RE: ur-Q Starter Solenoid death

["Buchholz, Steven" <Steven.Buchholz@kla-tencor.com>]

... yes, the urQ had a heat shield over the starter ... a big stamped
metal piece that covers both the starter solenoid and the motor itself.
My urQ did not have one on the starter originally, and I had some
problems with the solenoid pulling in when the engine was hot.  When I
finally pulled the starter to replace it with a unit pulled from a 5k I
decided to use the urq heat shield.  Well, the starter is a bit smaller
but I made it work.  I also used one of the 5k/200 foil/fiberglass
shields that covers the solenoid.  I found that the latter shields are
available from Carlsen for a pretty cheap price (much less than $10).  

Some folks have recently been reporting problems where they hear no
clicking when turning the ignition switch.  Well, I've been there ...
and was still there even after I replaced the switch module.  Let me
report that it is entirely possible for the starter/solenoid to fail in
such a way as to give the same symptoms.  If I have a similar problem in
the future I'll probably install a "load reduction" relay between the
switch and the solenoid to minimize the voltage drop to the solenoid.
in my situation above I found that the solenoid wouldn't even click with
the starter switch, but if I hooked a wire up from the battery lead
directly to the solenoid it would pull in immediately.  

Steve Buchholz
San Jose, CA (USA)

> ----------
> 
> The later 200TQ's use a heat shield (with asbestos?) around
> the starter solenoid to reflect the heat from the exhaust .
> I don't know if your ur-Q came with a heat shield but if it
> doesn't have one the generic auto-parts stores typically
> carry one for the American V8 engines. This solenoid death
> was a typical problem with Chevy V8's that somehow had lost
> their starter heat shields.
> 
>