TD5 starter motor repair

[GL88]

I recently posted a question about my TD5 starter intermittently clicking but not turning the engine. The suggested answer was that this was burning of the contacts in the starter solenoid so I bought the suggested repair kit on eBay (www.repairkitsuk.com). Having now installed said kit I though I’d share my experiences.

1) disconnect the battery (having remembered to read the handbook about the right sequence to avoid the alarm going off when you do).

2) remove the plastic under tray. This means jacking up the front axle one side at a time and supporting the chassis (axle stands) to allow the axle to drop and give clearance between the sump and front axle. The steering damper is in the way but only the chassis end needs to be unbolted allowing it to drop down out of the way.

3) my reading on the internet suggested that while the two lower bolts (13mm) holding the starter in place are easily removed there is an inaccessible (15mm) nut behind the starter. This calls for a trial and error selection of the best length wobbly extension bar (3/8” drive preferably) to reach it. Many people seem to opt not to replace this nut which didn’t fill me with confidence. But this was all theoretical because no combination of the tools in my extensive collection enabled me to even loosen this nut.

4) time to think laterally. I noticed that the end cover of the starter solenoid is easily accessible with the starter motor still in place. This led me to wonder if I could replace the contacts without removing the starter from the engine.

5) the solenoid end plate is retained by 3 easily removed 8mm bolts.

6) once the end plate is removed you can withdraw the starter ‘plunger’ retaining the long spring for use with the new plunger supplied in the kit. There was some pitting and burning of the copper contact ring but it looked thick enough and generally serviceable.

7) the battery side solenoid contact can be dismantled and removed with a bit of care. Inspection once removed showed this to be burned and very thin indeed and probably near to failure. I installed the new contact from the kit making sure that all of the various insulators, washers, o-rings, nuts etc were in the correct order.

8) due to restricted access I could not remove the motor side solenoid contact and, heart sinking, tried again to remove the starter motor but still without success. With a bright inspection lamp I was able to inspect this contact. This showed it to have very little sign of pitting or thinning unlike the other one so I decided to leave it in place.

9) I installed the new solenoid plunger from the kit re-using the old spring with a light smear of grease.

10) I reinstalled the solenoid end plate/rubber seal with its 3 bolts.

11) after reconnecting the battery I tested (several times) with 100% satisfactory results. Hurrah!

Overall there is quite good access and visibility to dismantle the solenoid and inspect the contacts without removing the motor. In my case this made it easy to be confident that only one of the two needed replacing to effect a satisfactory repair. I used aerosol electrical contact cleaner to clean the motor side contact and I could see and feel that there was no noticeable thinning of this contact. I don’t know if it is common that one thins and burns but not the other so you may not be as lucky. If they wear unevenly then this will make it harder for the solenoid contact ring to get a good contact across both contacts and probably speed up the thinning and burning.

[crwoody]

Glad to hear you got it sorted.

I must admit, I didn't think of trying to do mine in-situ like you did but struggled instead with that top bolt.

Anyway, good news and good info too for the next victim of this little problem.

[Anderzander]

I did mine a little while ago too. There is a pictoral guide on someones web site - if I can find it again I'll post the link up.

[Anderzander]

Its on this site: Defendertd5.co.uk