41 starter issue resloved

[41coupe]

Here is the result of my starter repair. As it was suggested, I removed the starter, and dissembled the solenoid. The plunger with the copper disc was "fused" to the two contact posts. I found that there is a small spring that pushes the plunger disc back away from the two contact posts. This spring was broken, and it looked like an electrical arc melted the spring coils to the plunger, preventing it from disconnecting. I removed the pieces of broken spring, and took the solenoid to a repair facility where they matched up a replacement spring. I found that there were three very tiny pieces of melted spring stuck on the shaft of the plunger, so I polished it with fine grade sandpaper. Upon reassembly, the plunger now retracts away from contact posts under the pressure of the small spring. I carefully assembled the solenoid making sure that all fiber insulators were placed correctly to prevent any contact between the electrical components and the housing. I tested the starter a half dozen times, and it appears to be working as it should. BUT, I think a new solenoid is in order.  Thanks to everyone who provided information.  Phil

[joeceretti]

Awesome, it had to be a short in the starter. If it was a short in the wiring in the starter circuit it would have cranked the engine when shorted. More helpful information for the members on here. Thank you for posting the resolution.

[Bill Ingler #7799]

Congratulations on fixing your solenoid and thanks for posting the fix. Now if you play your cards right, you can have a side business of repairing solenoids. Good luck on finding a new solenoid, very hard to find. What I would try to pick up for your solenoid is the starter relay which is the relay inside your solenoid. This is the part that usually goes bad in the solenoid. For the 41 starter the relay is a Delco 1866167 and this was used 37-41 and is the left relay in the picture. On the picture below, the right relay pictured is used in the 42-48 starter solenoids with a Delco # 1884537. I bring this up because sometimes on ebay the solenoid relay is listed as fitting 37-48 . The 37-41 relay fits only 37-41 solenoids as the wire connectors are on the side of the relay box and the 42-48 relays, the connectors are on the back of the relay.       Bill

[joeceretti]

As usual Bill is 100% right including that they do occasionally come up on eBay. I recently bought a NOS Delco 1866167 that had a best offer. I felt lucky.

It was listed incorrectly, wrong years.