Bad solenoid?

[Eric VerValin]

Ok... well my car decides to die at a gas station yesterday... FP is coming on, and everything is leading me to believe the solenoid is bad... so I get it push started, and drive it home... put the meter on it.. and I have 12volts on the little wire when I turn the key...

So that eliminates a lot of things... gotta be that cylanoid...(had the starter rebuilt internally, just never replaced that solenoid.) Well I get a new one... put it on there, and try to fire it up.. it cranks for a second or two then there's a big pop!! Kinda sounded like a back fire... but then nothing.. no more starting. Also thought I seen a little puff of smoke down there somewhere....

Anyway... still getting voltage on the little wire when I turn the key.. so nothing fried anywhere... just clueless what just happened?? Bad solenoid right outta the box? did it short out internally? Or is something wrong with my starter that allowed it to do this???


Something tells me my car dosent want to take that trip to Michigan City...

 

[keny_kimmel]

solenoid?

 

[Storm-Chaser]

So-len-oid

(So - like "so what" / len - like in lend / oid - well, like oid)



Have you had the starter tested?

In addition to the solenoid, it could also be the starter drive (aka. bendix). Solenoid allows the starter to start by energizing the bendix (ie. moving the starter drive against the flywheel) and providing power to the starter's DC motor (ie. so it will begin to spin).

Take the starter to O'Reilly's, as their in-store machine tests the solenoid, the bendix, and the starter motor field. AutoZone's doesn't, and most of their employees are too stoopid to test it right anyway. Advance also has a decent in-store tester, but I don't know if it specifically tests all three components.

If all that tests fine, next look at the battery-to-starter cables/connections. If one is bad, you should be able to feel heat in the affected cable due to the resistance created by the bad cable and/or bad connector.

Standard electrical stuff for you Eric - I'm posting this for reference for future search purposes . . . .

Ok... well my car decides to die at a gas station yesterday... FP is coming on, and everything is leading me to believe the cylanoid is bad... so I get it push started, and drive it home... put the meter on it.. and I have 12volts on the little wire when I turn the key...

So that eliminates a lot of things... gotta be that cylanoid...(had the starter rebuilt internally, just never replaced that cylanoid.) Well I get a new one... put it on there, and try to fire it up.. it cranks for a second or two then there's a big pop!! Kinda sounded like a back fire... but then nothing.. no more starting. Also thought I seen a little puff of smoke down there somewhere....

Anyway... still getting voltage on the little wire when I turn the key.. so nothing fried anywhere... just clueless what just happened?? Bad cylanoid right outta the box? did it short out internally? Or is something wrong with my starter that allowed it to do this???


Something tells me my car dosent want to take that trip to Michigan City...

Michigan City trip ? ? ? ?

I'll be in Terre Haute next weekend - may be meet-up?


:wave:

 

[Eric VerValin]

lol yea yea... the ******** coil! do they pop and fail... if that helps to rephrase it...


and thats just it keith.. its all new.. tight.. charged.. lol starter was rebuilt with new brushes and cleaned out a few maybe 5000 miles ago... didn't replace the starter drive, but the arm seemed to move pretty freely where the starter and solenoid meet.. on that little arm there that reminds me of the clutch cable lever..


Origionally it was just the sylanoid that wasn't catching... or I should say the coil wasn't closing... replaced it with new, and it works for a second and kills itself... makes me wonder if theres a short somewhere ... it was a little slow about starting earlier the day before... it caught my attention.. but then acted fine the rest of the day... I think a lot of it is the heat and all... heat = resistance = bad for electrical stuff..

 

[Eric VerValin]

Also.. if I have voltage on that wire.. shouldn't I hear that solenoid click? I don't hear it.. and the only thing that would cause that not to close is a bad ground right? Well I put it on with my 1/2" ratchet... lol

Oreily's is about 30 min away from here... trying to decide how motivated I am...

 

[Mr Anonymous]

Check the braided wire that goes to the brushes. If it gets grounded to the starter case it will cause exactly the symptoms you described. It's also possible that the brush assembly may have popped apart and is grounded internally.

If the braided wire looks sooty or shiny or melted that is a dead giveaway.

 

[Eric VerValin]

braid looked cool but I took it next door to AZ and it spun there... not as fast as a new one.. but still it worked... I think I just need to clean up the area where it grounds at I think... maybe sand it down with a wire wheel or something... this car and its ******** grounds!!!! lol

I wonder if I just wasted $50 on that solenoid..

 

[Eric VerValin]

Hit it with a wire wheel, tried again.. nothing... I need ice cream, and a big fat burger... will ponder this issue for a while...

I noticed I was at about 11.8 ish volts wise on my little starter wire.. didn't know if that was enough of a signal to close the coil maybe? I dunno I'm just tossing stuff out now..

 

[SHOZ123]

Test the coil resistance with an ohm meter. That will tell you if it's shorted or open.

You should hear the solenoid click as the contacts are pushed together. If the starter does not spin then either the brushes are not making contact or the starter field is internally open. If the bendix drive was not fully pushed in you would hear the starter free wheel, like Wirrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

 

[Eric VerValin]

Well I watched it work just fine in the store on the bench... just wont work on the car... I have my neg battery cable on the backside of the lower bolt. Maybe this isn't the best location. I also want to get another connector on the end of that smaller wire.. wonder if that might be an issue too.. hard to get the leads in there to check tho without shorting out things...

 

[Eric VerValin]

well it cranked a few times after I fiddled around with that small wire a little... but now all I hear is the click.. no crank.. I'm charging up my battery for a while... hopefully that will take care of this...

 

[Eric VerValin]

Well I noticed that my lights were dimming a bit when I turned the key, so I said what I've said before.. turn it on and let it burn... see what happens... Well I held the key, and low and behold.. it eventually (tho slowly) started cranking.. and eventually turned over. It sounds a bit different now, and has a whine to it.. you can hear it 'spin down' if that makes sence.. lol dont' know what I did but its "working" for now...

 

[bubba]

you should have called man. I would have come up to help. glad to see she started sounds like your batt is hitting the dust man.