A couple of days ago I started the car up and went for a ride. Stopped at a friend's house, car wouldn't star back up. All I heard was the solenoid starter relay switch clicking. When we jumped the car it started right up and ran fine all the way back home. Soon as I parked in the garage, turned it off, then tried to start it all I got was the solenoid clicking. So I replaced the solenoid, making sure I wired it back up exactly as the old one was. I connected the positive battery terminal, then the negative. As soon as i touched thebattery cable to the negative terminal I saw a spark andthe starter turnedover (no key in ignition) a couple of times very slowly then the new solenoid started clicking. What's up?

 

hmm check and make sure the battery has a good charge

 

Also.. never buy 1 starter solenoid.. always buy at least 2 and keep one or two in the trunk. Exactly for this reason.. they can die for no reason at all.

 

One of the fist things I replaced was my starter solenoid. Is there a way we can just discard this or replace it with some new technology?

 

But what would make the starter kick over when the ignition isn't even turned on? Could I have the solenoid wired up wrong? I noticed on the solenoid there's a "S" side and an "I" side. I'm assuming that stands for starter and ignition??? Since the solenoid doesn't look exactly like the one I removed maybe I put the wires on backwards??? Would that cause the starter to kick over when the ignition is not turned on, or would nothing happen, or would I burn up wiring???? I checked the battery and all the cells are 50%. I put it on a small trickle charger all day long yesterday but that didn't change anytrhing.

 

Your solenoid was stuck closed for some reason which allowed battery current to flow through it and activate the starter as soon as you completed the circuit by connecting the negative cable. "S" is for 'start'; "I" is for 'ignition' which is used to bypass the ballast resistor on startup so your ignition gets a full 12 volt charge while cranking. The 'start' lead from your ignition switch should attach to the "S" terminal on the solenoid.If you replace it with a good one from NAPA, Ford, Carquest etc. as opposed to AutoZone or CSK the problem should go away. I had the same problem with my Mustang years ago when I installed a crappy one from Chief auto parts (now AutoZone)- as soon as I hit the key the motor started turning over and would't stop until I disconnected the battery. I replaced it with a Ford one and no more problem. It's not a bad sytem- a lot of Chevy guys band-aid their starters' tendency to heat-soak by bypassing their solenoidsand mounting a Ford relay up on the fender.

 

The new solenoid is the most expensive one NAPA had. Also I have a quick disconnect on my battery negative post and whenever I park the car I disconnect the negative side of the battery 'just in case'.

 

That's not good- now even NAPA's selling crappy electrical parts. Generally a stuck solenoid can be freed up by whacking it with a screwdriver handle or other such implement while it's cranking, but that will only fix the problem temporarily. If you've still got the reciept take it back for another- you might get lucky.