Solenoid Testing 101

It happens time and time again. We have been in business over 30 years and we still have customers that come in and tell us what they need. The customer has already Self-Diagnosed their problem without really knowing much about how the auto electrical system works.
As a Full Line Auto Electrical Supply company, we feel it is necessary to educate the customer as well as the public about how the electrical system works. This video is the first in it's series. The customer came in just wanting a Solenoid for this starter. I'm using this example to show you why a solenoid is not what this customer needs for this starter and provide him/her with some auto electrical knowledge that may help in the future the next time your vehicle is having similar problems.
As always, if you have any questions or comments please feel free to leave them.

[@taytaywilliams99]

Perfect video. Length, clarity, important points, and the customer isn't always right. Perfection.

[@timothymichaels6873]

I can do all that already. But it was a real confidence builder to see what another man does. Thank you for putting this video on and speaking the information also.

[@HagemeisterEnterprisesINC]

Thank you for leaving a comment

[@ezzarjavier7990]

Thankyou, your technical explanation is very clear and straightforward. Hope to see you on your other lesson. God Bless.

[@craiglaing2417]

Thanks 😎 you just helped me save a starter motor from the scrap yard 👍

[@ronadiexkalungi3604]

Great you understand mechanics 💪I also fix such issues but customers don’t understand anything so you have to be vigilant about their complain Thank you so much

[@maodi1062]

Wow, great teacher and teaching! We general customers just go to parts store and dealers. The dealer I went just offer to replace my start for a price and refuse to say if they can tell if the starter was good or not.

[@FilmFactry]

Thank you. excellent information about the ground strap.

[@adambailey7739]

More videos please! You guys are very informative.

[@Mike75575]

Thanks for this. I have seen solenoids jumping, vibrating and now if makes sense to me that the brushes / commutator had problems. Thanks again,

[@ericwillis3595]

I wanna see more videos like this. Very informative. Very professional

[@HagemeisterEnterprisesINC]

Just out of curiosity, any particular videos you would like to see??

[@robkipa]

Thanks for showing the solenoid should indeed draw in when dismounted from the battery and supplied power. All the other videos I'd seen were testing the solenoid as you had done during the first part - with the starter fully assembled - and now I can see why that can lead to bad conclusions. By bench testing my starter solenoid independently of the connected brushes, armature etc., I was able to confirm it was faulty.

[@khndenmark]

Thank you for the information, regards from Denmark

[@sardjoepersadkhemai192]

VERY GOOD EXPLANATION...THANKS

[@tc4408]

Great information and explanation.

[@dalegopaul994]

Excellent video!!

[@lamey99]

Very thorough.. little to advanced for me.. but still made sense! Nice job!

[@karlsnowden7100]

Great Video, good information!

[@1cleandude]

Excellent video guys thanks so much!!

[@HagemeisterEnterprisesINC]

Thank you for your comment

[@oby-1607]

I had a tractor that I almost replaced the starter. After watching this I took the starter apart and put it back together. It runs again. Thanks.

[@David-yh5po]

Thanks for sharing this video.

[@JimJocrusin]

Very well done and informative.

[@eggnzlz9394]

Really good explanation and especially your expertise about starters and how they work!! Thank you

[@heyitsrick01]

Outstanding video... VERY informative and helpful

[@HagemeisterEnterprisesINC]

Rick X, thank you very much. We work hard to make these videos and hope they help others understand what is happening.

[@JoeBob79569]

Good video. I just took apart my starter and gave it a clean and this explains why my brush wires looked like a rainbow! The problem was the fuse on my starter keeps blowing, like it's going straight to ground and bypassing the motor. I'll reinstall it tomorrow and see if a cleanup did the job, it was a bit gunked up, but not VERY bad..

[@judegibson3501]

instablaster

[@mohammedhakumi5959]

good video, many thanks

[@princeunknown2627]

good video and explanation

[@deedatchannel4563]

So interesting lesson

[@tomdorman2486]

Great video! Thanks for taking the time to educate us. It's always great to see and hear from pros. I'm working on a delco 28mt I see it's obsolete is there a problem with the design or did they just move on and stop making it?

[@HagemeisterEnterprisesINC]

Your number may be discontinued. Do you have a number for us to look up? There are many 28MT's so one might still work.

[@su5119]

Good job.

[@Airman..]

Good stuff thanks

[@kermitefrog64]

Excellent video. Why do some starters though go out repeatedly? I have a 1981 Mercedes 240d diesel and have replaced the starter in the last 2 years 5 times. The ignition is also replaced a year ago to make sure that wasn't the problem. I am getting starters from O'Reilly's and often when you put the starter on the first couple of times you can hear the starter motor spin but it won't engage the bendix gear with the fly wheel. The last starter I got from them was a rebuild from Wilson. It lasted 11 months and then at a gas station it just stopped working with no warning. I got the car going though with a push start and popping the clutch and got to my destination. All of their starters are rebuilt using Bosch starters. Even the last one rebuilt by Wilson that I bought at O'Reilly's was a rebuilt Bosch. AAA said the battery was good and the wires were good. When I took the starter down to O'Reilly's they put it on a machine and it would not even click. I put another store brand O'Reilly's rebuild and two times it spun the motor but would not engage the bendix gear. Then after the 3rd time it finally worked but it still sounds underpowered compared to the Wilson when it was working.

[@HagemeisterEnterprisesINC]

I suspect you don't have enough key power to activate solenoid. We suggest a start relay.

[@OldSchoolNoe]

Should the Pull-in Winding and Hold-in windings each have such low resistance? Ohm tested them both on a good starter, each reading was .4 ohms.

[@balsonnaoshekpam5680]

Great explanation sir

[@HagemeisterEnterprisesINC]

Balson Naoshekpam Thank you.

[@rodadve]

Thank you. I'm subscribe on your channel right now . Greetings.

[@donaldtknyoni1961]

Thank you so much

[@timgravely5067]

If I understand you right . Both the starter and Solinoid must have a good ground together get the Solinoid to work. I'm talking Mercury outboard. If I bypass either Solinoid or battery. They work. This has been a two month work shop for me.

[@emmanueldonkoh293]

Thank you boss.❤

[@gulabkeerio1930]

good job

[@ezekielmerindo6495]

This Is a great information sir.but how about if the solinoid doesn't draw in?what could be the problem?

[@kingisco5425]

Ok thanks i really grabed alot i love the video

[@njoy51]

Thanks for the educational stuff, quick question for you.. my car starter works fine but at the end of the crank up makes a kharrr krrkk sound.. wondering if the entire starter needs replacing or if we can just do with replacement armature

[@HagemeisterEnterprisesINC]

I would need more information

[@shawnboss9175]

I love it

[@MrAlittle5150]

I live in Minnesota and I had a problem last winter with my starter on my 93 Chevy. When starting in the cold weather all it would do is spin. Thought it was a bad bindex or sticking, so I bought a rebuild starter and it worked for a couple of weeks and back to the same problem. Summer comes and no problem works great. Now problem returns now that is getting colder out side. I replace heavy cable going from batter to the starter and checked all the ground cables. and the battery is new. Can't figure it out. Any suggestions?

[@HagemeisterEnterprisesINC]

Our first question would have been...what's the crank voltage at the starter during crank time

[@samstinkeringaround8961]

Nice

[@RayTahana]

Hagmeister ty, In my quest... if i see a gd secondhand starter this the same same, and has the number of teeth and the mounting holes are the same centre to centre would the be right to purchase specially as its half the price of Auto Parts Suppliers, notice they have two dif brands but the specs are the same as recommended for my vehicle

[@HagemeisterEnterprisesINC]

Call us with your info

[@user-xo2me7cr5n]

شرح مفيد ولو كان مترجم للعربى كان NICE EXPLAINED IS THIS MAN STILL ALIVE

[@jayk2k]

What is the video called for your amp draw talk , i searched amp draw solenoid , , but brings up a list of a few , I've started with ' Solenoid Not Working On Early Delco Starters' , but re-watching this and thought I would ask

[@jmac7658]

Something caused the started to be overdriven as evidenced by the armiture flying off. It it possible that the solonoid was staying engaged and keeping the pinion gear in contact with the flywheel. Either way your right they need a new one.

[@HagemeisterEnterprisesINC]

You are exactly right, something caused the issue. What we were trying to convey in this video was the customer self diagnosing the problem and telling us he just needs a solenoid, when he needed a whole new starter. If we had just sold him a solenoid like he wanted, he would not have been a very happy customer once he installed the solenoid and found his problem still existed. We make it a point to educate our customers and ask them questions too, like: Why do you think it's the solenoid?? thank you for you comment, Larry

[@devilswish8876]

culd it by posibel to use a alternator ore starter motor ass a magneto? I have a problem I use plazma ignition aperantly baterry has 14-15v put gets no amp faster starter motor turning bether spark but dont know why my alternator stop working aperantly alternator light come ON and stay's ON until I go higher rews so I dont know how bypass that voltage regulator I have small GM alternator 1small fiald wire and 1 big lead to baterry positive. that dual/plazma ignition is strange staff. does the dummy light size has somthing to do with it? culd I bypass that dummy light and simply put thise 2 terminals on alternator together because Im not shure if that is back charge Europ delco remy alternators are diferent from USA delco so Im puzelled why that baterry has no amps even tought evry thing ells works.

[@kareneuceda1327]

I've changed starter n I believe now it's the solinoid but I'm getting smoke in cab .what can it be.when I get it started I hear grinding n then I see smoke in cab .what can it be.?

[@mandocarrazco286]

How do you wire the solenoid for it to run? I bought a new one and try to ran it and it didn’t work

[@HagemeisterEnterprisesINC]

It is a draw back for sure, but what can you do? We will not share anything on KZbin that hasn’t worked for us time and time again. This starter is toast and it has nothing to do with the Solenoid the person wanted to replace. Thank you for your support 👍

[@ytmm9055]

thanks

[@rxg7528]

Is there a possibility that a starter can put out the volts but have trouble turning over?

[@martha1160]

nice

[@gulabkeerio1930]

V NICE

[@lylepeterson3510]

How many pounds or ounces of pull should it take to pull the starter drive out to the position where it would engage the ring gear? The starter is in a 1993 GMC Vandura with a 5.7L engine.

[@HagemeisterEnterprisesINC]

Did you happen to send an email also? We answered a similar question a day or so ago.

[@terrelledwards730]

Should the small terminal on solenoid that goes to ignition have continuity to ground when the key is not being turned?

[@HagemeisterEnterprisesINC]

Yes it will have continuity at all times.

[@sajiktm]

Thank you for your good video, but recently i took my car to a mechanic to do some work after one week the starter seems week to crank... I am suspicious........ what you think?

[@HagemeisterEnterprisesINC]

you need to take a volt meter and check the crank voltage right at the starter. The voltage needs to remain 9 1/2 - 10V during crank time. Let us know what your results are and we will continue this conversation.

[@stevefigueroa5541]

Could you show me how a Folo-Thru bendix starter drive works? This is on an old 1948 Willys Jeep, CJ2A with an Auto Lite starter with a tag that reads, MCH 76203 10N, Also stamped on the body is Rebuilt - 3382

[@HagemeisterEnterprisesINC]

This link kzbin.info/www/bejne/oJ-alWCBj9h8rtU to our 6V to 12V conversion should give you a general idea. If you need more information, let us know.

[@carlosfgonzalez9405]

Hello there- I just replaced my starter in a Chevy 1990 4.3 V6. The problem is that after replacement, I cranked it for the first time and all was well. The second time that I tried to start the engine, I had no power on the dashboard and my battery poles literally melted. I don't know what to do....Any Ideas?

[@HagemeisterEnterprisesINC]

More than likely it is loose or corroded connections

[@samred9131]

Is it normal positive terminal of battery has contenuity with starter motor casing

[@HagemeisterEnterprisesINC]

Yes, re-watch video time stamp about 3:37 to 4:15

[@dodongcamirino957]

thats okay your sharing thats knowing.

[@Z-Ack]

Is called a commutator which is apart of the armature... and if you replaced the brushes and sanded the commutator a little to get rid of any high points as well as sanded the ground contacts on both points than the starter motor would still work for some time but could go out .. could work for a good while seeing as some of the broken comm bar was still there to energize that section of the motor windings.. as long as the brushes dont get torn up by the broken spot and the thing would work fine because the opposite side of the commutator would still propel the armiture enough to start it spinning.. that is if nothings shorted together on it.. those old motors had a bit more beef under their balls than todays motors because of all the cut corners and penny pinching...

[@hagemeisterenterprisesinc1035]

At our shop, we would never try to band-aid a unit in this shape. Our customers time is just as valuable as ours, and if they don't need to return to have it "Repaired" again, then we did our job right :) - Thank you for your comment

[@stevee7774]

@Z Ack - Please tell me you’re joking, that thing is friggin toast. I don’t know how many starters you’ve R&R’ed before but take it from somebody that’s done more than you can count, it ain’t no fun. Just let the man fix it right and be done with it. Geez....

[@HagemeisterEnterprisesINC]

Please Forgive us......we want to apologize to everyone that left comments (questions / concerns / etc) that we didn't respond to. I guess we forgot to enable All Comments when we first uploaded our videos. We did not intentionally ignore your comment. So, if you bare with us, we will do our best to reply to your comments even if they are no longer helpful. Again, we apologize.

[@osaelbarrantes8060]

Got an,issue with starting, sometimes the motor starter wont turn over, though not tech tests conducted yet it starts well 98 percent of the time, so battery and starter are in good shape. Can you suggest the solution with only that scarce info.. Gracias por todo.. Aufwiedersehen.. Terracan crdi 2.9 SUV..

[@HagemeisterEnterprisesINC]

Does your system have a *Start Relay* because I am concerned about low power from the key switch.

[@gaikichristof-df4ez]

Hail l am from Rodrigue island ,I have an old Mitsubishi and when l start ,the starter continued running even l stop the contract ,to stop l must take out the positive cable on the battery , could you help me understand the problem

[@HagemeisterEnterprisesINC]

To test you would need to take off the key start wire and manually jump that terminal to activate the starter. You need to do that so that the key switch is not in the connection so we know that that’s not bad. If it continues to stick, you might need to clean the armature shaft. It could be contaminated, allowing it to hang up. Hope this helps.

[@jimmccune568]

The bar on that armature threw a bar because the brushes wore out and when the starter stalled it over heated that bar. Aftermarket cheap brushes were the cause of all the damage!

[@michaellohre1470]

I would like to know why people don't rebuild alternators and starters locally anymore. There used to be an old man around here that enjoyed doing it. Is it a bearcat to do? Have the replacements become cheap enough that people just gladly exchange the old parts for new and never consider rebuilding it themself or locally?

[@HagemeisterEnterprisesINC]

If you are so enclined, we can rebuild whatever your need. However, if you provide your general location, we can possibly find one of our fellow Re-builders to assist you in the future.

[@dennismoody6318]

You need to have better lighting so we can actually see where your leads are connected, or tell us which terminals are being used, other than that it is very informative

[@HagemeisterEnterprisesINC]

I agree, thank you for your input and we will light things up next time.

[@MechanicForGMCCars]

Hello sir I have unusual question. I have gasoline engine and I try kinde of finde disel starter motor with planetary gear set . I found one nearly identical even tought its from different car . I managed to use all 4 insulated brushes and use thick cabels I managed to reverse direction for the starter motor because me gasoline engine turns oposite way. Now me problem is the reduction gear has couter grewes drilled and the clutch on the bendix turns the oposite direction. Is it posibel to disabel that clutch function? Ore modify that bendix in any way? I need badly high torque starter motor because I like me engine advanced ignition timing for bether fuel economy. So any help please? Im not shure how I shuld atach the selenoid he does not realy work . It is a magnet starter motor so I have dificulty finding parts . I have years problems with starter motors expecialy in winter time they do perform porely . And I wanted to know why some starter motors have 2 and 4 brushes ? Can they actualy be 6v starter motors if you actualy remove 1 pair of those brushes? Me curiosety get the bether of me . But in the old days they suposedly used relays ore selenoids if Im not mistakeing the old delco alternators to excite field coil in the alternator is that correct? I do have after all delco starter motor with S and R terminal selenoid so culd that thing tehnicaly excite the alternator with diode? This is just tehnicaly speakeing of course. How do you actualy test polarity be coils for starter motors? What will it actualy do to the alternator if you for some reason reverse polarity be those starter motors.

[@HagemeisterEnterprisesINC]

It is not possible to modify because the shaft has a helical twist the opposite direction.

[@MechanicForGMCCars]

@@HagemeisterEnterprisesINC ok thank you

[@Don-ym8cm]

Was hoping you were going to remove one way clutch.

[@firassaed4583]

First, how much power(ampire) does this starter consume? Second, is it possible to operate this starter for 20 continuous minutes?

[@HagemeisterEnterprisesINC]

No way of knowing because the starter was so blown up I could not test it.

[@tomrose467]

It would help me if I could see how each wire is connected in a drawing.

[@HagemeisterEnterprisesINC]

WE WILL KEEP THAT IN MIND IN FUTURE VIDEOS. IN THE MEAN TIME, IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS, PLEASE CONTACT LARRY AT 541-259-2262

[@davidgibson646]

Was there a spring in the solenoid?

[@HagemeisterEnterprisesINC]

Yes, there is a Spring inside the solenoid However you cannot access it in this solenoid.

[@SuperRover2010]

I am fedup of my Hilux 5l starter motor after cleaning it and changing the carbon bushes and cleaning the ground connection on that back cap the motor works fine for 24 hours after running the pickup for hours and the switching the engine of and restarting it after few seconds it doesn't work it can't rotate the engine properly

[@toptriode]

Your video is not accurate. You state several times that the solenoid was not seeing a good ground yet you can clearly see at the beginning that the solenoid is drawing amps because of the intense sparking. If the grounding was interrupted, there would be no sparking. What more likely happened is that the physical damage to the motor caused the solenoid lever to become jammed in place, thus not allowing movement of the solenoid plunger. That is why there was no click yet there was amp draw. Then after you removed the solenoid and tested it by itself, you unjammed it from the motor assembly and it worked by itself. So the solenoid was mechanically jammed because of damage in the motor housing, not because of an interrupted ground connection.

[@HagemeisterEnterprisesINC]

The interrupted ground on the CE cap to the brush holder was the beginning of the demise of this starter. The armature bar (being flown out) locked up the starter. There was no mechanical shift fork / pin lock up. Clearly the starter was over cranked.

[@jonanthony6078]

My land cruiser does a single clink if I hit the starter with light hammer it starts

[@HagemeisterEnterprisesINC]

Possible low key power to activate the starter or the stars wore out.

[@geraldanderson8871]

I like your video, I Resently had a starter taken apart, was full of salt water, dried it out , soaked it with , cleaner , all looked well , put it together, put it on the motor , worked fine, started the motor , few times , then it quit again, ? Why,

[@HagemeisterEnterprisesINC]

Interesting. Without seeing it, it’s difficult to diagnose. Is possible the armature had too much salt water damage.

[@radoviczcruz7708]

Where could I get a new started with a solenoid for a 1978 Rolls-Royce Silver Harry 2

[@HagemeisterEnterprisesINC]

Can you supply us with any numbers off the starter or pictures

[@RakibulIslam-yy6ui]

❤❤❤

[@pranavsrajeshiii-d2303]

What could be reason starter solenoid damage

[@HagemeisterEnterprisesINC]

rajesh.p.v Sanjay there was nothing wrong with solenoid in this video, the armature was blown up.

[@dasnochannel1509]

Frry good

[@mnp3713]

02:24 Is NOT a ground and its a common misconception - All starters i know have no ground, ground is via bolt to engineblok

[@HagemeisterEnterprisesINC]

There is absolutely a ground in a starter, the video is correct and is explained exactly to T on how this starter and solenoid work together. If you have any questions please give me a call.

[@mnp3713]

@@HagemeisterEnterprisesINC okay never seen that before, and makes little sense as the metal case will act as ground any way. can you please give me the starter model so i can look up the electrical schematics.

[@HagemeisterEnterprisesINC]

We are working on some information for you. It probably will not be a schematic but we want to show you some differences in what you are calling a “misconception”. This may take us a bit too work this into our schedule but we will address it.

[@rrbuff1960]

Why are you testing with 24 V rather than 12 V?

[@HagemeisterEnterprisesINC]

If you re-watch the video, about time stamp 0:25 to 0:30 I mention the starter is a 24V starter that is why I am testing with 24V

[@kingliontau3497]

Hi starter runs continuesly even after the ignition is off

[@HagemeisterEnterprisesINC]

Please give us a call, we can help you with your issue. 541-259-2262

[@mariotellez2025]

you are wrong that braided copper wire is actually positive current that flows to the brushes and not negative and the brushes that are grounded are actually soldered on the case itself so what you were doing when the light turned on was actually shorting out the cables that's why every time you touched the positive it'll drop so much current and you say you have 30 years in business well i have 3 years repairing corvette wiper motors, headlight motors and starter motors and you sir are wrong about the braided strap being ground.

[@HagemeisterEnterprisesINC]

Just to clarify, I didn't say Negative in the video. If you rewatch the video (time stamp 3:45 to 4:30) I say the electricity (being Postive Battery Power) runs through the strap, through the field coils, etc. - Also the brushes are electrically spot welded to the plate not soldered.

[@stevee7774]

@@HagemeisterEnterprisesINC - Clearly one of the main drawbacks of posting videos on KZbin is dealing with boneheaded comments from self proclaimed “pros” like this guy. Oh well, you can only try to educate people. Thanks for a great video. 👍

[@woody5109]

Let’s be honest, 8 out of 10 times it is just the solenoid.

[@HagemeisterEnterprisesINC]

We track our sales and technical issues very closely. We really don’t want our customers coming back to us if they don’t need too. And to be “ Honest “, on average, Out of 10 solenoids tested, only one is bad.

[@kinwong2126]

Can u watch my latest uploaded video and confirm is my starter motor?

[@SOLDbyYOU]

After seeing the whole video… this is a great video… but NOT what the title claims… But in typical KZbin and Google fashion … I can’t edit the goddamn comment Hagemeister… thanks… And my apologies… But SOOOOLE… SOOOOLE LENOID

[@HagemeisterEnterprisesINC]

Maybe the 101 shouldn’t have been in the Title but testing the Solenoid was definitely our focus on this video. Maybe more explanation was needed. The customer came in telling us the “Solenoid” was bad, when in reality it was in great shape. The armature was the issue. Thank you fire your apology also.

[@jahdroy9595]

Mine just click

[@jakebertrand7835]

Your camera is too far away… have no idea where you connected tester snd power wire on solenoid test.

[@HagemeisterEnterprisesINC]

Yes, we apologize, this was when we first started getting into video for youtube. If you have questions, please let me know, and I will attempt to explain it. Again, we are very sorry.

[@SOLDbyYOU]

Soooooooole le noid… sooole…sole…sole… Len…noid Not sell le noid

[@HagemeisterEnterprisesINC]

I’m assuming you pronounce every single word in your vocabulary correctly every time. I bet 99.9% of the people watching this didn’t focus on mispronunciation. They were more focused on what we were conveying in this video.

[@SOLDbyYOU]

@@HagemeisterEnterprisesINC you are correct… language evolves… I apologize… and I am the worlds second worst speller so… glass houses… but sooo many of these damn video titles are Not what the video is actually about… I was trying to sort out HORRIBLE previous wiring on my wife’s golf cart… and I wasted a tone of time sorting through time wasting videos vs time wasting titles.

[@HagemeisterEnterprisesINC]

First, I agree with the Time Wasting Videos or Videos that are 20 minutes longer than they need to be. Just curious what you would have named this video? Also, Larry works on Golf Carts too, maybe give him a call at 541-401-3881 and troubleshoot together if you can’t find what you are looking for.

[@SOLDbyYOU]

Time waster….. SOLE LEN NOID TESTING…. not The history of starters

[@shenghgao9635]

Good viedo! Thank you!