Section : Electrical Equipment

Alternators, dynamos, lights, wipers, etc.

Faulty Starter Solenoid????

Posted By : James Saunders, 13-May-2004, 09:44pm

Intermittently my GT6 Mk3 turns over very slowly when trying to start. If a wait 10 minutes and try again the car starts fine!!! I have replaced the starter, battery and checked the alternator is fine. I am now suspecting that the solenoid may be at fault. Can anyone help??

Followups :

Faulty Starter Solenoid????

Posted By : Andrew Walton, 13-May-2004, 09:53pm

James - I had similar problem with my Mk2 a couple of years ago - replacement solenoid did the trick!
- Faulty Starter Solenoid????
  
  Posted By : James Saunders, 15-May-2004, 10:08am
  
  Thanks Andrew, New solenoid arrived this morning will fit this afternoon
  
  James
  - Faulty Starter Solenoid????
    
    Posted By : James Saunders, 01-Jun-2004, 06:34pm
    
    New Solenoid fitted. Car starts lovely from cold or after being stood for an hour or so following a run, but if I try to start immediately after stopping (lets say following a fuel stop!!) for the first couple of trys the starter turns slowly!!!
    
    The car will always start (eventually), but not as easily as I believe it should. I have also checked the engine earth and that the starter earths to the engine to find no problems. New Battery, new solenoid, new starter motor!! - does any one have any ideas
    - Faulty Starter Solenoid????
      
      Posted By : Michael Davis, 02-Jun-2004, 05:47pm
      
      No real ideas to help I'm afraid but my racecar behaves the same way. I put it down to my new engine still being a bit tight and heat expansion making it even tighter. It seems to be getting better as I use it more which would support this theory.
      
      Doesn't really help you though.
    - Faulty Starter Solenoid????
      
      Posted By : Paul Bodiam, 02-Jun-2004, 06:15pm
      
      Hi James
      
      Dunno if this is of any help, but when I rebuilt my 1500 engine, it displayed exactly the same behaviour. Discussing it with a petrol-head friend, he suggested retarding the ignition a little. This solved the problem.
      The thinking went like this: when the engine is turning on the starter, it is turning slower than the usual tick-over speed. If the ignition is too advanced then, at this turnover speed, the fuel is being detonated before the piston has reached TDC and it is trying to push the piston back down the bore. Therefore the starter is fighting against the force of the engine trying to turn backwards.
      
      I don't know how technically accurate this explanation is, but it sounded plausible to me,a nd the suggested solution definitely solved the problem.
      
      cheers
      Paul
Faulty Starter Solenoid????

Posted By : William Davies, 13-May-2004, 11:01pm

Any signs of your clutch pipe getting hot when turning the engine? The fault sounds like a bad engine earth, shortest alternative route to ground is down the clutch pipe.
Cheers,
Bill.
- Faulty Starter Solenoid????
  
  Posted By : Michael Russell, 14-May-2004, 07:05am
  
  Yes, I agree with Bill. I had starter solenoid problems myself last year and even after changing the solenoid the engine still turned over slowly on occasion. Someone advised me to check the earth connection and when I did I found that there was old paint under the ring terminal. I cleaned everything and made sure that the earth connection was shiny metal to shiny metal and have had no problems since.
  Mike