid when the key was turned meant the solenoid was working and any problem must be further down the circuit. I also thought of the solenoid as being like a light bulb. It either worked or it did not. I have occasionally swapped solenoids between my cars while trouble shooting starting systems. If the solenoid was not the problem then I sometimes have not bothered to swap the solenoids back. The Tempo’s starter solenoid was one I swapped from another Ford a year or two ago.

Now that starter solenoid was clicking but intermittently there was no connection between the solenoid’s battery and starter terminals. I decided to drill out the rivets holding the solenoid together to see what was going on. The parts of the solenoid are displayed in the photo. Turning the ignition key sends current through a coil of fine copper wire. The resulting magnetic field in the center of the coil forces a metal drum out of the coil which pushes a thin metal strip down on the battery and starter terminals, connecting the two. A spring returns the metal strip back to its starting position once the ignition key is released.

Image

The “click” is the sound of the metal drum shooting out of the coil and into the metal strip. Every time the ignition key is turned and the metal strip connects the battery and starter terminals there are likely a few small sparks. This solenoid was probably working intermittently because that sparking had gradually transferred some of the metal from the brass terminals to the silver colored metal strip. Some metal also likely vaporized and soot collected. This left the strip of metal and the terminals with uneven and thus, unreliable contact surfaces. The transferred metal and the different heights and shapes of the contact surfaces on the strip of metal are visible in the photo.

Image

I now know my swapping of starter solenoids between cars was similar to that old joke where the hikers, soldiers, scouts, etc. get “new” underwear by swapping with each other. Over the years I have replaced the Tempo’s starter, main starter solenoid and ignition switch, but I was satisfied with the fender mounted starter solenoid in the middle of the circuit as long as it made a clicking sound. After taking this tired solenoid apart, I am now more likely to remember that a solenoid is an electromechanical device that will gradually and inevitably wear out. Connecting a new starter or ignition switch to an old starter solenoid is not much different from pairing a new distributor cap with an old, worn distributor rotor. Better late than never, my wife’s Ford now has a new Motorcraft starter solenoid, and I will not be swapping it out to another car in the family fleet. Find starter solenoids under "Electrical" in the RockAuto catalog.

Tom Taylor,
RockAuto.com

http://www.rockauto.com/Newsletter/arch ... 21-13.html
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XR4Ti_ADY
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Re: Can I use this Starter Solenoid / relay??

Post by XR4Ti_ADY »

I also have a malfunctioning solenoid, I can't find replacement parts here(this weird design was not used in Euro Fords), shipping price awfully exceeds the price of the unit so it's quite likely that I'll use a regular solenoid/relay that you'd find mounted on the side of the starter for the job. I'll cover the throwout hook and have that close the power circuit for the starter. Maybe I'll install it right next to the battery box, inside the cabine(I'm planning on relocating the battery and fuse box inside).
In theory, it should work.
Heaps of used XR/Euro SIERRA parts for sale.
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