Starter wiring issues...

[studeclunker]

First of all I would like to confess I am an ignoramus at anything mechanical. Hanging things on an engine is do-able, as long as things don't get complicated. This past weekend, it got complicated quickly.

The Bakelite cover on my truck's starter solenoid broke and I had to replace the starter. Of course, Chevrolet places this whole arrangement in the most inaccessible place they can contrive. Not to mention making sure the wiring is likewise inaccessible as well. SOP I suppose. Regardless, I got the thing back together and no power to the coil.

No matter what I did, no power to the coil.

My friend Dave is a wiz, usually, when it comes to mechanical things and was stumped. Being he hates any GM product, I wasn't overly surprised. He ran a wire direct from the battery to the coil and I was able to get the truck home. I re-routed the jerry-rig so that it works off the key and is fused. However, the coil still isn't working off the circuit it should be.

So, after that long preamble...

Which of the wires on the Solenoid is in the wrong place? I tried switching them around several times and no go. Is there another problem I am missing?

With this work-around the truck runs fine. However I am afraid of burning up my coil and possibly damaging something else even more expensive.

Here's an interesting side note; I just got home from a seven hundred mile round trip pulling a forty-plus foot trailer (about a 6k lb curb wt.) on the home-bound end. The truck made the whole trip with no issues at all. Not even on the two thousand foot climb over Buckhorn Pass!

Another possibly more salient side note; The little plastic plug that goes in the back of the alternator, two prong, disintegrated. So, I disconnected the battery and just put the connectors on the spades directly. It works perfectly now. I pulled over originally because the gauge on the dash went from slightly over to C to pinning D (charging to dead discharge). I pulled over figuring something had come unplugged or a wire broke. Not usually a big deal, right? <roll-eyes> Well, the plastic housing had disintegrated and the wire had broken free from the connector. Wiring I get. Especially when it's that obvious. Easy fix, that. When I got back into the truck, it wouldn't start (dead, no reaction). So I figured it was loose wires on the starter, a problem I've been dealing with for months. This is what led to the bakelite cover on the solenoid breaking. Go back to my preamble as to why I haven't taken the time to fix it. Also, I am very much aware, due to bitter experience with these starters, how fragile that housing is. Hence, I don't much like messing with the wires on it.