Re: 51 PackPatty starter wiring question

Posted by HH56 On 2012/4/5 18:02:27

The wire from start switch goes to the solenoid on the 200 starter. The coil ground is internal on those.

Some of the earlier senior cars had a "safety" feature that grounded the solenoid coil thru the generator. Those had the two wire solenoids and the second wire ran to the "ARM" or "GEN" terminal on regulator. If the engine was not running, because of the internal generator configuration there would be ground thru the generator windings as long as the generator was not producing voltage. Once engine started and voltage from generator was present and equal to battery voltage then there would be no more ground potential available and the solenoid could not be accidentally energized.

The feature was common on senior cars prior to 51 but maybe some carried forward into 51. The ground circuit could be somewhat problematic and bulletins were issued. If a car had intermittent occasions of no cranking when starter was energized instructions were to disconnect the solenoid from regulator terminal and just ground the wire to the body.