Starter solenoid

[tnhunter]

General question guys, on the ignition solenoid, which wire(s) go to the lug labeled with the "I"? The previous owner of mine did not have any wires going to it, but to the positive battery cable connection.

Does anyone have a clear solenoid wiring diagram that can be downloaded. Thanks.

[Michael F]

In 79 a red wire goes to the I terminal. The ignition coil has a resistance wire that feeds it a voltage around 6V instead of full voltage so to get more power for start up the I terminal sends full voltage to the coil to get a hotter spark.

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81 Cherokee Laredo WT
54,000 orig. miles (not the engine)
360/727/208/3.31w/tracklock/31x10.5AT
79 Cherokee Chief WT (snow plow)
360/400/QTw/LR/3.54/31x10.5

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>"Duct tape is like the force. It has a light side, a dark side, and it holds the universe together."Carl Zwanzig<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

[tnhunter]

Does this red wire go to the positive (+) terminal of the coil? It looks like the PO wired it directly so that the (+) terminal has a constant 12 volts.

[Michael F]

The red wire does go to the + terminal. Some aftermarket coils do use 12V but the stock coil does not and will overheat and fail at some time.

Normally the coil + is fed by the ignition switch so the PO must have seperated the solenoid wire from the resistance wire coming from the ignition or the solenoid wire would backfeed into the ignition circuit and you would not be able to turn the engine off.

If it is a 12V coil, I would tie the + terminal back into the ignition circuit. The circuit uses a red/tr wire and powers the ignition module and a few other things under the hood and if you trace it back to the firewall you will find the duct taped wire splice that also has the start of the resistance wire if you need that back.