I have a 53 Plymouth R10 OD and Flat 6 in my 48 Plymouth Coupe. It is currently wired with a toggle switch directly to the solenoid and none of the other connections wired. Will be doing a full wiring job at some point in the future but this has been working great up to now. This is a 6 volt solenoid running on a 12 volt system but others have said they have done the same for years with no problems. Now when I flip the switch i hear a rapid clicking noise kind of like if you were to hold onto a socket and spin a ratchet handle around rapidly. Sometimes it will go into OD sometimes not. Doesn't seem to matter if I flip the switch with the engine under load or not, still get the clicking. So far I have replaced the toggle switch, replaced the wire, verified all good connections, removed the solenoid cleaned the plunger and the cavity it fits in with emory cloth, filed the two sets of points and cleaned it in general. Still getting the clicking. What now?<!-- / message --><!-- edit note --> <HR style="COLOR: #d1d1e1" SIZE=1>
I believe the solenoid has two windings...a "pull in" coil and a weaker "hold in" winding. Possibly the hold in part is bad, letting the pull in circuit repeatedly make and break, causing the strange noise. Check to see if a 12 V solenoid from a Chevy OD ('55 to '64?) will work. Good luck, Frank
Give George Asche a call. He may have your answer quickly. I would have to think that the 6v solenoid is being overloaded and causing the clicking. You may be able to hook up a 6v garden tractor battery up temporarily to see if it acts normal. They also make reducers that may work to reduce the 12v to 6v. Good luck. BloodyKnuckles
If you have a ballast resistor handy, 2 prong, put it in line to simulate 6V it works for the coil it should work to test your OD.
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