wiring to starter solonoid

Hi all
Can anyone tell me what the brown wire to the starter solonoid actually does, from my wiring schematic it appears to end up at the ignition switch via a resistor wire, thing is the colors on the back of my ignition are different than the 67 ford manual that I have. My 67 has a fat pink wire with a green/red going on to one terminal while the manual suggests these wires should be red/yellow and red/green. All thes question stem from the fact that on two occasions I have had to pull up because there has been smoke coming from around the ignition switch area and the only sign I can see is that pink wire looks like it has been very hot, I did have a small fire at the wiring to the starter solonoid a short time ago don't know if this has anything to do with it. Any comments appreciated.
Cheers John  

the brown wire to the I terminal on the starter solenoid does NOTHING while the engine is running.. it just sits there with voltage from the positive side of the coil on it..  this is reduced voltage as its getting voltage through the resistor wire between the back of the ignition switch and the bulk head connector..

what it actually does do something.. is when the starter relay is powered up...  at that point.. the contact disc comes up and jumps between the two big studs ... but it also touches the contact connected to the i terminal... this sends full battery voltage to the ignition positive circuit, this bypasses the resister... so the coil gets full battery voltage while cranking..  this creates a HOTTER spark..

points and ignition coils on conventional ignition systems do not like FULL battery voltage for long periods...  the points contacts burn out..  the coils overheat and eventually short out..

i would also really carefully examine the neutral safety switch wiring where it passes through the firewall...  

do you have a wiring diagram....    do you have the copy of the assembly drawing handy???


i have had similar problems on a friends 67 fairlane.. very close to the same model...  thats why i know there is a problem..

you will want to get under the dash board..  or remove the cluster.. find this harness section..




check it carefully...

do you see the wiring on the back of the neutral safety switch... i have found them all frayed and shorted together



do you see the clip that hold the wiring harness at the side of the transmission still so it does not flap in the wind...



this is what the neutral safety switch looks like...

 

Thanks for the reply, if I have electronic ignition does this make the brown wire redundent?
I will definately check the neutral saftey switch for damage.  

electronic ignition is the device at the end of the wire...

how the electronic ignition gets supplied with voltage... ???

in some cases.. the ignition switch contacts open when the key is turned to the CRANKING position and close again when it is returned to the run.. sending power through the resistor to the ignition...

during cranking.. the circuit if fed by the brown wire from the starter relay..


do you have a wiring diagram for your car???

if so print some copies..    use highlighter to color in patterns of dots and dashes on just the ignition power wires...  and all the branches they feed...  

i just spent the better part of an hour colorizing the power to the ignition switch wires and the ignition switch to ignition coil and starter circuit wiring..

i will try to have it up later today..    still have some text to enter on it..  

Thanks for your time, I live in Australia so it's difficult to get the sort of info you can provide, thanks again. John  

this should be printable..

follow the colored wires...   and yes... the power wires between the starter relay and the ignition switch do take the HARD ROUTE...   they have to because of the AMP meter..

cars with volt meters have much less need to have multiple loops of circuits..

 

oh.. this is a 66 diagram... it shows where the ground wire from the cluster to the firewall is...

 

oh... the info i provide is out there.. i just try to describe it in deeper detail... as i know what i have to do to understand what's happening...