Solenoid

[jack casey]

Went to startup the Cub 102 and get two clicks, nothing more. Strong battery. Go right to the solenoid and clean rust off the top and side terminals. Bottom terminal was clean. Try starting and now get one click, no more.
Not finding a solenoid on Digger's site, maybe listed under another name.
Help please, Jack

 

[mgonitzke]

If you are not concerned with originality, a starter solenoid from the lawn and garden section of your local big box store will work.

 

[Everettlee]

Napa sells quality 12 volt solenoids

 

[bjames]

9 out of 10 times it's not the solenoid.
Bad ground
Bad battery cable
Bad or weak battery

 

[1811Cub]

 

[digger]

Went to startup the Cub 102 and get two clicks, nothing more. Strong battery. Go right to the solenoid and clean rust off the top and side terminals. Bottom terminal was clean. Try starting and now get one click, no more.
Not finding a solenoid on Digger's site, maybe listed under another name.
Help please, Jack

It's on the Starter/Solenoid page.
https://www.ccspecialties.org/starters.html

 

[lpalma]

Be sure you also clean the mounting studs for the solenoid as the case needs to be grounded.

 

[Everettlee]

The construction equipment I work on uses similar solenoids.
I see them fail when the battery voltage is low, the contacts ark and get pitted or can weld themselves shut

 

[glippert]

Be sure you also clean the mounting studs for the solenoid as the case needs to be grounded.

My money's on Lewis P's suggestion. Remove the solenoid and thoroughly clean rust & corrosion from behind it, as well as the mounting bolts/studs.

 

[jpaulus]

LCGLY New Starter Relay Solenoid Switch Compatible with 1956-up and B-6A-11450A C6AF C7AF C3912 C9AF D2AF11450AA 50-430, 12V Heavy Duty SW3 12-Volt,B6AZ-11450-A,Ford Jeep Lincoln Mercury 1958-1991​

$11.99 on amazon I use this one as a replacement every time.

 

[Everettlee]

The construction equipment I work on uses similar solenoids.
I see them fail when the battery voltage is low, the contacts ark and get pitted or can weld themselves shut

I need to spell arc correctly

 

[tkhoffman]

If you hear the click of the solenoid, the low current, coil part is doing its job to pull in the big contacts. It's possible that the internal, big contacts are carbined up and not making a good healthy connection to crank a starter.
Does jumping across the two big wires on the solenoid crank the starter?
Trying to diagnose, bad solenoid or bad starter

 

[gary noblit]

Jack, I believe Tony is right..you need to prove which is not working starter or sol...Jumping 2 large wires on sol. should make starter kick in...jumpin positive on batt. to field on starter should make starter roll...bad connections are the hardest to find so cleaning all matters..yes sol. do go bad but connections get corroded a lot quicker...You might be looking at connections that haven't been touched in 50 yrs

 

[jack casey]

Jack, I believe Tony is right..you need to prove which is not working starter or sol...Jumping 2 large wires on sol. should make starter kick in...jumpin positive on batt. to field on starter should make starter roll...bad connections are the hardest to find so cleaning all matters..yes sol. do go bad but connections get corroded a lot quicker...You might be looking at connections that haven't been touched in 50 yrs

Thanks Gary and Tony. Need couple days for freeze-*** weather to clear. After two clicks and then one click was sure sol no good but will jump connects Monday.

Cheers, Jack

 

[gary noblit]

Jack, the click means internal parts of sol. are moving but that doesn't mean elec. is going out .It's been said already internal contacts could be bad,the whole point of proving both ..

 

[Everettlee]

Jack, the click means internal parts of sol. are moving but that doesn't mean elec. is going out .It's been said already internal contacts could be bad,the whole point of proving both ..

Jumping the solenoid is a good method of narrowing down the issue
PLEASE
Make sure the brake is on and the transmission is in neutral

 

[jack casey]

Jack, the click means internal parts of sol. are moving but that doesn't mean elec. is going out .It's been said already internal contacts could be bad,the whole point of proving both ..

My aged Micronta multitester is failing, lights up when in the mood, cannot measure continuity. However, jumped the big sol terminals and with the ign key get one click - seems to me engine shud have cranked. Not. With the one click also tested current at the starter - Zip. Looks like Gary has it, 'moving parts don't mean elec going out.'

Cheers

 

[gary noblit]

Jack, did you jump positive from batt to field on starter? If that doesn't roll it ???

 

[Everettlee]

So I took a couple of pictures using my 782 Cub for pics
Here you can see my voltmeter with the negative hook to battery negative and the positive hooked to the small wire that gets voltage when you turn the key to start. When the key is turned all the way clockwise to the start position the volt meter should show 12 V or battery voltage

 

[Everettlee]

This picture shows the key switch being turned all the way to the right. The small wire in the previous Post has battery voltage and the solenoid has pulled in. In this case the battery voltage drops down just below 11 V reflecting the voltage draw of the starter turning the engine over.
I still have the black lead of my volt meter on the negative post of the battery and in this picture I have the positive lead to the switched side of the start solenoid. The other side of the solenoid, what I called the hot side reflects battery voltage all the time no matter where the key is turned