A corroded contact inside a solenoid WILL give you a slow starter
experience.
My Austin A40, 1275 Sprite engine with an electric solenoid with the
push button just would not start at any temperature under 40 degrees.
This drove me crazy for a number of years. I could jump start it and it
would work the rest of the day.
I replaced the starter with no improvement.
It was when I finally replaced the solenoid that the problem went away.
I have opened up bad cable pull solenoids to see just what went bad.
The contacts get black or pitted as Peter said. I try to repeen the
casing back after cleaning up the old ones because the new ones are
junk. Sometimes I can get the tin case back and the solenoid works fine.
(My bugeye has a repaired one now) Most of the time, the casing splits
or does not go back like just right and the solenoid falls apart.
Ask me how I know ;) but if it's broke, I will open it up and at least
try to fix it or see why it failed. 80% of the time I am successful as
long as the old part was old and can be opened up.
Modern stuff that is heat sealed or "made to throw away" still gets
opened up when it fails but at least I try.
Lucas switches from out own toggles to 80s Jaguar rockers can all be
opened up, cleaned, and will work for another 25 years.
Most toggle switches have cob webs inside thus rendering them useless
because the contacts are covered in cob webs. I just cleaned out the
webs in my Bugeye signal switch which would occasionally work if I
wiggled it. No loose connections but there was a cocoon or something
inside of it.
Back to the slow starter, it can also be the starter, gummed up, sand in
the bushings or bendix, dirty contacts, or a semi smoked field winding.
If you jump the contacts on the solenoid and it still spins slow, it's
not the solenoid.
Do check all the grounds too.
--
Frank Clarici
Toms River, NJ
Lots of Sprites
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