Starter relay on a 12HT (1 Viewer)

[CenTXFJ60]

I have a clone 61 I built several years back. Have always had an intermittent issue with the starter clicking. Only happens when ambient temp is high (summer months in TX) and the engine is at normal operating temps. Originally had a 24v relay on there that I harvested off a 61 harness. Swapped to a 12v one I bought from a fellow mud member in Canada. Been a few years since I installed the 12v and it still occurs. My son helped me wire in the relay to my FJ60 harness so I don’t have the knowledge of where each wire is sourcing from (these 4)

I know the white one is from the battery and the black/red goes to the starter. Tested all 4 with the key off and the red/black one is the only one not hot (makes sense). I opened up the relay (forgot to take a pic) and it looks brand new inside. The contacts look super clean as well.
So two questions…is there something I can look at and possibly correct or can I throw an aftermarket relay (like this Napa one I have) in there. If the aftermarket one, does anyone have any recommendations on where the wires should go? I know the battery one goes on the larger left post. Red another post where @duncanrm commented about this job. Any help is appreciated.

 

[roma042987]

Jimmy, I believe left post should be battery (or starter big post), right post should be to signal wire (at starter) and I should be your starter signal wire that is currently at starter. I hope that makes sense. The S will not be used and ground is achieved through the mounting bracket. Just confirm with a multimeter before you hook it up.

 

[CenTXFJ60]

Good feedback Roma and appreciate the phone call. Have to correct my above post. Only the battery wire is hot when key is off. Not sure what I was testing late yesterday but was obviously wrong. Gonna test it with some connectors before I hard wire it in.

 

[duncanrm]

The aftermarket solenoid you have displayed is straightforward - it wont be polarity sensitive. The two connectors you have to your factory relay one of them will have fat wires, the other will have thinner wires. So the thinner wires go to your front contacts on your aftermarket solenoid and the fat ones go to the brass posts on your aftermarket solenoid. You can confirm the need for polarity sensitivity or not, hook up 12V+ and 12V- to the two front contacts, you should get a nice fat CLICK from the unit.

However..

You've had a "Click no crank fault"- across two different starter relays now?

You should also consider:

• Starter solenoid (plunger) contacts in the starter itself? These are rebuildable - very common click no crank fault
• Poor Block/Bellhousing earths (clean up the attachment points with a wire wheel real nice, clean up the crimps as well, never hurts to add earths)
• Crappy/loose/dirty battery terminals
• Poor battery
• Starter not bolted firmly to bellhousing
• Poor high currrent lead to starter (dirty, loose, sub optimal gauge)

 

[CenTXFJ60]

The aftermarket solenoid you have displayed is straightforward - it wont be polarity sensitive. The two connectors you have to your factory relay one of them will have fat wires, the other will have thinner wires. So the thinner wires go to your front contacts on your aftermarket solenoid and the fat ones go to the brass posts on your aftermarket solenoid. You can confirm the need for polarity sensitivity or not, hook up 12V+ and 12V- to the two front contacts, you should get a nice fat CLICK from the unit.

However..

You've had a "Click no crank fault"- across two different starter relays now?

You should also consider:

• Starter solenoid (plunger) contacts in the starter itself? These are rebuildable - very common click no crank fault
• Poor Block/Bellhousing earths (clean up the attachment points with a wire wheel real nice, clean up the crimps as well, never hurts to add earths)
• Crappy/loose/dirty battery terminals
• Poor battery
• Starter not bolted firmly to bellhousing
• Poor high currrent lead to starter (dirty, loose, sub optimal gauge)

Great feedback and appreciate your response. I believe I screwed up this Napa relay as I put a wrench on the larger nut and attempted to remove it (brain fart) and the lug started backing out. I’ve hooked up the positive and starter wire (two larger wires) to the fat posts and hit it with 12v direct on the smaller stud (labeled with an “I” for ignition) and no juice or clicking. I’m getting another relay and will have a go at it. I’m far from an electrical guru so figuring out by trial and error. Additional grounds could be a key issue. I currently have 5-6 between the motor and starter. Just put a new heavy duty clutch in (was running a 2F clutch kit) and everything was pretty spotless when removed. I built this truck 7-8 years ago and only have 25k miles on her. The 12HT was a NOS coaster bus motor so there’s about zero grime/grease anywhere. And the H55 was new over the counter from Toyota. Thank you again and I’ll update this with my next attempt at wiring in a relay which should be this weekend.

 

[duncanrm]

I’ve hooked up the positive and starter wire (two larger wires) to the fat posts and hit it with 12v direct on the smaller stud (labeled with an “I” for ignition) and no juice or clicking.

You are going to need 12V+ on one small terminal, and earth on the other to get it to click..

 

[CenTXFJ60]

Ok. So earth on the terminal marked “S”? I was under the impression it grounded when bolted to the fender. I’ll give this a shot and report back.

 

[duncanrm]

Yes... its not clear to me what S & I are referring to.. hopefully this isnt a VSR (Voltage Sensing Relay).. if its just a standard relay then Positive to one small terminal and Negative to the other small terminal should connect the two big copper posts together. Grounding of the unit itself via that top bracket should not be required.

Do you have a link to this item from wherever you bought it?

 

[CenTXFJ60]

Figured out this relay. Did not work with the ground plugged in and swapped the key to the “S” position. Could not find any instructions online for this NAPA product. Not 100% sure I have it correct but it does fire. Although it does not hit as hard as the factory relay. I’ve ordered another one from Amazon that @roma042987 recently used. I’ll see how it performs prior to integrating any wires. And that could be my issue as well. I just threw some paddle connectors in there and they may not be making the best contact with the OEM female side connectors.

 

[CenTXFJ60]

So I put about 50 miles on her today with the wires Mikey rigged in there. 4 stops and outside temp in the 90’s. No intermittent clicking but will give it several more runs before I commit and permanently move away from the factory relay. I leave for CO 3 weeks from today so hopefully this change works.