rxtasy

ok, 85 GSLSE....battery drains if the pos. cable is left on. When the car has sat for a while with the batt disconnected and i attach the positive cable it starts right up, no driveability issues but if i shut it off i have to tap the starter to get it running again, if i disconnect the batt cable and leave it for a day it will start right up again.

i figure its the starter solenoid?

after all my searching my questions are..... can the solenoid be replaced seperately from the starter? and it looks fairly straight forward so i assume the starter should not have to be shimmed or anything when replacing it?

the car is in storage so i haven't had a lot of time to tinker with it and when i do go to work on it i won't have much time so i'm hoping that i can just pickup another solenoid , slap it on and go ........ any ideas?

Rx7carl

Cant be sure its the solenoid just cause of that. Something is draining your battery, you need to narrow it down. One way is to pull a fuse, leave it over night. If its dead, then thats not the circut. Repeat till you narrow it to a circut. As a starting point Id suggest the radio fuse.

KehoeAutomotive

It would be faster if you did a leak down test.

Do you have a meter that can measure AMPS?

I can give you a simple test if you have one.

rxtasy

thanks for the reply... yes that is something i can do, after my extensive searching i have a whole list of things to check and test. my only real problem is the car is pretty much stored in the middle of nowhere so i would have to go out and figure out what it needed, then it might be a week before i can get back out there and work on it again because of my job.

so the answer i was looking for was 'yep sounds like yer solenoid, it can be replaced seperately from the starter, and the starter bolts right back in with no fuss'

'i happen to have a working used solenoid that you can have for free' would work too

Junia

Well, you can just switch out the solenoid out if thats what you wanted to know. I've done that once on my starter. It was pretty straight forward

rxtasy

perfect, thanks!

All_Terrain_RX7

I just replaced the solenoid on my starter also. Autozone, Advanced Auto Parts, and NAPA all show them. I got the cheapest one from Autozone. I think I paid around $28. Its been working great for a week. Having to tap the starter is a sign of solenoid problems.

I can think of one way that the starter solenoid could cause the battery to drain down. If the solenoid contacts have a high resistance path (dirt and oil) to ground, this would allow a small amount of current to flow. If you have an oil leak, this might be it.

If you have a digital volt meter, hook it to the battery, and start unplugging fuses, one at a time. You may see about a 0.1 volt change in battery voltage as loads are added and removed. More load, more voltage change. That might point you in the right direction.

The fusible links would also be a good place to "divide and conquer". Unplug all of them and see if the battery drains. If it still drains down, the starter circuit is the place to look. If not, keep checking.

Good luck.

rxtasy

thanks, i'm gonna grab a solenoid and head up there this weekend. if it works great, if not i'll try a couple tests while ii have time and hope for the best.