Question about electrical

[BusaDave9]

There should be three or four terminals on the starter solenoid, the only one to always be powered is the large one connected to the battery. The other large terminal goes to the starter. One small terminal is connected to the start switch to engage the solenoid.

True but that battery cable on the starter solenoid is a common place to get a constant 12 volts. I don't know why anyone would want to supply 12 volts to something only when the starter is turning.

 

[Old Dog]

That white thing is called a ballast resistor. It is used to reduce the voltage to the ignition coil when the engine is running. It would only be hot when the ignition switch is in the on position. There should be two wires connected to the same terminal of the ignition coil. The second wire connects to the solenoid on the starter, this provides a full 12 volts to the coil for starting and the ballast resister provides about 6 volts when the engine is running.
The idea is to allow maximum spark while starting the engine and reduced stress on the coil under running conditions.

maybe the resister wire burned out and the PO replaced it with this.

 

[67Jeepster]

The resistor wire or ballast resistor would be hooked up from the ON side of the ignition switch to the coil. A regular wire would be used from the starter solenoid to the same coll terminal as above. That yellow wire needs to be traced or just removed from the ballast resistor to see what happens. A direct connection to the battery needs to get a fuse ASAP. A tap on the starter lead for auxiliary power should be fed to a relay so that power is killed when the jeep is off.

 

[Jimbos76cj]

Well that answers that then, but what the hell is that thing on my firewall then.....Frig

The thing being pointed at in the picture is the ingition compacitor. Thru elfin magic it help keep a high voltage charge in the coil and and redirect the electric flow yada yada yada. If it happens to reduce the ignition noise on on the radio thats a bonus. Normally for the ignition noise problem you need a noise filter that go in line with the hot wire to the radio.

Ive been thru 7-10 jeeps and have never seen the white bar that you have on your fire wall.. can you trace the wire to where it goes?? or better yet checking the voltage going in and coming out with a multi meter will give you a reading of what its doing on with the part.

Not everything electrical on a car runs at 12 volts. your ignition coil from what i understand only gets 12v at start up then a resistor will lower it to 6 volts (?) when its running. Knowing what it goes to and where it comes from and the output will help a ton.

Oh to clarify.. Ive seen the white bar on other vehicles..just never on a stock CJ. it could be your resistor the drops the coil voltage down blew out so that one was added.

 

[Jimbos76cj]

ehh.. some how missed the last 2 pages of the post.. good luck

 

[jeffgtoman]

That white thing is called a ballast resistor. It is used to reduce the voltage to the ignition coil when the engine is running. It would only be hot when the ignition switch is in the on position. There should be two wires connected to the same terminal of the ignition coil. The second wire connects to the solenoid on the starter, this provides a full 12 volts to the coil for starting and the ballast resister provides about 6 volts when the engine is running.
The idea is to allow maximum spark while starting the engine and reduced stress on the coil under running conditions.

This is a great explanation of WHAT IT IS. If you want help figuring why it's there, trace the wires in both directions and post a pic of what they are hooked to.

 

[67Jeepster]

What happened to JimyB? We have been trying to help you, now we are all curious. Please tell us where your ballast resistor is connected.

 

[BajaEdition]

as to what it is, it looks exactly like the Ballast resister in a late 60s CJ5 which is mounted on the firewall