1981 Johnson 90HP starter solenoid...which nut is the ground....the 'S' or the 'I'?

[Pain'n'da'boat]

1981 Johnson 90HP starter solenoid...which nut is the ground....the 'S' or the 'I'?

I stripped the bendix out, found out my starter was discontinued a while back so I am replacing it with the updated starter and I can't remember which one is ground and which one is power....

my manual doesn't really specify either but the picture looks like the ground is on bottom when installed?

Any body know??? My thought is "s" goes to power and "I" goes to ground? :facepalm:

 

[Pain'n'da'boat]

Re: 1981 Johnson 90HP starter solenoid...which nut is the ground....the 'S' or the 'I

and should I put an in-line fuel filter on? I haven't had issues yet, but my step dad thinks its a good idea...
(this is the guy who sprayed WD-40 all over my starter, hence why I am getting the new one)

 

[Vic.S]

Re: 1981 Johnson 90HP starter solenoid...which nut is the ground....the 'S' or the 'I

You have two large terminals and two small terminals ??
One large terminal ( B) is connected to the battery, the other (M) to the stater motor. These are the connections to the contacts

One small terminal is connected to the ignition switch (S) and the other (I) is grounded. These are the connections to the coil

The solenoid is not polarity sensitive. Neither the main contacts nor the coil connections. So it should not matter if B and M are swapped ( but that is probably physically impossible to do) nor if S and I are swapped.

Just don't muddle up the large and small connections


Inline fuel filter ? Your call!
Badly contaminated dockside fuel supply ... yes.
Find lots of muck in the engine fuel filter ... yes

Good clean fuel supply, no muck and no water, and clean tank then it should not be necessary

 

[emdsapmgr]

Re: 1981 Johnson 90HP starter solenoid...which nut is the ground....the 'S' or the 'I

Your engine has a steel mesh fuel filter inside the plastic inlet cap on the fuel pump. Most folks also add a plastic white- inline fuel filter, by cutting the supply hose from the tank and add splice the filter there. If you have issues with water in the fuel, you may want to consider adding a fuel water separating filter assy. Just be sure it has the correct capacity. The filter assy should state which size engine it will work on. Your fuel pump was not originally designed to work with a water separator filter, so really watch the flow capacity rating on the filter. Not sure why you are getting a new starter due to the WD40. That's pretty much a sealed motor...

 

[metriccrescentwrench]

Re: 1981 Johnson 90HP starter solenoid...which nut is the ground....the 'S' or the 'I

and should I put an in-line fuel filter on?

I'd skip the in-line filter and opt for the filter/seperator. I have a Racor, it's great because the bowl is transparent (which lets you see when there's water present) and you can drain any accumulated water.

 

[Pain'n'da'boat]

Re: 1981 Johnson 90HP starter solenoid...which nut is the ground....the 'S' or the 'I

I was talking about the small terminals....the large ones are pretty impossible to get switched since the wires are hardened in the correct position haha

I don't have water in the fuel that I know of, nor do I use crappy fuel, but a water separator sounds like a good idea in-case water somehow makes it in through the vent.

@emdsapmgr: the bendix was sticking, he sprayed WD-40 on the bendix and it worked great, until the gunk built up enough to make the bendix stick up as I pulled away full throttle...

I had the original starter on the boat from 1981 and it had been updated with a new bendix design quite a while back so I was forced to buy the enitre "updated" complete starter...lesson learned 3 in 1 oil, a drop or two, and that's it.

'S' goes to ignition and 'I' is the ground...got it. Thanks for the help Vic!