On Thursday, April 3, 2014 10:38:56 PM UTC-7, wrote:
On Thu, 3 Apr 2014 20:40:51 -0700 (PDT), Tim

wrote:



On Thursday, April 3, 2014 5:38:59 PM UTC-7, wrote:

On Thu, 03 Apr 2014 15:10:06 -0700, Bill McKee



wrote:







Nope. Bad solenoid, which engaged the starter while running.







I just had some solenoid drama on my old lawn tractor. They sold me



the wrong one. The "4th" terminal wasn't the coil ground, it was the



one that jumps out the ignition resistor,. I burned up some wiring and



wondered why the thing was so hard to start. The fix was easy, pull



the ground wire off (the coil is grounded through the base)



I went ahead and took off the spade lug too so I wouldn't forget and



plug it back in,.



It's amazing how there are some many versions of the same thing. When n doubt I always go back to the old Ford SW-3



Time honored and tough...



http://www.jegs.com/images/photos/500/555/555-10308.jpg



That is what I ended up with but a Craftsman lawn tractor solenoid

uses the terminal where "I" is for the ground to the solenoid coil.

(not shorting out the ballast resistor like a Ford)

http://gfretwell.com/electrical/Sear...l%20wiring.jpg



I got this at a lawn tractor parts dealer.

I was surprised.

I guess this was really for a bigger tractor with an automotive

ignition system. The counter guy pulled the wrong one.



*** boat content alert ***

The tilt trim solenoids on old Mercury outboards are like the lawn

tractor type.

I have bought them at the lawn tractor place. That is why I was

surprised.



The new Mercs use black cube relays like the new cars.

You're right about all the above, Greg. I ahve the isolated ground solenoids, but those 'el-cheapo" stock units don't last long. I will hand the sw-3 and tell them how to wire it in which is simple, or if they bring me the mower, I'll do it for them.

However, concerning the old Merc's and some old Johnson's- I've seen switches that look like the sw-3 but worked by grounding the switch side. Jut the opposite of automotive.

That makes things bit different. But that's really old school, and I hardly see anything like that anymore.