Starter Relay

[chipola]

Bro's , I have a 72 AM M35A2C. Does it have a starter relay, my 67 has one in the normal place - under the air filter. Yes i know this thread is usless without pic's , so just imagine a pic of nothing. Any help greatly appreciated, dud

 

[gimpyrobb]

If there isn't one there, I would say nope. Have you followed the + battery cable from the battery to see where it goes?

 

[m16ty]

My M35A2C came from GL without a relay. I've been told by some very knowledgeable people on this site that it will burn up my starter button without the relay. I've got a relay but have been lazy and haven't installed it yet. So far everything is holding together but my engine is a fast starter so the starter isn't running long.

 

[cranetruck]

You should have a starter relay, unless you are prepared to run some very heavy gauge cable to the starter button from the solenoid (on the starter), and selecting a start button, which is rated for 50 amps or more...
On the multi the start relay is mounted on the right side of the engine close to the firewall.

 

[dabtl]

The relay is under the air cleaner on the passenger side. You have to remove the air cleaner to change it out easily.

My second deuce drove me nuts intermittently starting after heating up while driving. I finally decided it had to be the relay.

When I removed the relay one of the posts had some threads stripped or the nut was stripped because the nut would not come off and would not tighten further.

I put on the new relay and everything works fine now.

 

[chipola]

gimpyrobb,+ battery goes straight to starter.I got thjs truck from the boys in green, if any changes have been made, it was by the military. Is there a field procedure (read shade tree mechanic) to see if starter is still viable. thanks dud

 

[tjmilitary]

Hey guys i'm having troubles starting my truck sometimes. When I push the start button it just clicks. Would this be the solenoid or could it be the relay?

 

[Rattlewagon]

I thought multi's had a solenoid on the starter?

...or maybe I'm tweaked?

 

[dabtl]

Hey guys i'm having troubles starting my truck sometimes. When I push the start button it just clicks. Would this be the solenoid or could it be the relay?

My experience with the defective relay was no clicks.

 

[cranetruck]

I thought multi's had a solenoid on the starter?

...or maybe I'm tweaked?

It does, but because of the high current draw, an additional relay is used to to handle it.

Sometimes a "click" is caused by bad connections or a "low" battery...voltage drops when solenoid is energized. Check connections.

 

[dabtl]

Thanks Bjorn. Your explanations continue to clear up the mysteries of the electrical system for me.

 

[cranetruck]

You are welcome! I submitted material for an article on the starting system to MVM about a year ago and when they get it published, you can read all about it...probably more than you ever wanted to know about solenoids and related parts.

 

[dabtl]

I learn by fixing. If it is not broken, I am ignorant about it. I think I did fairly good in figuring out the relay problem just by elimination.

I ran the deuce in a very long parade on Saturday which got it into operating temp for a couple of hours at least. Charged the batteries fairly well, although I put the battery tender on it Sunday. While hot, I killed the engine and restarted it to make sure the intermittent starting problem was solved. It appears to be.

But, now I understand why there is the extra relay involved. It might not have helped to track down the defective relay, but it sure would have made the chase shorter.