Starter Relay Missing??

[Chris518]

I have a 1966 M275 (M35A1) with an LTD-465-1C Multifuel which is my first green money pit. I got it totally electrically dead on arrival but it does push start and run well. I am working my way through the troubleshooting manual to find the electrical fault. I was doing great till I got to the starter relay troubleshooting and spent an hour last night just looking for the darn thing. After some pic comparisons with other models, i now can see the mounting holes in the block for it but no relay. And there are not a mess of wires sitting there to make it look like someone just cannibalized that part alone. Am I just a dodo and cant find it or is there a chance it is somewhere else?

Side note that I have brand new batteries and show good voltage at the starter and starter solenoid and I am able to spin the starter with the ole 'screwdriver jumper on the solenoid' trick. Although the starter doesnt engage when I do that, but thats for another day!

PS - Brand new to the site and looking for upstate NY people!

 

[cattlerepairman]

Have you checked the frame rails? It may have been relocated there to avoid exhaust heat.
Unless you toss the starter and go with a modern gear reduction starter you do need that external relay.

Where in upstate NY are you? I'm just an hour North of the border.

Sent from my SM-G950W using Tapatalk

 

[Dipstick]

I go with Cattlerepairman. Look around the frame or firewall for one. From you picture it looks like someone snapped off a bolt in the relays mounting position on the block. I had to replace mine this winter when I couldn't get my starter to spin. Luckily an electrical supply was two blocks away. I bought some 12 ga. wire and jumped the relay from the battery. It also took a light hammer tap on the relay to free it up. I think it hung up. It was a relief because I was 20 miles from home and it was snowing.

 

[DavidWymore]

Very cool truck.

I had the same fun with my first truck, an A1. The original A1 starter requires you to engage it with a lever, usually connected to a foot button in front of the brake pedal and a bellcrank on the engine side of the firewall. Mine does not have a relay, the wires from the button connect directly to the solenoid in your picture. I do not know if that is original. I can get you pictures of mine around midday today.

 

[DavidWymore]

The engagement lever should stick out the top of the starter. There may be pictures in the thread for my A1 in my signature.

 

[Dipstick]

The purpose of the relay is to isolate the low current side of the electrical system (starter button) from the high current side of the starting system (solenoid and starter). On trucks that lack the bell crank arrangement you definitely need a relay.