Starter solenoid - getting stuck

[Nithy 0]

Occasionally when I switch off the car and then try to restart it, there is just a click. One click. So I tap the solenoid gently with a mallot and I can hear is release back and then engine starts. I have tightened some of the lose wiring etc, and it has got better but still does it now and then.

 

Should I replace the solenoid ? or are there anything else I should look at?

 

Cheers

Nithy

[Richie-Van-GTi 70 2 Cars]

Next time try to apply 12v to the starter solenoid with a jump lead.

Common fault for the starter solenoid wire to fail, usually at the multiplug. A new wire direct from the switch to the solenoid fixes the issue

[Nithy 0]

What should happen when I apply the power to the solenoid directly?  I mean what fault am I looking for here? also how do I tell?

 

Thank

Nithy

[welshpug 1,622]

You're looking for whether the starter works with a good clean 12v signal.

 

Typically the wire corrodes badly, also most years have an unsealed plug near the AFM which can add resistance.

[petert 550]

We don't have issues with corrosion in Aus., but we do have issues with the contacts in key barrel wearing out and not being able to supply enough current.  A 12V relay placed near the battery/starter solves the issue. The same thing happens with 405's and Xantia.

[Anthony 1,000]

Just to add to what's been written above - and it might be different in your warmer part of the world - but certainly here in cold and damp Blighty the original "fat bodied" starter motors always seemed to be particularly prone to these issues even when everything else was otherwise good.  Junking them and fitting a later "slim bodied" Valeo starter motor from a late XU 1.8/2.0 16v engine tended to prove far more reliable in my experience.  Only thing that you need to change is the spade connector for the solenoid over to an ring connector.