Ok, my 17 year old brother has a 95 Dodge dually, and he was tired of having to pop the hood to pull the rod thingamajig on the solenoid to make her start. So we started to look into rigging up a pull cable for it. So, off to Tractor Supply we went to buy a pulley like this:Sheave Block Flat Mount 2 in - 3584736 | Tractor Supply Company Then, we bought about 10 feet of small zipline cable. Then, my brotherasked me what we sould do for a handle to pull. My idea was a lawnmower pull cable and handle. We got everything for lesse than $40. So then, we went home, pulled the truck up to the shop, and then we started looking for a place to run it through the dash orthe firewall under the dash on the driver side. Finally in desperation, my brother said "how about this?". I came over there and looked. I was very disappointed. he just ran the cable along the side of the fender and into the cab. I then asked him how he is supposed to pull it when the door is shut. He just told me we sould have to open the hood and the door to pull it. I said, "But that defeats the entire reason for the pull cable! To NOT have to pop the hood!" I told him we would have to drill a small hole in the firewall. He did not approve He was worried I might hit a wire or something. After about thirty minutes of arguing, I finally convinced him to let me do it. He would have done it himself, but he has a shakyhand when it comes to drilling holes or using a grinder, so he usally has me, his 13 year-old brother, do it for him. In the space I was drilling, I had about half of an inch of room for error. I NAILED IT!!!! After MUCH reworking and reconfiguring the placement for the cable to go, we FINALLY found a spot that worked for the pulley: the inner fender. I got some metal-piercing screws and drilled into the inner fender while holding the pulley in place with my clamp/brother. (And yes, we tried different angles of the pulley to make sure it was right BEFORE I started drilling) But the cable kept slipping downward and snagging between the pulley mount and fender well, making it VERY hard to pull. So we finally just took out the pulley and left the mount with the bolt that used to hold the pulley and it was better, but it still kept slipping! so then, I took out the pulley mount, drilled a second hole below the original and put a bolt through it. Now, it doesn't slip down thanks to that bolt!




Total cost and time: About 3 hours and less than $40

Thanks for reading! Will try to get pics soon!

 

Why not just get a choke cable for about 15$ and then you have a nice, clean looking, small handle? Work great for a high idle and FSS, easier and no pulley system?

 

combined age of 30 years....kind of commendable, I thought

 

good job buddy. i have saw 30 year olds that had trouble doing this that worked good.

 

Weeeeeellllllllllll, the pull handle was either $3.99 or $4.99, the cable was less than $10, and the pulley mount was somewhere between $5 and $10. I meant to put it was less than $30, but I was pressed for time and did not proof read it like I should have. And the second bolt to hold the cable was one I got for free out of my junk bin (3 folgers coffee cans and an old 2 gallon bucket). And the pull handle is less than 5 inches wide. Also, the pulley was NOT in the original plan and it worked without it, but it was too hard to pull. Sorry for any confusion. We also plan on replacing the spring in the solenoid for a softer pull, as it is still pretty stiff. Thanks for the responses! Hope this helped someone out! Anyone else?

 

if the selinoid was staying lifted and droping on its own it prob didnt need to be fixed there is a blue wire that goes to the driver side battery they are known for goin bad! mine was doing the same i cleaned connection and its workd fine ever since!

 

I tried cleaning the blue wire the day before yesterday, and it had no effect. Not even once. I cleaned it until the cable was shiny as a babboon's butt. Thank you for the advice, but it is something else. Also, it can't be something to do with age, because the solenoid is only a year old. Thank you anyway! Anyone else?

 

Truck Guy99 have you had the solenoid bracket off lately? if you dont get things alighned right the lever and solenoid wont move freely and cause this problem as well... just fought this myself

 

No, the bracket stayed on the truck when it was replaced. The solenoid worked for about 6 months, then we had to start pulling it manually for about 5 months.

 

ANYONE else?