Starter solenoid?

[swashbuckler]

I need to jump my starter solenoid to isolate another no-start, where the heck is it and what's the best way to access it? Haynes manual says it's on the firewall, but that's hooey. So I crawled under and have located the starter, but there's no solenoid in sight. Is it hiding on top of the starter?

Other question, is it integrated or can I replace it without pulling the starter? If it's integrated, I won't bother trying to isolate further, because I know the battery and relay are good. If it's separate, that'd be good to be able to isolate my trouble there. The starter looks a PITA to get out of there.

'00 SOHC 4.0, automatic.

 

[imp]

Ford Solenoid History

Starters draw very high current: several hundred amperes. A hundred is plenty to weld steel with, so obviously, no ignition switch can turn a starter on and off, too much current.

Years back, Ford used the "Bendix Drive" starter engagement system, which was entirely mechanical. A "Starter Solenoid" was customarily mounted on the fender apron somewhere, and the ignition switch turned that solenoid "On", which caused it to CLOSE a set of very heavy contacts, which fed current to the starter motor.

Sometime in the '60s, Ford went to a solenoid-driven starter drive, which pushed the little bitty pinion gear on the starter motor shaft in to engage the big ring gear on the flywheel. Inside this starter-mounted solenoid was a set of heavy contacts which turned the starter "On" AFTER the gears were engaged, to prevent them chewing against each other, spinning while trying to engage. Thus, the old fender-mounted solenoid became "extra-baggage", since it only controlled the starter-drive solenoid, on the motor itself.

But, Ford kept that fender-mounted jobbie a long time, finally eliminating it altogether, on Explorers sometime in the later-'90s. My '96 had one, but my '99 I think did not. My '04 surely does not.

So, this long story shorter, the starter-solenoid now on the starter itself can fail in several ways: It can burn out, it's "start" contacts can burn away and become ineffective, or it can bind mechanically, failing to either engage the pinion gear, or turn the starter motor "On".

Understandable? imp

 

[Flash]

And the Bendix drive can fail too.

 

[Dave 1955]

Sometimes the plug that slides onto the blade post will get lose..check that