I took apart a sticky starter solenoid once on an 84 505 TD wagon that
did not have enough oomph to do all of the above, such that it did not
close the contact very well. The engine would turn for a milli second and
the contact would drop out. If I banged on the solenoid with a tire iron
as I operated the remote starter, I could always get it to start. I was
doing that for a full winter, had to pop the hood and beat the solenoid
into submission everytime to get the engine to start. I got tired of
that one day and took the starter motor out then took apart the solenoid.
There was corrosion on the plunger (an iron cylinder) which caused it to
bind to the solenoid housing on it's way forward. A little sandpaper and
lubrication fixed it right up, never had a problem since. As I recalled,
it was difficult to get the 4 phillips head screws off that held the
solenoid together. They were loctited in pretty good. I had to use an
impact screwdriver and vise grip on the head of the phillips to get them
off.
I think starter motors should last the life of the car (250K min for a
Pug) if the engine is maintained properly That is, if your engine is in
such good tune that as soon as you blip the starter, the engine fires.
The starter did not have to do much work. On the other hand, if you have
to crank 5 seconds for 3 times before your engine will start, you can bet
you will need a new starter prematurely.
-Steve
On Sun, 19 Dec 1999 18:53:07 -0800 "Mitch Barbato"
<mitchellb@carolina.rr.com> writes:
>"steve leung" <sleun-@sikorsky.com> wrote:
>original article:http://www.egroups.com/group/peugeot-l/?start=6605
>> I have not measured the current draw of the solenoid. Judging from
>the
>> size of the wire going to it, it cannot be 28 amps. Anyone know
>what
>> the current is to save me the trouble of measuring it?
>>
>> Even if it is over 28 amps, I am not concerned even though the SSR
>I
>> used is only rated at 25 amps continuous because the peak current
>is
>> much higher, and the SSR is operated for less than 1/4 of a second
>at
>a
>> time during engine start.
>> You are right about using a DC SSR. Another caution is, unlike
>> mechanical relays, polarity must be observed with SSR's, otherwise
>> damage may result.
>>
>> -Steve
>
>On most starters I have seen (of course, it's no surprise if a Pug is
>different) the solenoid has two coils: a "pull-in" coil and a "hold"
>coil. The pull-in coil gets it low side (a "virtual ground") from
>the
>positive brush lead on the starter motor. Since the motor is at a
>dead
>stop, their is no back-emf and the armature resistance is well below
>one ohm. This is perfect for getting a really high current to pull
>in
>the soleniod slug. As soon as the slug gets all the way back, it
>closes the switch to the motor supplying full battery to the motor
>and
>effectively shutting off the pull-in coil. The hold-in coil current
>draw I don't recall, but it is much less. In my '67 T'bird, there
>was
>a switch that shorted the motor windings to ground until the slug was
>all the way in.
>
>Mitch
>
>
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