On my 91 explorer when I took the battery up the engine cranks by itself. I took the starter out and moved the solenoid 180 degrees it didn't help. How do I test the solenoid and how do I wire it right?

 

This goes back a bit, but maybe we can offer some things to check.
The `solenoid on the fender well should have two heavy gauge wires , one coming off the battery positive post and one going to the starter assy.
That solenoid should have a thinner wire that comes from the start position of the ign switch , goes through the (neutral safety sw) Manual lever position sw, if an automatic or clutch safety sw if manual trans, on down to the solenoid.on the fender well.

If something is providing power to that small terminal of the solenoid it will provide power to the starter motor. If you remove that smaller wire from the solenoid and connect the battery cable , nothing should happen. ,unless the solenoid is defective, which means it is stuck in the active/closed position.

If, you can connect the battery cable now and nothing happens, you need to determine how power is getting to that wire and a good place to start is the ign sw assy on the lower steering column inside the vehicle. There could be a misadjusted sw assy , or a wire connected to the wrong place. Before going further lets see what results you get so far. Do you have any kind of test lite or meter to use?

 

found out two things 1. it was wired wrong, and 2. the relay or whatever they call it on the fender is bad. the wires were all disconnected when i got the truck and the solenoid/relay was a junker i found on the ground.

 

got it all back together now to put a battery in it.
Cranks with the key. Spins over great.






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