WTH? Ford part in my camry?!

[ExoticKiss]

Ok I'll give you all a little background. I have a 1989 Toyota Camry LE. Excellent condition..no rust. Well about 6 months after I got it, it started acting like the starter or solenoid was going. It would just click but after a couple times it would start. So I went and bought a starter for $150..well not even a week later it started doing it again..so I thought oh great they sold me a bad starter. Nope...starter tested fine.

Then we noticed a black cylinder mounted by the motor fan underneath the distributor and we were messing with that and then the car started right up. Well we took it to the parts store and they told us it was a FORD solenoid. Theres a wire coming from the wire harness that goes to this solenoid and a wire going from the solenoid to the starter. We said whatever and put it back in there. Well it ran fine for a couple weeks after we replaced the wire from the wire harness to the solenoid. Then all of sudden..nothing..car won't turn on..no lights no nothing. So we thought the battery was dead. No..The alternator fuse AND the ignition fuse were blown. We changed them about 2 weeks ago and for 3 days we had to start it with a battery charger every time but it wouldn't work if we tried to jump it. Well for 2 weeks now it's ran great..started right up everytime..until today. It's doing the same again. Earlier it would take 3 tries but it would start. The 3rd stop we made it would not start back for nothing. So we played around with that wire again and for some odd reason that wire was melted...so we used electrical tape and put it around the bare wire and the car started right up.

I'm going crazy here trying to figure out what in gods name is wrong with my car.


Does anyone know why on earth someone would put a ford solenoid in a toyota? And will it work if we take it out and rewire the wires to go to the solenoid thats on the starter?

[Zembonez]

My guess is that someone before you had a similar problem and this was their fix?

[ExoticKiss]

Well it's not a very good fix. We can't take it out either..All it does is click if we take it out. So we put it back..it started right up. But I can guarentee I go out tomorrow morning to start it and it won't.

[Wangan]

I have that solenoid in my camry as well. I put it in during my engine swap because I had an issue with the stock relay and I was told that this relay, which comes from a mustang 5.0 I believe, is a common fix for older toyotas with starter relay issues. (The day they were telling me about it there was a 7M supra at the shop with one installed) I did this two years ago and I'm not having any issues with it aside from CEL because the ECU doesn't recieve the proper starter signal I believe. I think the issue you are having may be from bad grounding. Check all the grounds that may be a part of the wiring to the cylinder as well as other grounds that may be located elsewhere in your engine bay. Electrical problems are a bitch to solve but they usually always come back to a grounding issue or a bad alternator. I just went through 3 months of electrical issues earlier this year only to find out it was my alternator.

[wmcot]

Originally Posted by ExoticKiss

Ok I'll give you all a little background. I have a 1989 Toyota Camry LE. Excellent condition..no rust. Well about 6 months after I got it, it started acting like the starter or solenoid was going. It would just click but after a couple times it would start. So I went and bought a starter for $150..well not even a week later it started doing it again..so I thought oh great they sold me a bad starter. Nope...starter tested fine.

Then we noticed a black cylinder mounted by the motor fan underneath the distributor and we were messing with that and then the car started right up. Well we took it to the parts store and they told us it was a FORD solenoid. Theres a wire coming from the wire harness that goes to this solenoid and a wire going from the solenoid to the starter. We said whatever and put it back in there. Well it ran fine for a couple weeks after we replaced the wire from the wire harness to the solenoid. Then all of sudden..nothing..car won't turn on..no lights no nothing. So we thought the battery was dead. No..The alternator fuse AND the ignition fuse were blown. We changed them about 2 weeks ago and for 3 days we had to start it with a battery charger every time but it wouldn't work if we tried to jump it. Well for 2 weeks now it's ran great..started right up everytime..until today. It's doing the same again. Earlier it would take 3 tries but it would start. The 3rd stop we made it would not start back for nothing. So we played around with that wire again and for some odd reason that wire was melted...so we used electrical tape and put it around the bare wire and the car started right up.

I'm going crazy here trying to figure out what in gods name is wrong with my car.


Does anyone know why on earth someone would put a ford solenoid in a toyota? And will it work if we take it out and rewire the wires to go to the solenoid thats on the starter?

If you have a wire that is melted on this solenoid, that's a sign that the wire is not heavy enough. Maybe all you need is to replace that wire with a heavier gauge wire to handle the current. It could be a cheap fix and if it works, I would leave it. It sounds like someone bypassed the Camry solenoid because, as most of us have experienced, there are a lot of problems with the Toyota solenoid contacts.

[white90dx]

Let's get things straight...

A solenoid is an electromechanical device that extends or contracts when power is applied to it. Your starter has one internally to push the starter gear on to the flexplate/flywheel when you try to start the car.

A relay is an electromechanical device that uses a low current signal to close or open a switch for higher current. It sounds like an extra relay was wired in to your car to help the starter solenoid get higher voltage/current to help the car start.

It is a well known issue that older Toyotas have weak starter solenoids that require a fairly high voltage to get them to engage the starter. Adding an extra relay between the normal starting circuit and the starter solenoid shortens the path that the electricicty has to follow to get to the starter, leaving more power to move the solenoid.

I installed one on my auto Alltrac when it would no longer start without all other electrical loads off (auto seatbelts, brake lights, headlights, vent fan, interior lights, etc). After installing it correctly, it starts no matter what is on. You can also try cleaning all the contacts that the starter wire goes through around the car, but this might only last for a while before you have to do it again...

-Charlie

[Doctor J]

I had the similar case and ended up installing $4 relay in the starter control circuit.The weaker current is still able to operate relay which will apply the power from the battery to the solenoid [ign] terminal.
With such set-up I should not worry about neutral safety switch condition or burned ignition switch.

[GeorgeInCA]

Parts are parts, beleive it or not Toyota makes very few of them, it's manufacturers like ND, AISIN, Beck Arnley etc... that make the parts, if they can make fewer parts that meet the specifications the manufacturer requires then so be it. For example, the igniter is made for the Geo Metro as well among others.

[wmcot]

Originally Posted by Doctor J

I had the similar case and ended up installing $4 relay in the starter control circuit.The weaker current is still able to operate relay which will apply the power from the battery to the solenoid [ign] terminal.
With such set-up I should not worry about neutral safety switch condition or burned ignition switch.

I finally did the same thing a month ago after my daughter's Camry wouldn't start again. Bought a $6.00 automotive relay from Radio Shack and spent about half an hour installing it (soldered all connections for extra security) and not a problem since! Starts first time, every time! thanks for the great tip!