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Intermittent starter/solenoid problem


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Headed out to meet up with some friends the other day. Did about 30 miles at highway speed then stopped to get gas. TR6 would not start. The starter relay clicks (1974 TR6) , I have 12v going to the solenoid but the starter motor does not operate. The car sits for about 20 mins while I wait for my buddy to arrive, problem is still there.

 

Battery voltage is 12.7 v and the voltage does not drop when I turn the key to the start position.

Buddy says lets try jump starting it and I say no, its not the battery but I humor him and connect up my jump starter battery. Starter motor turns over and the engine starts.

 

We do the planned tour and I start the engine a few times with no issues. We stop for a late lunch, car sits for about an hour. Symptoms are back. Starter relay clicks, no action at the motor. I get a push and bump start the engine and drive home.

All indications are that the solendoid has an intermittent fault. I checked the connections on the solendoid, they all look good. I am still trying to catch it at a point where it will fail and I am home with the right tools to investigate.

I dont recall these solenoids having a history of going flaky like this and I cant explain why adding the extra jump start battery kicked it into life. High resistance somewhere ?

 

Stan

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I was pretty sure I had found the culprit on Sunday. One of the cable clamp bolts for the +ve cable was loose and the cable was very corroded.

20180923_111202-X3.jpg

 

I cleaned up the cable, cleaned up the clamp, re-assembled with a little dielectric grease and tightened both clamp bolts.

Car started with no issues, took it around the block for a 10 minute drive. Back in the driveway I shut off the engine and tried to restart it. Click.

 

As rancid as that cable was, it was apparently not the cause of this problem.

 

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Hi Stan, I had the very same problem last year , starter brushes were nearly new, and all connections clean and tight,

found that high resistance across the  terminals inside the solenoid was the problem.

Managed to unsolder the solenoid to take the guts out of it and there was a lot of corrosion on the terminals.

Once these were cleaned and the solenoid put back together I`ve had no problems since.

Dave

 

 

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41 minutes ago, cubehopper said:

Hi Stan, I had the very same problem last year , starter brushes were nearly new, and all connections clean and tight,

found that high resistance across the  terminals inside the solenoid was the problem.

Managed to unsolder the solenoid to take the guts out of it and there was a lot of corrosion on the terminals.

Once these were cleaned and the solenoid put back together I`ve had no problems since.

Dave

 

 

Good suggestion Dave. I just checked a spare starter and its solenoid is measuring .5 Ohm between the solenoid terminal and ground. The one on the car is measuring .4 Ohm. I need to get it into a state where it wont start and check it again.

 

Stan

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Solenoid corrosion is often down to the fact the block drain is right above it and someone over the years is bound to have let the water go down over it.

Stuart.

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  • 7 months later...

I was out with the gang yesterday and once again the TR6 would not spin the starter motor. We push started it a couple of times until we reached a scheduled stop and after some investigation I found the connector had come off the solenoid. This connector is very close indeed to the exhaust and about 10 years ago I replaced the brittle wire with some new wire in a heat resistant sleeve. I thought at the time the spade connector that I used seemed a bit feeble so I will replace the wire and fit a more robust connector. I dont think that terminal on the solenoid can be moved.

Stan

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