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Starter relay

2K views 11 replies 6 participants last post by  Daves 88' 
#1 ·
My battery has been dead lately, and Ive had to jump start it. After jumping it, it would fire right up. I was thinking it wa the alternator so i was going to bring it to the shop to get it tested.
When I jump started my bronco this morning I heard a hiss-pop type sound and some smoke was coming from the starter relay. Ok, so i took that off and got a new one. I then looked up steve83 pics and notes on the starter relay.
My question is this, on my 1985 bronco with a 302, how many wires should be connected to the starter relay? In some of the pics its just three(pos battery cable, starter wire and negative). I have more than that on mine, so what should only be connected to the relay?
 
#5 ·
Don't start blindly changing parts. If you don't know what you're doing, pay someone who does to straighten it out for you this time, and start learning.

There is no negative on the starter relay - all wires are positive. Read this caption carefully:



Then read the NEXT several captions.
 
#6 ·
I recently had issues with this on my old truck. Positive from the battary to the big terminal on the solenoid closest to the "S" (probably on the left if you are looking at it. Cable on other big terminal closest to the "I" (probably on the right if you are looking at it) should go to the starter. A wire on the "I" terminal should go to the positive of the coil. A wire on the "S" terminal shoud go to the ignition switch.

This basically fixed my problem. If you have your's hooked up that way, then it could be something else.
 
#7 ·
I just tried to replace my relay two weeks ago, and the starter stuck open after I started My Bronco, and let go of the key. After disconnecting the relay, I then tried it again, after disconnecting all the wires, and have no power. I put my old one back on, and it works fine. I got the $25.00 one at O reillys, and had it warrantied out, but the new one is still in the box in the garage. My old one, on it now, is a "select" brand relay. I am wondering if there is a bad batch of new ones on the market now. The one I bought was made in China, to boot. I think I am going to return the new one.
 
#8 ·
The relay doesn't send power to the rest of the truck - it's just used as a binding post to connect the ring terminals. The only possibilities are that you put the rings on the wrong terminals, or the rings are dirty. Did you read that caption above? Read this one:

 
#9 ·
I got all the wires correct allright. The new relay's bolt pattern is different than mine, when installed though. I could clean the mating surfaces, which may help, but since the old relay works I didn't factor that in as being an issue. Maybe I have some other issue I overlooked on the new one. I just pulled it out of the box and bolted it on.
 
#11 ·
Yes, the two left side ones are what I have, both old and new. But my new one is turned 22 degrees out, compared to my old one. In other words, the studs are in different areas compared to my old one, once installed. The "s" port is now on top, instead of on the side.
 
#12 ·
The po had a Chevy 350 alternator on this Bronco, and tried to make it work. He had spliced a 350 plug into the electrical system to the relay somehow, and the vehicle was not registering enough voltage at the dash. It tore up the mounting bracket, and I had to replace the entire bracket in front of the motor. So, I don't know if I have the correct relay on my Bronco now, but it works. :doh0715:
 
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