testarossa new starter solenoid

James, I am in the process of doing a major on my Testa. I had my solenoid rebuilt and although I may not use this one back in the car as it has been hit with a steel hammer at some stage the guy that rebuilt it had some good ideas. The design is very similar (in fact same piston ) as a FORD fALCON here in Aust. Too help with problems the solenoid pistons had a groove cut along their length. It is only aprox 1mm x 1mm but is enough to allow the air past. I would not lubricate the piston as with expansion etc this may create a "better" seal. Unfortunately I cannot say if this improves things as I do not yet have it running, but I did have problems previously.

 

Since you've got yours off, could you please measure and post the OD of the piston(s) and the ID of the winding(s). My (vague) recollection was that it was already a very sloppy fit (but I can't recall if my memory is about the stock Bosch solenoid or the replacement WAI/Ace Electric solenoid), but others have posted otherwise. Anyway, just hoping that you can add some hard data if it's convenient -- TIA.

 

Thanks for offering to make the diameter measurements jim. Not being able to buy direct from WAI (without a reseller's license) is "situation normal" (I bought mine from a supplier in Denver). They used to have a list of their retail distributors on their website, but that seems to be gone now. Typically, these would be more "industrial" auto/truck part supply houses in the major cities (i.e., not your local Checker, Kragen, Autozone, etc.) -- so you did nothing unusual/wrong with using the company you did, but maybe they made (what they think is) an equivalent substitution.