Quote:
Either the early 39's were built this way, which logically does not make sense to me (why have a solenoid always active with ignition on) or over the years, a switch in series with the hold in coil was removed from my car.
On either version, the solenoid is not active at all until you push the accelerator all the way down to activate the kickdown switch or, in the later version, put the car in reverse. In typical normal driving solenoid is just sitting waiting for a command to activate.
On the early 39 version, conceivably the solenoid could be active for an extended period of time
IF the driver was one who preferred leaving the trans in reverse when parked. I know this practice was taught at one time to give extra insurance against the car rolling. That could be one reason why on the later 39 version, the relay coil was powered from the ign switch so if the ign sw was off the relay could not be energized to bring in the solenoid if the car was left in reverse. On those cars one would assume the length of time the solenoid would actually be energized by the reverse switch would be minimal.
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