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Starter Relay removal with MSD upgrade?

72 Satellite

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Hello All,

I'm almost finished with the "MAD" upgrade on my dash harness, and will soon be installing the completed dash in the car (1972 Satellite). The problem I'm having, believe it or not, is locating the Starter Relay. I've had the car for 2 years now, and haven't traced every wire. The previous owner upgraded to an MSD ignition system, and relocated the battery to the trunk. Since it didn't appear anywhere on the firewall, I traced the positive lead from the battery to the Starter. I'm stuck at this point, because it's very difficult, due to the header, to even see the posts or top of the starter/solenoid. What I can see is the positive battery lead stopping at this point, as I would expect. After that, there appears to be 2, smaller gauge red wires that leave the starter, with 1 of them terminating at the bulkhead, and i believe the other passing back into the drivers side compartment. I can't imagine he would have mounted a relay down by the starter, so I'm left with the assumption that he removed it from the circuit entirely, and used the solenoid in it's place? I guess i will trace what terminal the smaller red wire goes to on the bulkhead connection...thanks in advance for any and all help.

Rob
 
Isn't your starter relay under the bulkhead disconnect on the firewall under the hood?
 
If the starter relay has been eliminated and the crank wire from the ignition switch run directly to the starter solenoid I can't see the ignition switch living a long and happy life. Relays do serve a purpose.
Mike
 
Sounds to me like he may have put it inside somewhere if the smaller wires from the solenoid go through the firewall....crawl up under the dash and find those wires. It may be in the trunk, behind the kick panels, or........who knows. Nothing more exciting than figuring out a previous owner's wiring:rolleyes:
 
Sounds to me like he may have put it inside somewhere if the smaller wires from the solenoid go through the firewall....crawl up under the dash and find those wires. It may be in the trunk, behind the kick panels, or........who knows. Nothing more exciting than figuring out a previous owner's wiring:rolleyes:


My interior is completely stripped to the bone, no relay in site.
 
If the starter relay has been eliminated and the crank wire from the ignition switch run directly to the starter solenoid I can't see the ignition switch living a long and happy life. Relays do serve a purpose.
Mike

I agree, that's what concerns me, especially since I have a brand new ignition switch in my rebuilt steering column. Nothing has been put back in the vehicle yet. A little more sleuthing to do on my part, to confirm exactly what the wiring situation is before moving forward. I'm amazed how tight these B body (71-74) engine compartments are, compared to my previous B body, which was a 69 Charger. Hopefully I can pull the Starter relatively easy to see what all is attached, otherwise I'll probably have to pull the driver side header just to get at it. I swear it feels like an E body compartment, size wise.
 
Not trying to be a smart ***, but you do know what a Mopar starter relay looks like dont you?
 
Not trying to be a smart ***, but you do know what a Mopar starter relay looks like dont you?


Yup

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Holy crap, your starter must be wired directly or the relay is hidden somewhere.
 
If you have 2 smaller wires coming out from the starter, then 1 will be full time B+, and the other will go to the solenoid on the starter. Use a voltmeter and see whats up.
 
If you have 2 smaller wires coming out from the starter, then 1 will be full time B+, and the other will go to the solenoid on the starter. Use a voltmeter and see whats up.

Thanks. I need to contort my 56 year young body and either get a better look at the Starter and/or Solenoid terminals, or pull the Starter to get a better look. Like I mentioned earlier, I can't believe how tight things are in this engine compartment, especially with the Long Tube Headers. If it turns out there isn't a Starter Relay to be found anywhere then I will need to figure that out. The car ran fine for the 2 years I've had it, but I'm not going to continue running it that way if it doesn't have a relay.
 
The good news is I found the Starter Relay.
The bad news is I found the Starter Relay!

Started tracing and documenting the circuitry. At first, things were going fairly well, as correct color and gauge wires were following the path from the engine side bulkhead, to there intended destinations. However, as I dug deeper and started peeling back the layers of the onion, things got weird and bad real fast. I couldn't find the origin of the 12 gauge red wire that was landed on the Ignition terminal of the Starter Solenoid. Understand that the previous owner relocated the battery to the trunk, and re-routed the leads coming from the Ignition Box (Passenger Side Fender), along with all of the leads that would terminate at the firewall, through the Drivers Side wheel-well, then back into the engine compartment directly below the Power Brake Booster. Looking in the wheel-well, everything was neatly wrapped in black flex-split wire conduit, and snugly in place. I needed to track down the red Ignition lead from the starter solenoid, so began the removal of the wire covering and tape. I expected to see a splice here and there, since things were re-routed, but the more covering i removed, the more splices I began to see. I still couldn't find the solenoid lead, and the only thing left I hadn't looked at, was a square rubber patch that almost looked factory (to these untrained eyes), located right where the wires left the wheel-well area, and re-entered the engine compartment. I know some of you probably know what comes next, I certainly didn't! Suffice it to say, I'm always amazed at the lengths some people will go to. They had to spend 3 times as long doing it incorrectly vs doing it right.

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Totally bummed out. Chances of making Carlisle are growing dimmer by the minute. Already paid for my spot, along with hotel etc.

Oh well, I'll keep plugging away and see what I can accomplish before then.
 
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