Your going off on a tangent.

It's a electric clutch coil. Slolenoids open/close valves. The AC clutch isn't refered to as a solenoid, why is this one?

I've seen the alternator refered to as a generator in the manual.

 

Well, sorry, but the A/C compressor clutch IS actuated by a solenoid. Solenoids simply provide Linear movement, motion, just what duty that movement or motion accomplishes is totally up to the design engineer. On of the one's in our MH latches, pulls, the stove top exhaust vent closed against spring opening.

 

Operated by a solenoid? Where? Maybe a relay.

A solenoid is a coil of wire around an iron core. No iron core on the AC clutch or in the rearend of a 4WD FE/FEH either.

 

To my knowledge a solenoid is always an actuator, and electromagnetic coil so that when energized will "attract" a metallic object into the center of the resulting magnetic field, generally spring loaded to move the "object" back into the non-energized position.

The action of the A/C clutch and the ATC both fit the description, wire coil that when energized creates a magnetic field that attracts a metallic object.

We're wondering afield.

 

A AC clutch is a donut shaped coil, the friction surfaces are narrow along the inner/outer edge and pulls in a armature plate when inergized. A solenoid is a much thicker coil which pulls a iron core into its magnetic field inside the coil when energized. Solenoids aren't made to transfer power but just to devert, shift, etc. like a shifting a valve spool in the transmission.

The 4WD rearend ATC unit is just a coil and armature plate with several copper and steel plates inbetween. I've read that these plates are specially coated to resist wear.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solenoid

 

Okay, like I said, where's the metal core that it's wrapped around on a AC clutch?

I've worked on all different types of electro-mechanical clutches some with multiple discs and others like a AC clutch with a single armature plate but they were never called solenoids not even in a Warner Electric catalog.

 

It's there, you just have to look harder.

The fact that it is never called, never referred to, as a solenoid actuated clutch doesn't mean it isn't. No one refers to an electric relay as a solenoid while quite clearly that's what the base actuator actually is.

Let's agree with WIKI that a solenoid is simply an electromagnet and leave it at that.

 

On a solenoid, the core which moves is inside the coil like on a solenoid operated valve it moves the spool.