starter wiring question

[mdregister]

My starter on my 6.2l 85 suburban with th400 3 speed auto crapped out on my yesterday. I ran down to napa and got another one, because I would like to get the truck running asap.

Took the old starter off and compared to the new one-they are identical except for one respect--

The old starter had only two termial posts on it one large, and one small. The large post had the large cable from the battery on it along with a smaller red/pink wire. The smaller post had a small reddish wire on it.

The NEW starter has THREE terminal posts. A large one and two smaller ones.

Should I wire the batery cable and red/pink wire onto the large post as it was on the old starter, or move the red/pink wire to the other post that was not on the old starter?

Thanks.

[BobND]

Is this on original-type non gear reduction starter?

Is the extra terminal labeled "R"?

If so,:

That solenoid is also used on gas engine starter applications, where the little terminal labeled "R" is used to bypass the ignition system's ballast resistor to give a hotter spark while cranking.

It is NOT NEEDED on diesel applications, simply ignore it.

Or are you talking about something else???

[ZZ]

Bob is right about the solenoid being for a gas burner. I always thought the "R" terminal was to give the coil power since the key switch cuts off eveything in the "start" position.

I also wonder if the solenoids are rated the same since the diesel starters have the double battery power.

[catmandoo]

that would be for a point type gasser,pre 1975

[mdregister]

Thanks guys, here is my latest problem.

I hooked up the new starter just like the old one was-with the same two wires on the large terminal post and the other wire on the post in the same location as on the old starter.

As soon as I turned the key, I hear a "pop" and I have no dash lights. I was pretty tired and aggravated, so I left the truck alone for the night.

Once, I figure out which fuse/relay burnt out, should I try putting the "single" wire on the other terminal?

Sorry, at a loss.

[BobND]

Be sure the "start" wire is connected to the terminal nearer to the block, labeled "S".

Ignore the terminal labeled "R". At all times that the solenoid is not already engaged, it's not internally connected to anything inside the solenoid, anyhow.

Check all your battery connections first, and the batterys.

If you did burn something out, possibly due to pinching a wire when intalling the starter, likely it would be a fusible link in a wire that shares the big post on the starter with the battery cable.

[catmandoo]

yep you popped one of the fusible link wires,pinched it between something down there,the olds 5.7's were hell for that because of the brace on the side of the huge starter,i got to the point that when i had a starter off i'd route the wires up top and hook them right direct to the battery.

[mdregister]

Thanks guys, I will check for a pinched wire tomorrow.