4 terminal motor starter wiring connections

[bajabreaker]

I have a 1990 MerCrusier inline 4 cylinder engine 3.0LX with electronic ignition that originally had 3 terminals on the motor starter's soleniod. The aftermarket motor starter I purchased to replace the non-working starter has 4 terminals on the soleniod. I called the company that I bought the starter from, and they said regarding the two smaller posts, one is for the "switched hot" and the other is for "relay terminal". They said I could just hook up the yellow/red wire from the slave soleniod (which is really a just a relay) to the "switched hot" post and leave the "relay terminal" post disconnected. Does this sound right? What does the "relay terminal" refer to?

 

[Silvertip]

Re: 4 terminal motor starter wiring connections

If you look at the plastic markings around the smaller terminals you may find a the letters "S" (start) and "R" (resistor -- not relay). In some ignition systems the ignition coil has a resistor inserted in the input to drop the coil voltage after the engine is running. The resistor may be a separate rectangular ceramic style or it may be a piece of resistance wire included in the wire harness. The "R" terminal on the solenoid bypasses this resistor when the starter is engaged so the coil receives full 12 volts during starting. The "R" terminal is not used if the original starter did not have this feature.

 

[bajabreaker]

Re: 4 terminal motor starter wiring connections

Thank you Silvertip for the explaination.