voyager '98 3.3l starter solenoid - repair in place?

I've got a '98 grand voyager 3.3L which shows all the symptoms of
dirty or worn solenoid contacts. (Battery okay, loud 'click' when you
turn the ignition switch, but starter motor doesn't turn, used to turn
after several tries, but has got progressively worse and now doesn't
seem to want to turn at all).

My question is: is it sensible to try and clean/fix this up in place,
without removing the whole starter assembly from the car? I can see
the three small hex screws that hold on the solenoid lid, and they
look easy to undo - but are there any 'gotcha's I should be aware of?
If it can be done in place it looks a lot easier than trying to remove
the entire thing.

As a follow-up question, the other possibility, I suppose, is that the
starter gear has jammed in the flywheel - unlikely I think, but I
can't turn over the engine by hand (using a 9" spanner on the nut
holding on the main fanbelt wheel) -- should I expect to be able to do
this?

 

Well, I don't know about your year/model, but my Caravan had a starter
with the solenoid on the starter, and easily accessible. I pulled it apart
(still on the car) and found there was a 'transfer bar' that was pitted.
There
was also two 'bolt heads' that the transfer bar contacted that were
pitted pretty bad, but only over the area the bar contacted. I loosened the
bolts and rotated them 180 degrees, and flipped the bar over so the 'clean'
side contacted the bolts.

The starter worked fine for years until the van was disposed of.

Hey, take a look and see.

 

The first good sign that it isn't a stuck starter is that it got
progressively worse.

An old test for a stuck starter that should still be reliable is to turn on
the headlights. Hit the "start", hear the click, and see if the lights dim a
lot. If the lights don't dim much, then the solenoid is not putting current
to the starter. So the solenoid or wiring is the problem. Don't hold the key
over very long if the lights do dim a lot. Stuck starters can get hot pretty
fast.

Pat

 

By the way, if you elect to repair the starter/solenoid on the vehicle...

MAKE SURE YOU DISCONNECT THE BATTERY GROUND FIRST!!

You'll be dealing with a hot +12v feed from the battery with metal tools,
and
the SLIGHTEST mistake could lead to disaster. As in melted tools (while
you hand is on them), burnt wiring, exploded battery, and vehicle fire.

 

thanks for your replies on this. I decided in the end to remove the
starter + solenoid together instead of trying to fix or clean up the
solenoid in place. (And yes, I disconnected the battery before I
started, I have a lot of respect for high current supplies.)

Turns out the solenoid contacts were wet with oil (probably because
my young son missed the filler hole when I let him add a quart of oil
a few weeks ago) and this had burned on and insulated the contacts.

The contacts themselves were worn away to about half their depth,
so no immediate need to replace them. I removed and cleaned up
the plunger and contacts with detergent and hot water, gave them
a quick rub over with sandpaper, and put it all together again.

A quick test with jump leads showed it was working again, so job
done.

Regarding repairing in place, it would indeed be possible to clean
up the contacts and plunger without removing the starter from the
engine, but it would be impossible to remove the upper
(non-battery-side) contact. However, according to
http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/CheapTricks/Starter.shtml
only the battery-side contact ever wears out, so this could be a
feasible approach. On a balance though I'm glad I removed the
whole thing because it made the disassembly and cleaning
much more straightforward.

Total time - about 40 mins to remove (this would have been
much faster if I could have found a 15mm ratchet spanner), an
hour to clean up, and half an hour to put back.

Footnote: evidently you can't turn over a 3.3 engine with a 9"
long spanner.