I am having problems with the starter solenoid on my 1965 Valiant.

I had one fail, I replaced it and a week later the new one failed. Would there be something wrong with the electrical system or is it just bad luck?

As with anything else, parts quality matters, and it's getting harder and harder to buy good parts as more and more stuff gets outsourced to the third world

Go to your local UAP/NAPA and buy an Echlin #ST-51 (if your car has a manual transmission) or ST-80 (if your car has an automatic transmission). It will look slightly different to what you originally had, for it has a metal case rather than plastic. It will also never die.

_________________
一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

I tried using a "Standard" solenoid. I have usually had good luck with them. I returned it and they are getting me another one but if this fails I will try the NAPA one you suggested.

Thanks

Dan so which one is for Auto trans???
Frank

_________________
Scrapple: Because a mind is a terrible thing to waste.
73 Duster - Race Car
66 Dart Wagon - DD
178" FED
82 D150
All Slant powered

Thanks, fixed the post. ST-80 is for automatic. This info applies only to '60-'61 all-market plus '63-'66 Canadian-made slant-6 cars, not to American-made '63+ cars nor to '62s in any market.

_________________
一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

Dan
Just for reference do you want to reccomend the US market 63-66 part?
Thanks
Frank

_________________
Scrapple: Because a mind is a terrible thing to waste.
73 Duster - Race Car
66 Dart Wagon - DD
178" FED
82 D150
All Slant powered

No such part. The US-market starter '62+ has its solenoid built in.

_________________
一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

Since I have a spare rebuilt starter with the solenoid built in would anyone like to buy it?

It is never been used but has been tested and it works.

The starter Saskatchewan is offering is an ordinary Chrysler gear-reduction unit, as used on all '62s worldwide and almost all '63-'88 Chrysler 6 and 8-cylinder rear-drive applications, except Canadian '63-'66s and various other non-North-American applications.

_________________
一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

I just installed a new solenoid (not the NAPA one but a "Standard") the engine started on the first try but, that was it. It only worked once. I had to hotwire the car to get home. Could it be some sort of electrical problem? Everything else works fine.

I am planning on trying the ST 80 but it seems like more than a coincidence that three solenoids have failed in a row.

Any suggestions?

Boy, that surely is strange. These should be a lot harder to destroy than that! It's possible there's been a run of bad solenoids — or perhaps Standard have outsourced them to you-know-where? — but let's run through how this setup works. You've got four terminals on the solenoid. Two large, two small. The battery positive cable connects to one of the large terminals. The other large terminal is connected via an angle-bent copper strap to the starter motor's feed terminal. One wire, usually yellow, connects to one of the small terminals. It is hot only when the key is in the "start" position. Another wire, usually brown, connects to the other small terminal. It grounds via the Neutral Safety Switch (has a clear path to ground when the shifter is in the Start or Neutral position only). There's really nothing external that could fail the solenoid; either it works or it doesn't. If it fails, it's due to old age or faulty manufacture.

When you say you had to hotwire the car, what exactly did you do, where, and how? It is possible (and seems likely) that you're experiencing an intermittent failure of the neutral safety switch or its wiring, or a failure of the ignition switch or the wiring between the ignition switch and the solenoid, any of which would convincingly masquerade as a solenoid failure.

_________________
一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

The set up for the wires is exactly how you described it.

One small wire is hot and the other travels somewhere under the car body. There just does not seem to be that much that can go wrong. For hot wiring I just used a set of old needlenose pliers and touched the terminal on the starter that has that strap of metal that you mentioned in your message to the battery cable.

It starts instantly when I do that.

Any ideas where things could be going wrong?

Could it be that brown wire that goes under the car is to the transmission and that is where the failure is?

It thinks that the vehicle is in gear?

So it won't start?

Yes, exactly, that's one of several possible failures.

That brown wire is your ground wire for the solenoid, via the neutral safety switch. Try removing the brown wire and connecting that solenoid terminal directly to ground with a temporary ground wire. If the car then starts reliably (careful, it'll crank in any gear) you need to repair the neutral safety switch wire or replace the neutral safety switch itself.

_________________
一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

Thanks, I will try that right away.

Just for interests sake. Do you know what sort of neutral safety switch I would need?