replaced starter, now not charging.

[racsan]

94 2.3 2wd. I replaced the starter today, had been cranking slower than it should for awhile and has a nearly new battery. Also replaced the solenoid on the fender and was going to replace all the cables ( + , - & cable to the starter) Well I neglected to unhook battery at first, I didn’t realize the cable to the starter was live since there is a solenoid that cables go to. Well the cable to the starter arc’d to something (manifold maybe?) I noticed the cable end was really bad going to the starter, the terminal broke off the starter trying to remove it, no big deal, getting a cable anyways. Saw there was a small wire going to the starter too, so it has 2 starter solenoids? one on left inner fender and one on starter itself? The cable from rock auto that was supposed to go from starter to fender solenoid was too short, ran to autozone for another, it was only 4’ long but thought it might be enough. The original cable hookup to the starter itself I cut off and taped up, routed the cable up to the battery area, still could stand to be a little longer. Changed the solenoid, noticed the hookup to the solenoid with the two large rings is connected together with a plastic/rubber webbing, it kind of seemed like the cable from battery + was going to the starter, so I dont know where the other cable is coming from. Since this battery is a combination top/side post battery so I just hooked up my new cable from the starter to the side post hookup on the battery (since it was a live wire before, obviously) . I tightened everything down and started it, spins over better then it ever has but now its not charging, Im certain the alternator is ok because my tach still works . ( I put a tach on that uses a sensor clamped to the alternator for a rpm signal, I doubt it would work if alt wasnt) Is there a fusable link that could of blown? I verified the “not charging “ by a meter after noticing the dash guage wasnt reading as high as normal.

 

[RonD]

Yes, there are two starter RELAYs, only 1 starter solenoid, its ALWAYS been on the starter motor, lol

In the past there was just the one starter relay on the inner fender, often called a starter solenoid, its not

Battery positive cable ran to one larger post on this relay, and it had ALL the other 12volt power cables for the vehicle on this same post, including alternator wire(s)
The other larger post on this relay had a large cable that ran to the starter motor

Then there was a smaller post on this relay, the "S" post it was connected to the key switch, when key switch sent 12volts to the small post the relay closed and sent Battery Positive volts to starter motor
(The starter solenoid on the top of starter motor would then PUSH starter gear out to connected to Ring Gear to crank engine)
There was another smaller post on some relay's, the "I" post, not used since electronic ignitions

Diagram of the old system and what you may have expected in a 1994: https://i.pinimg.com/736x/8f/47/51/8f47515e4ae2ba22c4d0ff3a05ea0080.jpg

You do not have this type of system

Your 1994 starter would need 2 wires, one larger cable diretly from battery positive, and a smaller wire from starter relay

What Ford did in the late 1980s was to add a starter relay in with the solenoid ON the starter motor
Battery positive cable run directly to the starter motor(surprise, lol)
And the starter motor now has an "S" post to activate this relay with key switch, so no inner fender relay needed
BUT...................

The 12volt distribution for the whole vehicle was based on having a starter relays large post to hook up fuse box, alternator and other system, all wiring harnesses were setup for that
So they had to still have that POST there to power everything

And the "S" wire from the key switch was also there, so that would have to be changed, or would it?
Well not in 1994 it wasn't changed, lol

So wiring at the inner fender starter relay stayed the same............except they just use a smaller wire from relays "starter" large post to the "S" post on the added starter relay/solenoid on starter motor

Look like this: https://i1.wp.com/wiringforums.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/ford-starter-solenoid-wiring-diagram-with-basic-images-2587-with.jpg?ssl=1

See the small red wire at the bottom, that goes to starter motors "S" post
So key still activates this relay, and that activates the second relay on the starter motor
And all the wires on the larger "battery" post are still there for distribution and charging


Not that it matters
Years and years ago there were no "relays", using a coil of wire as an electro-magnet was called a solenoid, it was used to control valves or an arm movement
When "solenoids" were first used to control electrical power, on/off, they were renamed "relays"
So a relay is used to turn electrical power on or off
A solenoid is use to open or close a valve or create movement(like pushing starter gear out and pull it back)
They both use the same coil of wire to create an electro-magnet to do their function, and a "relay" does have a contact arm that is MOVED to get the on/off electrical function
So an argument can be made that a relay IS a solenoid, but I think that muddies the water more than it clears it, lol

 

[racsan]

Solved! I use one of the studs in the fender mount solenoid (relay-cant help but call it the S-word) as my B+ power hook up point, stuff like my dixie horns, other air horn, light bar. Well when I was putting it all back together I left off my auxiliary electric heater, it wasn’t putting much heat out anyways and another wire got left out in the process, the grey wire from the alternator. I started troubleshooting it tonight after work and found it right away. I need to put in a actual terminal block. Working outside tonight I had more light & could see better then when I was working in the garage a few days back.

 

[RonD]

Yup, that would do it