Alan, I believe that the big, copper "T-connector/copper contacts" inside the solenoid that transfers electricity (acts as a switch for lots of amps) from the battery to the starter motor has become oxidized and needs to be cleaned. Banging on the solenoid gets the T-connector to make enough electrical contact to work.
To remedy this, you'll need to remove the starter from the car and the solenoid from the starter. Opening up the solenoid isn't hard but you'll need to unsolder some connections (can't remember if it is 1 or 2 connections) to get the end cap off. Once the cap is off, it is easy to disassemble since there aren't too many moving parts inside. Reassembly is just the reverse of disassembly ... of course ! Here's a site that shows how to open a solenoid from an air-cooled VW which should be very close to your starter: http://www.aircooledtech.com/solenoid_repair/ . Oh, the pictures on the site show a pretty clean T-connector - mine have been pretty black and pitted. And use some electrical spray cleaner on the inside parts so that they move easily - do not put grease inside since it will only gum up the works in time. Bruce On Thu, May 19, 2011 at 5:43 PM, Alan Lambert <[email protected]>wrote: > While only slightly on point, the starter solenoid on my '74 Spider often > refuses to work, especially when hot. I "fix" this by carrying an aluminum > rod of 1/2" diameter long enough to reach the solenoid. I bang on this with > a light hammer and this usually convinces the solenoid to work------any > ideas anyone?? > > Best regards, > > Alan Lambert -- to be removed from alfa, see http://www.digest.net/bin/digest-subs.cgi or email "unsubscribe alfa" to [email protected]
