93 FD ..I relocated the battery to the trunk. When I moved it i installed a 12 volt 150 amp circuit breaker next to the battery. Its been a couple months now and we are starting to have issue with the car not starting. I thought it was the clutch switch, its my sons car I haven't driven it. Anyway we had it at a mechanic for other things. He said he had problems starting the car and the breaker was the problem. It seems like its making contact internally intermittently. So has anyone had any issues with these breakers or do I just have a bad one?
Thanks dudes

 

i had a few issues with mine as i have two 150 circuit breakers on mine, 1 for the car and one for the sound system. 2 seporate earths

Question where have you earth the battery relocation?

Get a circuit tester, test the Volts before and after the breaker see if you are getting full power. OK

Then test the Volts at the main fuse box in the engine before & after the main fuse. OK

then test the Volts at the starter moter, see if drops and where.

also might be worth checking out the earthing points on the eletrical PDF document on this forum

70% of the time, i found it to be bad contact on the new earth. thats all i can think of for now.

 

I would also suspect a grounding issue. How did you ground the battery when you relocated?

These breakers are also pretty cheap (~$30) so you might just swap in a new one.

 

i've got an autozone circuit breaker and i havnt had any problems with it, check voltage at both sides of the circuit breaker as phaz said, then put a load on it (try to start the car) and when you are cranking check the voltages again at both the in and out, if voltage is the same on both the in and out then the circuit breaker should be fine.

 

I grounded the battery to the body right by where I put the battery. The power FC says 12.6 to 12.8 volts and the car runs fine. It just clicks when the key is turned some times but will always start. I also bought this breaker at Autozone. My other son wrote and told me he by-passed it. I'll have to check it out when I get home some day. i just wondered if these breakers were ment for this kind of appplication.

 

Thats a common problem. Look up click click start. It's caused by voltage drop to the starter solenoid. Relocated battery's probably make it worse because of the increased distance to the starter and the smaller batteries have lower cranking amps.

The clutch switch and security relay (easy bypass) also can fail, intermittently make contact, or cause an increase in resistance. Petite makes a starter booster that uses a relay at the starter solenoid to give it direct battery current. This solves the resistance drop and eliminates the click click problem caused by it. It can easily be made for around $10.




Security relay by-pass

 

OK, Cool. My son said he took out the breaker and went back to Autozone and they said it was good. So I don't know what the mechanic was smoking. The clutch switch is also a pain. I drove the car one day and had to push my foot really hard to get it to start. Thanks for the link!!!

 

how did autozone test the breaker? all the people at autozone are stupid...they won't even know what that piece does...they don't have any way of testing it. I used to work there...the employees there don't know jack.

 

Man I posted twice and nothing!!

Ok I'm going to venture a guess they used the smell test to verify it was good. If it smells good you get a pat on the bottom and out the door you go???!!!

 

The clutch switch is known to have issues on occasion. Adam_c has a thread somewhere on this forum with details on how to refurb one. The Factory Service Manual has the procedure to test it. You can download the FSM from the stickied thread in this forum. There is also a link to a thread about the clutch switch in the FAQ thread stickied in this forum.

 

I doubt it's the breaker switch. The click click problem is very common, even cars with normal size batteries in the stock location have that issue. Putting a starter booster in should eliminate the problem. You can always check voltage at the battery and then right after the breaker to see if there is a voltage drop, but i see no reason to suspect the switch since the car is starting. The click click is because the starter solenoid isn't engaging due to a voltage drop at the solenoid. Once it does engage the car starts like normal.

 

I went ahead and made a diagram of wiring a relay up as a "starter booster." If you understand the actual problem, and understand what a relay is and what it does, it's pretty obvious what needs to be done. But this diagram should help, just match the colors up.

 

w0w that diagram actually helps alot, i may actually do this myself then instead of waste 50 dollars on it.... anyone have pictures of it hooked up?dudemaan you said it cost like 10 dollars, ill give you 15 if you make it for me and send it over lol, hell make it 20

 

Not sure if you ever got this figured out, but I actually have a few relays left over from a power door lock install, and I also built my own starter booster, so if you havent, let me know and Ill fab you up one. $15 shipped.

 

You could also use a plain old Ford starter relay, they're cheap (under $20), tough and reliable.



http://www.shotimes.com/SHO3starters.html

 

You could also use a plain old Ford starter relay, they're cheap (under $20), tough and reliable.



http://www.shotimes.com/SHO3starters.html

 

That is a starter solenoid, not a relay. The problem with using that is that the starter already has a solenoid built into it, and the starter signal wire isnt supplying enough voltage to close it.
What led you to believe that it would supply enough to close this one?
The point of using a relay is it doesn't require as much voltage to close the contacts, and will work with the lower voltage being supplyed by the starter signal wire.

 

no, it is a starter relay. I guess the text of the link confused you, but that is NOT a starter solenoid. It uses a lower current draw to close the contacts to the high current starter load, e.g. it is a RELAY.

edit: I searched several links and found it is also common to call this device a starter solenoid, but it's function is the same as any common switching relay, only it will handle much higher current loads than those common Bosch-type square relays. I've used these on several cars, I KNOW they work - and HOW they work. Here is a better example of how one is used:

http://www.maliburacing.com/starter_solenoid.html

Yes, I know they use "solenoid" all over that link, but that comes from the fact they are used to switch current to the starter solenoid. It is nothing more than a Very heavy duty relay.

 

It's the same thing thats mounted on the side of the starter. Which is called a starter solenoid, but yes the operation is the same as a relay. For that matter you could completely remove the stock starter solenoid and use that one. If the contacts require less current it could work as a fix. I can't remember if removing the stock one is much of an option though. As far as using the ford solenoid as a starter booster relay, the starter booster doesn't need high current, its a pretty low amp system. The $5 30 amp relays will work just fine and take up less space.

 

I know this probably wont change your mind, but unfortunately you are wrong. Don't think just because you "Googled it" that you know everything. The difference between a solenoid and a relay is how they operate, not what function they perform. While both perform the same operation, using low current to switch higher current or vice versa, the way they operate is different.

A standerd relay uses an electromagnet to move an armature (lever) that moves back and forth, and is conected to the secondary circuit on one side. The magnetic field is induced inside a core that is not connected in any way to the armature. (indirect control of the switching mechanism) The dotted line in this diagram indicates a magnetic attraction, not a physical connection.


A solenoid uses a coil to induce a magnetic field inside a plunger whice causes the plunger to move back and forth depending on the current flow. The movement of this plunger can be used to perform many functions, open/close valves, door locks, trunks, and in this case close electrical contacts. (direct control of the switching mechanism).

The main reason to use a relay in this application is that solenoids require more voltage/current to open/close the contacts than a relay, because of the fact that they have to perform a physical movement of the whole plunger, rather than just enduce a magnetic field, and let that field move the armature in the relay. For this reason, relays are capable of operating in the mV range, and are able to take up much less space.