Starter slave solenoids go out often? (Mercruiser)

[fishrdan]

I have a starter slave solenoid off a 2001 Mercruiser 3.0 that went bad last weekend and I'm wondering if this was a fluke, or if these solenoids are problematic. I found the B+ stud loose in the plastic body (the cause for the dead solenoid) but not sure if I missed the loose stud while installing the solenoid, or if the plastic melted a bit allowing the B+ connection to loosen? I might add that the stud wasn't very loose, maybe 1/4 to 1/2 turn tightened the stud back up.

The slave solenoid from my ol' 72 Mercrusier was still working fine after almost 40 years, so I'm wondering if I should install an old style starter slave solenoid. After all, newer isn't necessarily better or more reliable in all cases.

new style

old style

BTW, I was able to get the solenoid working again by tightening all the studs on the solenoid. But, I don't want to have the problem again as a big blow just started when the problem popped up, leaving me dead in the water until I fixed the solenoid.

 

[Don S]

Re: Starter slave solenoids go out often? (Mercruiser)

The new ones are no more prone to failure than the old ones. Those solenoids carry very little amperage on either side. Trust me, failure of a slave solenoid should not leave you stranded. If if fails, just jumper across the 2 big terminals and the engine will crank. If it doesn't, then the slave solenoid is not your problem

 

[fishrdan]

Re: Starter slave solenoids go out often? (Mercruiser)

Thanks Don, I just wanted to make sure they were not a high failure item. I'll replace it with the same type.

Good tip on jumping the slave solenoid to get the engine started. I'm sure I would have came to that conclusion to get us out of there,,, eventually... Luckily, I got the solenoid working