On-off soleniods: failure due to abuse
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1. Excessive amount of assembly lube was used on the Mazda solenoid you can see in the enlargement of picture 1.The entire port was packed full. The solenoid would have eventually operated once lube liquefied and passed through solenoid exhaust. Part was returned to Rostra for analysis.
There is a reason why it is said to let the vehicle warm up before a road test!
2. Bench damage. Knicked magnet wire. This solenoid WILL fail and cause eventual turn to turn short. All Rostra solenoids have magnet wire protected.
Modifying port size. Be cautious in drilling out solenoid port. Hydraulic pressure creates forces that vary by the square of the diameter size. You can easily increase the hydraulic forces above the design capabilities of the solenoid especially under hot conditions.
3. Testing a solenoid that has a diode with a car battery can be hazardous to the vehicle computer. I still see this quite often!
Click on an illustration to see an enlargement.
© Scott Kirkendall
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Replace and reuse rules
Failure review chart>
Failure review chart