I just replaced my starter and once I turn the key it does not turn off until I unhook the battery. Would this be a bad solenoid or is it hooked up wrong. btw this is on my 89 camaro rs w/ 305 tbi.

 

Sounds like its just hooked up wrong. Do you have a voltmeter? If so, then check for 12v going to both the selonoid and the starter at all times.. It sounds like you have a 12v constant wire hooked directly to the selonoid. The wire going to the small post on the selonoid should be purple, and this wire carries switched 12v, meaning that it is not hot until you turn the keyswitch to position #3. Once you let go of the switch it looses current also. Hope this helps some.

 

That exact thing happended to me about a year ago when I did my headers, I hooked it up wrong, and it did that. But after I hooked it up again correctly, it continued to do it, so I had to buy a new starter from Napa, it was less than $100 I think!

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1987 Chevy Camaro IROC-Z
L98 TPI 350 (5.7L)
TH 700R-4 Transmission
Borg Warner 7.75" 9 Bolt Rear End

Current Mods: LT4 HOT Cam, Comp Cams 1.52:1 Roller Rocker Arms, Edelbrock TES 1 5/8" Headers, Hooker 3" Aerochamber Cat-Back System, Performance Resource Chip, Accel Ignition Coil, Cap, Rotor, 8.8mm Wires, K&N Filters, JET TPI Air Foil, All Free Mods, Falken ZIEX Z-Rated Tires.

Best ET (w/o LT4 cam): 14.32 @ 97.7mph
(corrected for elevation)

7.625" 10 Bolt with 3.42s soon to come!

 

I had the same problem once after I put a new starter on my IROC. The funny thing was the car started and ran just fine for a few days, then out of the blue the thing stuck in the engaged position until I removed the battery cable.

I had mis-adjusted the clearance between the flywheel and the starter pinion gear. I had them sitting too close to each other, and the high friction between the gears prevented the pinion spring from retracting the gear from the flywheel. Once I re-checked the clearance on the starter and made the proper adjustment it ran fine. That was over a year and a half ago, and I haven't had any more problems with that same starter yet.

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89 IROC with lots o' stuff

-=ICON Motorsports=-

 

ok Im still having this problem, the purple wire is hooked up to the switch terminal and there is no constant power to it. There are 4 other wires hooked up to the larger terminal for the positive juice, these have constant power. There is nothing hooked up to the 3rd terminal (the other smaller one), what is this for? anyone know, Im stumped

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89 Camaro Rs
-Stock Tbi 305 with a lot of damn miles
-Edelbrock Z28 TES Headers
-3 inch Catco High Flow Cat
-3 inch Edelbrock Catback
-14x3 Summit Open Element Air Cleaner

Stereo
-Pioneer DEH-P4100 cd player
-Polk Dx9 6x9s

79 Jeep Cj7

 

Well, I have an odd story to add here.
I had just rebuilt my first engine (In a '87 blazer 2.8) and I had this happen to me. At first I thought it was from not having the ground cable connected to the block (I only had the body ground hooked up). I hooked it back up, and had the same problem. Well, I took tha starter off and bench tested it, and it worked fine. I then decided to take it apart anyway, and found a cracked fork in it (the fork that pushes the drive gear in to the flywheel). I replaced the fork with one from another starter IIRC and it was fine!

There are 4 terminals on many GM solenoids. One large one gets connected directly to the starter windings (through the Brushes), and the other large one is for the battery cable (and many times the power for the rest of the electrical system is taken from there). One of the small terminals is labeled "S", this is the one that will engage the starter when 12 volts is applied to it. The last is the "R" terminal, it is used on the old breaker point ignition system (before my time!) It is the resistor bypass terminal that will send full battery power to the coil. Under normal operation, the power to the coil runs through a resistor to lower the voltage to make the points last longer. The extra voltage provided through the "R" terminal makes it easier to start.

Good luck!

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Working on:
'84 Z28 LG4 305 with 200,000 original miles!
Added dual elec fans.
145 MPH IROC Speedo
Building 430 HP 350 (ZZ430)
using primarily GMPP parts.
Short block sitting on a stand. (Man, those Fast-Burn heads sitting on it look good!)

Starting to look like the Kicker poster child!

ASE Certified Master Tech

 

That seems to be all the correct connections. Maybe you do need a new starter.

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1989 IROC-Z 5.7L
NOS 150HP kit
ProBuilt 700R4, PI Vigilante 2800 stall lockup
Baer Brakes 12" Sport System

 

It is a new starter, well its a reman. I guess i need to return it



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89 Camaro Rs
-Stock Tbi 305 with a lot of damn miles
-Edelbrock Z28 TES Headers
-3 inch Catco High Flow Cat
-3 inch Edelbrock Catback
-14x3 Summit Open Element Air Cleaner

Stereo
-Pioneer DEH-P4100 cd player
-Polk Dx9 6x9s

79 Jeep Cj7

 

I had 4 remanufactured starters in a row that did that, all from Advanced Auto Parts, all shimmed properly. I returned all of them and bought one from NAPA, and it was perfect from the start.