Starter wires HELP ??

[69 GMC forever]

HI gang I got a 1969 gmc with a 350 in it and the starter has 3 post on it . I know the battery wire goes to big post but what color wires go to the other 2 posts someone got into this wirering and made a mess out of it and I am trying to sort it all out ... thanks for your help

[Shyguy]

Do you have an Hei distributor?

[Shyguy]

I just noticed that no one posted more information so here goes.

According to the 1967 Chassis Service Manual a wire 12ppl goes to the "S" terminal on the starter soleniod and a 20y goes to the "R" terminal on the starter solenoid.

I am thinking 12ppl is 12 gauge purple and 20y is 20 gauge yellow.

The reason I asked if you had a Hei distributor is the yellow wire to the starter is not required for Hei because a new heavier gauge wire is ran from the unfused ignition terminal on the fuse panel to the Hei distributor to give a full 12 volts all the time.

Hope this helps.

[69 GMC forever]

Shyguy
thanks for the reply I did find a wire diagram off the net and got it all worked out. I will be putting a HEI in and was told that I can use the red wire that went to the coil to use a power sorce for the HEI . is this true ?

[Shyguy]

If you are going to run a Hei distributor it will need a 12 volt source. You can check the red wire and see if it indeed has 12 volts.

The point style distributors got 12 volts from the yellow wire when the key was turned to start, but after the engine got started the yellow wire no longer provided 12 volts and the coil got a reduced voltage, I think 9 volts, for the engine to run through a resistor wire. According to my manual the resistor wire was a 20w/or/ppl, yours may have been replaced some time in the past.

When we converted my engine over to an Hei distributor we ran a 10 gauge wire with a 30 amp in-line fuse from the unfused ignition connection on the fuse block under the dash to the distributor.

[69 GMC forever]

ok when I get the motor ready to start I will check the red wire and see what the voltage is

[davepl]

I'm no engineer, but I don't think you can rely on a volt meter to tell if the source is a resistance wire. The white resistance wire on points style ignition has a resistor built in, which limits current, not voltage. When there's load, true, it'll have fewer volts but not when just disconencted to conenct to a meter.

Your best bet is really to run a new wire back to the fuse block IGN terminal. Or entirely replace the coil power wire to eliminate the resistance wire.

[Shyguy]

This is where I got the information I posted earlier. The 1967 Chevrolet Chassis Service Manual states when talking about the engine ignition system, "Two resistance wires are also used in the circuit; one as ballast between the coil negative terminal and ground, while the other restistance wire provides a voltage drop for the engine run circuit and is by-passed at cranking".

So far I have not found the exact voltage drop, though.