Starter selonoid pitting

Starter solenoid rebuild kits are available. I bought one on ebay a while back. The issue seems to be that when the contacts are tightened in the housing, they tend to twist so that there is only a very small contact area, thus the pitting. Very hard to get it right.

 

Just remove and replace the contacts and solenoid plunger mate.

You can get away sanding/cleaning them a few times. But they are obviously worn so just replace them and you will have another 20 yrs of trouble free starting.

I recently replaced some in a friends car. Car was an 89 model Toyota Hilux, they were REALLY stuffed. Fit new contacts and plunger, car has done 2000 miles since without any issues.

My 348 starter contacts must be worn also, my car is doing the same thing. I forgot all about again till I read this thread.

 

I ended up with this same problem a week or so back. Last year I got "clicks" with no starter motor activation. I cleaned the plunger disk and contacts and all was well for about a year. I took it back apart Monday after reading your thread and sure enough, there was lots of pitting and one of my contacts was cocked. I was sure I put it back together right last year. As I reinstalled the starter I noticed that when I tightened the postitive wire back on the starter I actually rotated the whole contact. After a few choice words I removed the starter, and sure enough I had cocked the contact. SO, if you do this process make sure you don't rotate the contacts when you put it all back together and tighten the wires. My contacts are nice and clean now, however, I may eventually have to replace the pluger and contacts... For now it works great.

 

Ditto.

 

+355

Ditto ditto

 

Lol. Very good.

I ended up rebuilding my starter a few years ago now. I was right, contacts were pitted/burnt out.

I am not sure if I took pics, but I will post them up if I did.

 

If there is no click, the problem is with the current supply to the solenoid, not the solenoid contacts (the problem with the large solenoid contacts is when you get "click-nothing"). The contacts will always look pitted as they transmit some 500 Amp but it does not mean that they are bad (should last for some 200,000 Km or more).

I had similar problem with my 348, turned out to be a corroded/burned contact in the engine bay 9-pin connector. The thick white wire goes to the solenoid; I separated it from both sides of the connector and connected the ends to each other via spade connectors. Never had the problem again.

Recently, I replaced the small plastic connector with a 9-pin military grade Amphenol connector.
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I'm wondering if the solenoid is getting enough power. From previous posts here, as well as my own experience, I gather they're more voltage sensitive than the average solenoid. The solenoid in my car failed to engage at 12.2 volts and apparently that's not uncommon. Might be worth adding the Bosch starter relay-- even if it doesn't resolve the immediate problem it might prolong the life of the replacement solenoid. It's cheap and easy, so worth a shot...

 

That's what I did to mine when I first got it Mike. It helps a lot having that relay there.

I posted pics and the way to wire it in another thread. I got an extra 0.7 volts at the starter adding that relay there.

 

Way cool. Guess I need to do the same to my car. .7 VDC is a ton when the battery is low and approaching the threshold of the solenoid's operating range. Thanks for the confirmation that it's something we 348 owners need to do.

In the OP's case I'm wondering if weak engagement of the solenoid is causing arcing on the solenoid contacts. Seems like I remember seeing something similar on 'murican cars a hundred or so years ago, all due to resistive battery connections.

Sounds like the solenoid needs replacement in this case but adding the relay could very well prolong the life of the new solenoid.

 

Here are the pics for you Mike. It's a very simple modification and you will definitely tell the difference in how much faster your starter will turn when the relay is added.

I ended up heat shrinking the relay afterwards. This mod was done back in 2008 and I recommend every 348 owner do it to their car.
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That's a total win, Pap! Easy upgrade and even if it fails it leaves you with easier options for jumping the solenoid. I'm sold. It's now on my to-do list. Thanks!

 

Definitely do it Mike, you will be very happy with the results.

And I am always happy to help the Brotherhood.

 

After leaving the car in the garage for a few weeks with a brand new Bosch AGM battery fitted and the battery disconnect shut off, yet still having the car fail to start when the battery voltage read 12.2 VDC, I'm quite sure you're right. Thank goodness I had the FChat archives to fall back on because I was ready to pull the solenoid based on the battery voltage readings. A quick charge solved the problem in the short term but I can't recall ever seeing a solenoid fail to engage at that voltage, so clearly a proper fix is in order.

It's a great car that has a great group of owners to go along with it.

 

I had the same problem (almost as a rule) on my few BMW-s of mid to late 80's. Yes, the relay sorts it out nicely.

On my 348, I sorted it with making sure that the white wire to the solenoid has good contacts, at the 9-pin connector and at the solenoid spade connector but I am keeping the relay option standing by.

On a related topic, I just installed a Braille lithium battery. Two advantages: 1. the starter motor spins like 50% faster compared to (fully charged) new normal battery and 2. very light, helps with the weight distribution (I gave up the idea of moving the battery to the front, too much work). Disadvantage: $1,627.

 

Yep voltage to the solenoid is faulty by design via the fuse box under the passenger footwell

Gutted 2 of them so far and fixed it with a proper relay
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Nice find and fix man.

 

Very good!! And yep, there are some amazing guys here in the 348/355 section that help out immensely which makes our Ferrari ownership experience that much better.

 

Tim are you saying this for bith the 348 and 355?

 

Yes both are the same crap. Under the dash there are 2 relays that burn pretty good. Done it on 2 of my 355's and will do the 348 next

The silver challenge seems to suffer from it also

 

So Tim did you do Paps style fix or another one.

 

That will be fine. It uses the relay signal to trigger another relay that has a larger gauge wire to power it. Both ways together you will never have an issue

This is the relay that goes bad here, the connections arc then corrode. may want to just clean them front and more so in the back side where both I did were very nasty.
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Thanks Tim
As you can see the solenoid contacts are all pretty bad I think I will start there and thenmove to the relay panel.
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That is trashed man. Fit a new a new kit and fit a relay and you will be right I reckon.