by passing starter solenoid

I have a small block that I have the stock starter solenoid jumped or by passed, with another ford solenoid mounted up on the inner fenderwell, it has worked perfect for 3 years and now all of a sudden the starter is hanging in for a long time after key is released. I first thought the starter was going but I put a new starter on and it was no different. I then jumped the ford solenoid and it still hung in to long,at last I unhooked the jumper wire and tryed the gm starter the way it was designed and it worked fine.  WHY DID THIS JUMPER WORK FOR 3 YEARS AND NOW IT DOESN'T??????  

i use the same setup and have never had that problem in a dozen years of use

is it possible that the ignition switch is hanging up causing the starter to stay engaged longer?  
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i did love my chevette (first car) more than my first wife
my 94 4.3L Astrobrick would outrun the 99 5.4L f350 i had to drive for work

have you tried changing  the ford solenoid????

have you lubed the ignition switch lately???  

got a test light.. put it on the s terminal on the ford solenoid.. see what happens when you turn the key...

is the solenoid mounted upside down????    the round part goes up...   i have found several over the years that were mounted wrong way up and had filled with rain and car wash water..  causing the plunger to stick..

i ran a ford solenoid on my firewall for years on my gto... it was so nice to be able to unbolt the cable at the top and drop a single  thick cable out with the starter...   i used a string looped over the ford solenoid and thrown under the car to pull the cable back up....


i did have one car come through the shop.. a front wheel drive gm.. transverse motor...  the starter would kick in and drag when you turned one way and not the other...    it was really strange.. you could wobble the wheel as you drove down the street.. and the starter would kick in and out.???/  you could hear it...

i did not put the starter on... but who ever did.. forgot the big spring under the solenoid..   so the starter drive was just drifting back and forth..


gm starter solenoids can take 50 amps of power to pull in hard enough to close the contacts...

most people don't know that the starter solenoid windings on delco starters and a few others are grounded to the bottom post that goes to the brushes..   this is why the solenoid does not work when the brushes are worn.. it also stops the solenoid wiring from burning out  as it now has power on both ends...  the slight difference is enough to keep the plunger pulled in...     so they could get by with a single winding without it burning out..  smart design somebody..

some people i have fixed their cars with hot starting problems.. have let me install the ford solenoid and the jumper wire across to the s terminal ..

other people have let me install a 70 dodge dart starter relay that i bolted to the bottom stud of the heater box... and ran a few wires over to the starter...    makes the car start so fast you won't believe it..  

I think your ign switch is bad and or the pigtail on the back is shorted out I had the exact same trouble on a 72 C10 the terminals shorted out on the back of the switch and ruined the plug and ignition switch. The strangest part was other than that starter run on everything else worked fine.