Choke Solenoid not working anymore

[westexasrepublic]

79' Mariner 70 HP outboard>

plunger type attached to the side of the dual carbs. When I depress the botton on the throttle control I get 12 volts to the stub on the solenoid. What now? cuz online this stupid little thing is 200+ DOLLARS! For that much I can just take the cowl off everytime and literally CHOKE THAT SOB!

 

[jhodge]

Re: Choke Solenoid not working anymore

I just finished going thru my engine and my choke solenoid was rusted together. Mine also had a manual nob for activating the choke. While the solenoid was out I used some penetrating oil to get the inner plunger part loose and then cleaned it up and put a little WD 40 on it to repell moisture and it works like a charm now. On mine the plunger is completely free of the outer solenoid and is what activates the enrlichment in the carbs, so the two pieces came apart for easy cleaning. My setup actually has no butterflies in the carb for the choke its just an enriching setup that opens up a passage for more fuel. Hope this helps. Cost a little elbow grease and about 15 cents worth of WD 40. JH

 

[westexasrepublic]

Re: Choke Solenoid not working anymore

ok well thats what Im thinking ill do now, might as well take it off and look around, but unline yours mine is clean and not rusted together. It moves freely in the solenoid and worked great untill I took the plunger out and cleaned the carbs. replaced carbs and inserted plunger back in, now it dosnt work. Did maybe a piece fall out? or am I missing something? like special way to insert plunger back in?

heres a schematic for reference> http://www.crowleymarine.com/mercury_parts/653/7.cfm

 

[jhodge]

Re: Choke Solenoid not working anymore

On mine the plunger is restricted to a couple of positions by the attachment to the carbs. You do have the wire hooked up to the solenoid, don't you? You might do an ohms check on the solenoid to see if there is continuity in the wiring thru the solenoid. What happens is that there is a winding in the solenoid that when energized creates a magnetic field that causes the plunger to move and moves some arms on the carbs to give enrichment. If there is an open in the windings then no magnetic field and no enrichment. If the ohm meter does change when checking the windings then its time to shop around. Check between the threaded stud for the wire connection and the housing of the solenoid for a continuity test. JH

 

[rosser1]

Re: Choke Solenoid not working anymore

i have a 90 hp inline that is doing the same thing, it was working, went out to check it another day and nothing. i checked ohms to button on panel that was 12ohms, checked at wire to plunger had 12. but nothing is working. not really sure what else to do. i have a manual chock but agervating to remove covers on water to chock early in the morings to crank, but it gets the job done. would really like to get chock to work. so lets figure something out and we will all have great working chocks.

 

[jhodge]

Re: Choke Solenoid not working anymore

To check the resistance of the choke solenoid, put one lead of the meter on the threaded post that the wire is normally connected to. The other lead should just be touched to the metal housing of the solenoid. Have the wire to the solenoid disconnected. The plunger has nothing to do with the windings in the solenoid, it just reacts to the magnetic field made by the solenoid. If the solenoid is painted you need to scratch down to the metal for a correct resistance reading to be made. Usually there is a very low resistance reading thru the solenoid windings. 12 ohms sounds high to me, meaning there may be some sort of corroision in the windings that causes the current flow thru the windings to be reduced and resulting in a reduced magnetic field that moves the plunger. I'd be interested in what you find the problem to be. JH

 

[westexasrepublic]

Re: Choke Solenoid not working anymore

Im removing the choke later today, but for now Im getting 12 volts not ohms to the connection post. I have not checked resistance within the unit itself, ill also do that.

I will mention that when I removed the nut to remove old wire it was rusted in place and turned the entire post, I had to use pliers to hold the other nut while I twisted off the nut that held the wire. So im thinking somehow that post isnt making contact with the coil inside to create current? is that post soldered onto the coil inside? maybe I broke it off its connection by twisting it.....

 

[jhodge]

Re: Choke Solenoid not working anymore

I wouldn't think that you would be getting any voltage on the choke solenoid unless you were depressing the key for choke operation. But I have been wrong before. I've never had one of these choke solenoids apart. Mine is a sealed unit but would give to a minigrinder. When you get it tested and if it is bad you might recycle the copper out of it and see just how the wire is connected to the post. I suspect its soldered somehow. May good fortune smile upon you. JH

 

[westexasrepublic]

Re: Choke Solenoid not working anymore

just took the unit off, its sealed and cant tell how the post is connected to the copper coil. since its already broke Im thinking ill just tear it apart very carfully and see if it can be re soldered or something.

Either way you're right, you only get voltage when the button is pressed. But that is how I checked voltage to the unit.

 

[jhodge]

Re: Choke Solenoid not working anymore

Ok, that clears that up. Your getting voltage to the solenoid, but no action. Have you done the ohm test, to see if there are no breaks in the winding going thru the solenoid. You may be lucky enuf to patch it up, but I would be looking for a repacement. If you can get a part number do a google for it. Have you checked for one here on iboats? They carry some electronic parts. I got my stator from them and it was less than the 200 you were quoted for the solenoid. Kinda seems way out of line for a solenoid. Good luck. JH

 

[westexasrepublic]

Re: Choke Solenoid not working anymore

turns out coppers not cheap, and those solenoids are made of a ton of it. So either way after removing I took a hack saw to it, and sure enough, the positive connection post wasnt making contact, turned the post 90? and now im getting resistance between the post and the bolts that ground the unit.

Boom Fixed! another 200 plus saved fixing that, and the other 200 saved making my own wiring harness.

 

[jhodge]

Re: Choke Solenoid not working anymore

Persistant cuss arn't you? I would never have given repair of a sealed unit a chance. Keep looking for a replacement, no telling just how long it will survive the vibration of a 2 cycle. You done good. JH

 

[rosser1]

Re: Choke Solenoid not working anymore

i took my chock solenoid to work and took it apart. figured it was broke, can do much worse, maybe even fix it. well thats what happen i fixed it. come to find out after taking the bottom off and digging out rtv the wire going to the stud that goes to the outer part of the solenoid, the copper wire was broken off inside of it. so i placed the wire back on the stud and put more rtv around it and put it back together, and tested it on the boat. and low and behold i fixed it and saved 200 dollars.

 

[jhodge]

Re: Choke Solenoid not working anymore

Maybe that's why your an E5 and I'm only an E3. My experiece with these kinds of repairs is not too good, but more power to you two. Necessity is the mother of invention. JH