67 327350 starter solenoid wiring question
Guys,
I'm working on a 67 327/350 car and have a question on an electrical issue that just occurred. First the wiring is all stock, in fact the whole car is original. The wiring is in perfect condition. I am very familiar with the electrical system and the wiring of the car and have verified the wiring in the bundles are correct by unwrapping some of them to check. On the first start today it took extra time for the engine to fire so the starter was cranking for slightly longer than normal. I noticed smoke coming from under the hood so I shut everything off and disconnected the battery. What I found was the pink "R" solenoid terminal wire from the starter solenoid to the + terminal of the coil to be fried and melted. Fortunately, after unwrapping the whole bundle involved, only that one wire was ruined. I cut off all the wrapping and cleaned all the wires to take a second look. Since this wire is for full 12 volts to the coil during start only, I decided to see if the engine would start with the R terminal wire removed. The engine started immediately and ran fine as usual. I ran it for some time to see if anything else might reveal itself. Nothing else happened and the thing starts fine with no wiring heating at all. I know that it is possible to eliminate the R terminal wire but I'm sure there will come a time when the additional voltage to the points may be needed (cold day, etc). I am hoping someone might have some insight into what would cause the R terminal wire to fry itself. I have cranked my 69 much more than on this car and never had a problem. It has a new ballast resistor and I did check it's voltage drop. ( I know that has nothing to do with it, but just in case anyone asks). Everything seems to operate normally but I would like to replace the R terminal wire after I figure out what might have caused this.
Thanks for your insight
Brad
I'm working on a 67 327/350 car and have a question on an electrical issue that just occurred. First the wiring is all stock, in fact the whole car is original. The wiring is in perfect condition. I am very familiar with the electrical system and the wiring of the car and have verified the wiring in the bundles are correct by unwrapping some of them to check. On the first start today it took extra time for the engine to fire so the starter was cranking for slightly longer than normal. I noticed smoke coming from under the hood so I shut everything off and disconnected the battery. What I found was the pink "R" solenoid terminal wire from the starter solenoid to the + terminal of the coil to be fried and melted. Fortunately, after unwrapping the whole bundle involved, only that one wire was ruined. I cut off all the wrapping and cleaned all the wires to take a second look. Since this wire is for full 12 volts to the coil during start only, I decided to see if the engine would start with the R terminal wire removed. The engine started immediately and ran fine as usual. I ran it for some time to see if anything else might reveal itself. Nothing else happened and the thing starts fine with no wiring heating at all. I know that it is possible to eliminate the R terminal wire but I'm sure there will come a time when the additional voltage to the points may be needed (cold day, etc). I am hoping someone might have some insight into what would cause the R terminal wire to fry itself. I have cranked my 69 much more than on this car and never had a problem. It has a new ballast resistor and I did check it's voltage drop. ( I know that has nothing to do with it, but just in case anyone asks). Everything seems to operate normally but I would like to replace the R terminal wire after I figure out what might have caused this.
Thanks for your insight
Brad
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