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Remote solenoid location - air con


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Hi lads, looking for a good spot to place the painless remote solenoid kit. There’s no room in the firewall. Is it ok to drill two 3/16 holes in the frame? (see photo). Or it might fit behind the battery on the strip of metal behind the headlight. Any suggestions?

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Either location would work I imagine. Closer to the starter may be better as far as wiring, but that's subjective. Just curious, why are you using a remote solenoid? Starter issues?

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Suspected heat soak Joe, hard to start when hot. I’m replacing the cables too, and just added a red top optima. I wish I bought a mini when I replaced the starter last year, but i ain’t changing her again now! (Unless I get headers later)

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Typically the stock starters are pretty good in regards to heat soak, especially if you have stock exhaust manifolds. Cables can be corroded inside & have high resistance, so that's a good place to start. Also make sure all the ground points are clean and tight.

Could just be a bad starter, even though it's new. The heavy duty/high torque ones seem to hold up good. 

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Check the purple wiring going to the solenoid too. Its power path runs from the battery across the core support, back to the firewall, through the ignition switch and neutral safety switch, back to the firewall, and finally across the firewall where it connects to the starter. That's a lot of distance for a small wire that also has 6 connection points.

I would recommend using a heavy relay instead of the extra solenoid. Use the purple wire to trigger the relay and pull power from the starter lug to the solenoid.

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This may have been mentioned in one of your other threads but make sure you have good grounds also. A ground from the engine to the chassis, one from the chassis to the body and one from the body to the engine. I call it the tri-fecta. Plus the original ground from the battery to the engine and the smaller wire from the battery terminal to the fender. 

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Timing’s good, it’s only when the engine is hot. Cheers. 

Can anyone enlighten me what these wires are for? I can’t see any purple wire, or any color except dirt and Chevy orange overspray! Obvs the fat wire is battery pos, but what about the one on top of it, and the other two?

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6 hours ago, Crom Cruach said:

Timing’s good, it’s only when the engine is hot. Cheers. 

Can anyone enlighten me what these wires are for? I can’t see any purple wire, or any color except dirt and Chevy orange overspray! Obvs the fat wire is battery pos, but what about the one on top of it, and the other two?

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Chevy Color Code for Dummies | The H.A.M.B..webloc 

 

Paul I found this and it's been a great help over the years…  I printed it out and keep it in my tool box for reference .   From the photo , it looks like your purple wire is on the far right. 

Ed… 

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Paul,

This is the link the above download is trying to take you to, without the odd .webloc extension:

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/chevy-color-code-for-dummies.343068/

 

The downloads below show GM wiring color codes for all circuits, and also the engine harness diagrams.

Basically you have the large battery terminal as you are aware of, and the fusible link piggy backed on that terminal which feeds 12 volts to the horn relay & Alternator.

The Purple wire at the 2 o'clock position is going to come from your Neutral Safety Switch, and the Yellow wire (9 o'clock position) is going to the Coil (+) side. It'll provide full 12 volts to the coil when cranking to start (This is for 'point's' distributors. If converted to an HEI system, you'll need a constant 12 VDC to feed that).

 

72 Wire color codes.pdf Mitchell 72 monte wiring.pdf 72 Monte Engine wiring.pdf

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11 minutes ago, Crom Cruach said:

That’s great lads thanks. So the purple wire is on the ‘S’ terminal, and the yellow is on the ‘R’ terminal?

Yes. The other one is sometimes labeled 'I' (ignition) on other brand solenoids.

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No, just the wire to the horn relay. That's the protection for the feed for the fuse block.

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I agree with Dennis that it is better to solder the wire.  If you are worried about heat damaging the component you could use a heat sink between the component leads and the solder point.  Always solder whenever possible.

rob

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Something else to consider, just for informational purposes.

When it comes to circuits that may have a fair amount of current, I'll use an un-insulated barrel crimp, then solder, then shrink tube. Reason being, if for some reason the wire got warm enough, the mechanical crimp would still hold (sure, the wire insulation would already be in flames most likely, lol). 

If you've ever dissected a factory harness, you'll see they typically use barrel crimps at all splice points, backed up with solder.

Curious about the diode though. I looked at the Painless instructions for remote solenoids, but didn't see it in the kit. I have put them on for snow plow applications where you use that ford style solenoid for the hydraulic pump. It's used to suppress voltage spikes, and there's actually GM service bulletins that address it as well.

Something like this:

https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2015/MC-10113732-9999.pdf

 

 

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The kit is 30203, but the download manual doesn’t mention it. Here is a pic of my instructions and a diagram. It reads:

”PLEASE BE AWARE THAT THE DIODE PROVIDED IN THE KIT MUST BE USED IF YOU HAD A WIRE GOING TO THE R TERMINAL. CONTINUOUS STARTER ENGAGEMENT WILL OCCUR IF IT IS NOT USED. INSTALL THE DIODE USING THE SPLICES AND HEAT SHRINK PROVIDED, WITH THE STRIPE TOWARDS THE COIL AS SHOWN BELOW.”

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solder might not be an option because I’m lying under the car and the wires are barely past the starter. 

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That's interesting. I saw the same download manual you mentioned, for that exact kit 30203 on the 'Painless' site. Somewhere along the line, they must have updated that kit?

There was only one place that sold that kit, that pictured the diode , 'Classic Industries', but even their download instructions show the new version, without the diode. I'm guessing it's just an old photo, plus they have an ebay site as well. 

https://www.classicindustries.com/product/30203.html?srsltid=Ad5pg_H6t7TQCHDZMu0GrOT5HBGaH_nuBOm321xVj7WqbIPW1gJ6pX3qjdQ

https://www.painlessperformance.com/Manuals/30203.pdf

 

You could always try it without the diode, but if the starter does run on, be prepared to pop off a battery terminal real quick.

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In my humbled opinion and limited knowledge ,  "To use or not use the Diode"  may depend on the type of distributer you have. Before getting into a situation of having to quickly pop the battery..  Perhaps someone with more knowledge than I have could simply call the manufacture for Paul next Monday morning and check this out.  They are presently closed for the weekend.  I know this is what I'd do if it were my car. The images on the adds are generic and probably wouldn't show the Diode for individual car specifics….  

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45 minutes ago, EVC said:

Perhaps someone with more knowledge than I have could simply call the manufacture for Paul next Monday morning and check this out.  

Nice of you to volunteer. Call them Monday & let us know what you find out.

 

But then again, GM didn't use a diode for the solenoid bolted to the starter itself, and Painless doesn't even include it in their kit anymore.

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2 hours ago, jft69z said:

Nice of you to volunteer. Call them Monday & let us know what you find out.

I plan on it, However, After having my Monte in places like Guam and Japan in the early to mid 70s,  I understand the difficulties of getting  a battery after it exploded in my face. I'm sure Paul would like to have your opinion over mine. I'm not an electrician and rely heavily on more knowledgable people like yourself…. Thank you Joe…. 

Ed 

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