Hi all,
Well... after the last couple of trips out and about MUMSRIG's starter motor had copped a bit of a soaking due to all of the mud trails and water crossings we have been through.
The first hint was when Tam went to start and the starter motor kicked in and out then in again and soon after didn't want to kick over without a bit of a tap...
The cost of a new one would be quite expensive (I'm guessing), so I popped the solenoid cover off the back and checked the contacts.. Sure enough they had the green meanies. Below are a few pics and steps to help you go through the process yourself to 'freshen up' the starter motor solenoid if it begins to play up. It will save you some decent coin and is only useful if the contacts are still serviceable.
Tools required:
10mm spanner (to disconnect the battery), 8mm short 1/4" drive socket and ratchet (preferably, although a ring spanned will do), long flat blade srewdriver, an extendable mirror, torch, emry paper (120 grit is fine) and a can of contact cleaner.
The job can be done with the starter still fitted to the car. Solenoid is circled below...
Firstly, disconnect the battery. Then undo the three 8mm headed bolts and using a flat blade srewdriver pop the cover off. Remove the solenoid plunger and be cautious of the spring as you could damage it if heavy handed.
You can see the dirty contacts here..
And here..
Simply grab your emry paper and tear of a smallish piece and then contour your fingers into the solenoid to emry back the contacts a little bit. They won't need much work to get them cleaned up. Once your happy with the contacts then give them a good hit with the contact cleaner, this will also help clean out any mud etc that may be in there..
Then run your emry over the the plunger contact until it resembles brass again. Mine still has some pitting but it's not that bad.
Make sure you re-grease the solenoid plunger (not excessively) as the grease would have been contaminated by water etc over the years.
Installation is reverse of the above, just be sure to line up the spring as you re-insert the plunger...
And whalla, all going well you might get another 100,000 klm's out of it :P
Well... after the last couple of trips out and about MUMSRIG's starter motor had copped a bit of a soaking due to all of the mud trails and water crossings we have been through.
The first hint was when Tam went to start and the starter motor kicked in and out then in again and soon after didn't want to kick over without a bit of a tap...
The cost of a new one would be quite expensive (I'm guessing), so I popped the solenoid cover off the back and checked the contacts.. Sure enough they had the green meanies. Below are a few pics and steps to help you go through the process yourself to 'freshen up' the starter motor solenoid if it begins to play up. It will save you some decent coin and is only useful if the contacts are still serviceable.
Tools required:
10mm spanner (to disconnect the battery), 8mm short 1/4" drive socket and ratchet (preferably, although a ring spanned will do), long flat blade srewdriver, an extendable mirror, torch, emry paper (120 grit is fine) and a can of contact cleaner.
The job can be done with the starter still fitted to the car. Solenoid is circled below...
Firstly, disconnect the battery. Then undo the three 8mm headed bolts and using a flat blade srewdriver pop the cover off. Remove the solenoid plunger and be cautious of the spring as you could damage it if heavy handed.
You can see the dirty contacts here..
And here..
Simply grab your emry paper and tear of a smallish piece and then contour your fingers into the solenoid to emry back the contacts a little bit. They won't need much work to get them cleaned up. Once your happy with the contacts then give them a good hit with the contact cleaner, this will also help clean out any mud etc that may be in there..
Then run your emry over the the plunger contact until it resembles brass again. Mine still has some pitting but it's not that bad.
Make sure you re-grease the solenoid plunger (not excessively) as the grease would have been contaminated by water etc over the years.
Installation is reverse of the above, just be sure to line up the spring as you re-insert the plunger...
And whalla, all going well you might get another 100,000 klm's out of it :P
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