wrote in message
...
John Kunkel wrote:
: I've always assumed they were there to prevent the volotage induced by
the
: collapsing magnetic field around the solenoid from spiking the
electrical
: system.

I don't think so for two reasons:
1. The starter operating would require the master solenoid to be closed,
so the
diode/resistor pair is shorted out and not a factor.
2. The direction of the diode is the wrong way to be a path for flyback
current in the
starter solenoid.

I was thinking of the collapsing field around the master contactor solenoid.