I have a 94 two door, two wheel drive automatic Tracker with a 1.6 liter 8 valve engine with 137,000 miles. I've done regular maintenance and never had any problems until tonight. It won't turn over. I put the trickle charger on it for a few hours and I have 13.8 volts at the battery. When I turn the key the dash lights come on and I hear a faint whoring sound from under the hood and the click of the shifter unlocking when I press on the brake. Hummm. I had a friend tap on the solenoid with a pipe while I turned the key and it finally started normally but when I shut it off and tried to restart, no dice. I've never had any starting problems before. If it's the solenoid can they be taken apart, cleaned, greased and put back in service or are they unserviceable? Could the starter also be bad or is this just a bad or corroded connection somewhere? What is involved in removing the starter or can the solenoid be removed without removing the starter? How hard of a job is this? If I need parts will junk yard parts suffice or should only new parts be used? What parts inside a solenoid (or starter) tend to wear out?
Am I totally off base and could the cause of my problem be completely unrelated to either the starter or the solenoid (like maybe some weird high tech computer problem)? My computer code flashes a 12. Help anyone?
12 = normal
good write up, hitting starter was surpurb.
the solenoid can be had for $15 or the starter for 100. ( once bad always bad, do not try to fix it, unless 100 miles in the woods)
however if in the city and lots of time an AutoElectric shop will rebuild it for the cost of rockauto new.
there is an acid test: ( clean battery terms)
make sure battery is 12.65 vdc. (vm at Harbor freight for $3 bucks)
and that is ,
jumper the Big red wire (outboard) to the dinky spade lug ,
the spade is the solinoid key coil line.
if that doesnt CRANK the car the starter assemble is bad.
what wears out is , ALL the above. mostly contacts , brushes.
make sure you chock wheels and use jackstands under a car.
keep tranny in PARK !
12 = normal
good write up, hitting starter was surpurb.
the solenoid can be had for $15 or the starter for 100. ( once bad always bad, do not try to fix it, unless 100 miles in the woods)
however if in the city and lots of time an AutoElectric shop will rebuild it for the cost of rockauto new.
there is an acid test: ( clean battery terms)
make sure battery is 12.65 vdc. (vm at Harbor freight for $3 bucks)
and that is ,
jumper the Big red wire (outboard) to the dinky spade lug ,
the spade is the solinoid key coil line.
if that doesnt CRANK the car the starter assemble is bad.
what wears out is , ALL the above. mostly contacts , brushes.
make sure you chock wheels and use jackstands under a car.
keep tranny in PARK !
Thanks Jerry. I'm pretty sure it's the solenoid but I will preform your tests. I checked the battery today with my HF $3.00 digital meter. I'm in good shape with 12.66 volts. I checked Rockauto and new solenoids run $52.99 and 82.99. Starters run between $127.99 and 168.79. I just bought a used solenoid off a 1995 Tracker on Ebay for $17.00 including shipping. I hope it arrives soon. Thank you again for your advice.
not with standing , i too many a time, have
put new brushes in a starter ( special order and wait)
and took apart the solenoid and clean it, greased the overrunning clutch and filed the contacts in there.
but the down time was more than a week.
but Shucks places the part on the bench in 1 day.
The rule of tumb , 10 volts on starter lugs and car wont start, then starter is history. ( for what reason)
a 2 volt drop is normal. THis car uses very low amps.
Thanks Jerry. I'm pretty sure it's the solenoid but I will preform your tests. I checked the battery today with my HF $3.00 digital meter. I'm in good shape with 12.66 volts. I checked Rockauto and new solenoids run $52.99 and 82.99. Starters run between $127.99 and 168.79. I just bought a used solenoid off a 1995 Tracker on Ebay for $17.00 including shipping. I hope it arrives soon. Thank you again for your advice.
Bruce
This is the follow up to the above thread. The used solenoid I ordered off Ebay never came. I was sent instead a used ignition coil. The seller had sent me the wrong box but the guy who got my solenoid wouldn't return it to the seller. The seller offered to either return my money or let me keep the ignition coil. I decided to keep the coil because it had the very expensive igniter still attached. This left me with no replacement solenoid. I cleaned out the old one with spray contact cleaner , lightly sanded the contact point on the end of the piston, gave it a light coating of silicone grease and put it back together, and then took the whole starter assembly to Auto-zone for testing. They ran the test twice and everything was perfect. This was back in October and the starter worked fine until last Thursday. I turned the key and the only sound I heard was the fuel pump. The battery tested 12.7 volts. I had a friend turn the key while I tapped the solenoid with the jack handle and it immediately started. It then started fine all day but wouldn't start on Friday. I ordered a new solenoid from Rock Auto ($50.00) which should arrive in a few days. In the mean time I went to Jerry's starter page and did the suggested test which entailed hooking up a remote starter button between the terminal with the big red lead to the spade terminal on top of the solenoid. Nothing but silence resulted until I very lightly tapped the solenoid with a plastic hammer. The starter immediately engaged and cranked the engine. (I was somewhat shocked to see the fan turning. (I thought the fan was only supposed to start turning after the motor warmed up.) In any event it appears the problem is still the solenoid. Did I screw up by greasing the solenoid piston before assembling or is the field coil just getting weak? Could the warmer weather be a factor as it did fine all winter? Can the field coil be ohms tested and if so what should the reading be?
you are repeating my whole young man hood era, cheers for the reminder.
i filed a many a solenoid in my day.
i think they are hardened and filing wears thru this layer,and assures an early failure.
its half and half , in the real world,
I believe the piston should not be grease. but I could be wrong.
i think dry is best and even a little RTV to keep water out around edges.
that tap test is a time honored event, everyone does that.
just use a rubber mallet not a 16 lb sledge. (hahaha)
that makes me glad some one found my crummy starter page useful.
may get car to start just wiggling the auto shifter lever. do it , and drive home.
thanks for fan turn hint. you are backing voltage up into the ignition , the back way.
should be ok.
On some cars the igniton switch grounds the start solenoid key line and be aware of that
, so just dont push remote with key off on all cars.
on kicks i dont think they have this level of anti hot wire,
nice you found a stand alone solenoid, some cars you cant get them.
just the how shooting match.
The new ($50.00 close out special) solenoid from Rock Auto has arrived. It's very different internally from the current solenoid although the external housing (field coil) is the same size. The current (old) solenoid is exactly like the one in the FSM. Its internal piston has a large external spring and a small plastic spring loaded plunger built in to the piston. The new replacement has a small internal plunger built in to the closed end of the housing (field coil), no external piston spring and the new piston is just plain iron with a strange rectangular projection on one end. I haven't tried mounting the new solenoid yet because I don't want to screw anything up although it looks like it should screw on.
sounds kinda scary.
it you can mount it and get it wired inboard term to starter ,
just bench test the whole starter. and make sure she spins and the slams out for engagement. use old battery cables, tinyones will catch fire.
Won't Start
Bruce
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