Will only start when key is released (1 Viewer)

[Road Warrior 808]

I bought a '75 with a stock 2F from a second owner. The starter had been swapped out, and there is an extra wire hanging loose from it. The engine turns over fine, but it will never start until the key is released. (allowed to go from the "START" back to the "ON" position.)

See photo.
The Black/Yellow goes into the wiring harness.
The Red wire with the Green connector goes from that same harness to the distributor.
The Black/Red wire goes nowhere.

Is this my starting problem?

 

[Gumby]

That wire energizes the coil with 12V when the starter is cranking. When in run the coil power goes through a resistor and gets knocked down to 7V to keep the points from burning out.

So, yes. That is your problem.

In the absence of a better solution you can run that wire directly to the + side of the coil.

 

[Road Warrior 808]

That wire energizes the coil with 12V when the starter is cranking. When in run the coil power goes through a resistor and gets knocked down to 7V to keep the points from burning out.

So, yes. That is your problem.

In the absence of a better solution you can run that wire directly to the + side of the coil.

Awesome, Gumby, thank you. I'll make that connection then check for the presence of 7 volts at the coil when the key is ON, and a full 12 volts when in START.