Dog Head starter relay modification

[mrplow]

Quick question, I have done this modification on my 86 cucv with 24 volt factory starting system.
Relay continues to click sometimes, so started thinking of replacing. The recommended relay, (7018601 et al)
is a 12 volt. Isn't that running 24 volts through the relay? Thanks in advance!

 

[Barrman]

The relay solenoid uses 12 volts to connect the 24 volts from the battery to the starter solenoid. If it is chattering then it is most likely a problem on the 12 volts side of the relay or the relay is failing internally and not giving continuous flow of 24 volts.

The only way I can think to check it is to remove the 24 volt power out to the starter solenoid wire. Then put a volt meter on that post and observe if you get a steady reading there while holding the key in the start position. Do a test with the volt meter on the 12 volt side while you have the wire unhooked too. You can check without removing any wires but the starter will activate every time you test though. Unhooking the batteries and testing in Ohms will work as well, but most digital Ohm meters lag several seconds behind the actual reading and you might not see any drop outs unless you have a graphing meter.