10 thoughts on “Take the solenoid off first…

  1. That one took me a minute. I use Starter fluid and Brake cleaner to clean and de-grease on the engine. Most of the starter problem I have had was the solenoid taking a dump.

  2. I re-built my share of those.

    Hey Phil, remember the photo I sent of the piece of pipe with a bullet hole in it? That’s what they were intended for, to build high torque versions of these starters. We were out of stater cores and new motor casings were unavailable.

    • Mopar. I’ve had to take apart and rebuild numerous over the years. They go back to the sixties and at least into the nineties

  3. Sigh!. I miss the 60’s and 50’s cars with the repairable starter solenoids on the wheel housing or the firewall. Take 4 or 6 bolts off, remove the front plate, take the big honking copper washer out (one side would be dented and carbonized), flip it over after cleaning the two terminals the solenoid hammers it against, re-assemble and good for another few tens of thousands of miles. Done this a few times.

    The last Chrysler one was “not user repairable:” in that they had crimped over the cap to hold it in place saving 10 cents worth of bolts and nuts, judicious use of a small pry bar and I got that open too, did the cleanup and flip, then re- assembled and carefully peened over the crimp. Still have that one on the shelf just in case someone needs it.
    Ever more stuff is designed for the trash bin, no one fixes stuff any longer except for us crusty ol’ farts.

    If you don’t already visit and watch Derek at Vice Grip Garage on You Tube, highly recommend it. He is the younger generation (my son’s age) and he carries on the old traditions on old cars, trucks and machinery.

  4. Yeah, the days of being able to rebuild generators, alternators, starteres, even windshield washer motors, are over!

  5. Takes me back 36 years working alone, on a 78 Pontiac on jack stands in the dead of winter in an unheated garage. Stuff never breaks down on fair weather days.

    • ‘Course not. It’s under the greatest strain when really cold or really hot. Any mechanic knows that!

      Well, any OLD mechanic…

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