Yanmar starter solenoid

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Mikedefieslife

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It seems on these Yanmars (3GM30) the starter solenoid is integrated in the starter motor and there is no way to by pass it. Is that correct?

I've got the common issue of push the start button and nothing happens, especially when warm. Sometimes the solenoid clicks, other times the lights on the dash dim.

The consensus is that it's due to under-gauge wires in the loom. I have tried bypassing the loom i.e a decent gauge wire from the batteries to a pole on the solenoid. That did spin the engine over. However now that rarely works.

Any suggestions?
 
I have had the same problem, with the indirectly cooled same engine, over many years. The standard wiring loom includes four push fit connections between switch and starter, at least one of which is not obvious. Having cleaned them all up a couple of times with limited success I ran a single wire between the starter switch and the solenoid, which seems to have solved it permanently. From memory it is the white wire from the switch that does the business.

The ultimate desperation starting method is to bridge the battery lead on the starter solenoid to the solenoid connection. If you are lucky you can do this with a screwdriver but if access is poor you can use a heavy wire. It sparks a bit but will start the engine.

In the past I have had many air-cooled VW camper vans. These suffered exactly the same problem but bridging the connections with a screwdriver meant lying underneath the van. I ran a wire from the solenoid to the engine compartment, where it was easy to touch the wire to the positive battery terminal.
 
Yes i bridged the white and red wire terminal posts on the solenoid. That did turn it it over but I didn’t manage to get the dexompression levers down quick enough to start. Since then nothing happens. I think the solenoid itself is dead
 
Mikedefieslife said:
Yes i bridged the white and red wire terminal posts on the solenoid. That did turn it it over but I didn’t manage to get the dexompression levers down quick enough to start. Since then nothing happens. I think the solenoid itself is dead
Click to expand...

Is it possible to permanently short-circuit the solenoid fixed to the starter motor and fit remote one? Could be a much cheaper solution than replacing the current motor/solenoid.
 
davidej said:
Is it possible to permanently short-circuit the solenoid fixed to the starter motor and fit remote one? Could be a much cheaper solution than replacing the current motor/solenoid.
Click to expand...

Surely the starter solenoid operates to pre-engage the pinion? Without the starter solenoid, the starter simply wouldn't work.
 
My experience of Yanmar is that they are somewhat lacking in electrical quality. The fact that you say sometimes the solenoid clicks and the lights dim suggests a poor, high resistance joint twixt the battery and the panel. I have cured many Yanmar maladies as this by fitting a assist relay adjacent to the start motor thus alleviating high current demand through the panel.
 
vyv_cox said:
I have had the same problem, with the indirectly cooled same engine, over many years. The standard wiring loom includes four push fit connections between switch and starter, at least one of which is not obvious. Having cleaned them all up a couple of times with limited success I ran a single wire between the starter switch and the solenoid, which seems to have solved it permanently. From memory it is the white wire from the switch that does the business...
Click to expand...
Ditto. Contralube on the hidden connector works a treat.
 
You can strip the solenoid at least partially apart, I did it recently. It's fairly common for the voltage at the starter to be too low while cranking. Put a meter on the starter terminals while pressing the start button and if you've less than 8V initially it probably won't turn over. Starting with a nominal 12V, the initial current will drop a single battery down to about 10V, other drops will be wiring, crimps, terminal contacts, connectors, power switches.
 
I have the same problems with a two year old sole mini 17, I have replaced the battery, had a new solenoid fitted and starter motor serviced, checked connections I could access and am now still having problems starting, spoiling the pleasure of having a new engine. By the way I contacted sole and they didn't want to know. Be a Beta next time!
 
bobwilliams said:
I have the same problems with a two year old sole mini 17, I have replaced the battery, had a new solenoid fitted and starter motor serviced, checked connections I could access and am now still having problems starting, spoiling the pleasure of having a new engine. By the way I contacted sole and they didn't want to know. Be a Beta next time!
Click to expand...


Step 1, Purchase a standard 12v 40A N/O relay, about £2
2, Remove small cable from solenoid and connect to 85 terminal on relay.
3, Make up a short lead to connect 86 terminal to engine ground, earth, negative or whatever other term you Identify the - pole.
4, Identify the large terminal on the solenoid that connects directly to the battery +, make up a lead and feed this to the
30 terminal on the relay.
5, Final lead from the 87 terminal on the relay to the small terminal on the solenoid.
6, Send many beer tokens to above address for fixing your prob.
 
third engines said:
Step 1, Purchase a standard 12v 40A N/O relay, about £2
2, Remove small cable from solenoid and connect to 85 terminal on relay.
3, Make up a short lead to connect 86 terminal to engine ground, earth, negative or whatever other term you Identify the - pole.
4, Identify the large terminal on the solenoid that connects directly to the battery +, make up a lead and feed this to the
30 terminal on the relay.
5, Final lead from the 87 terminal on the relay to the small terminal on the solenoid.
6, Send many beer tokens to above address for fixing your prob.
Click to expand...

Yeah. Had all the problems listed above and tried all sorts. Was then told it is a common problem with the Yanmar ignition system and your fix is easy and cheap. Tried it and never had the problem again.

As I understand it, when done, the small current necessary to operate the relay then puts big current onto the solenoid in the starter without a big volt drop in the original design.

Hoohah, fixed.
 
capnsensible said:
Yeah. Had all the problems listed above and tried all sorts. Was then told it is a common problem with the Yanmar ignition system and your fix is easy and cheap. Tried it and never had the problem again.

As I understand it, when done, the small current necessary to operate the relay then puts big current onto the solenoid in the starter without a big volt drop in the original design.

Hoohah, fixed.
Click to expand...

Thanks for endorsing that. Exactly what I said in post #7 which appears to have fallen on deaf ears.

Resistance in series accumulates, so a little corrosion in each crimp/terminal and the possibility of the switch contacts slightly marked will add to the circuit resistance. Resistance will restrict current flow.

With the addition of the assist relay a very small current is required to activate the coil.
 
third engines said:
Step 1, Purchase a standard 12v 40A N/O relay, about £2
2, Remove small cable from solenoid and connect to 85 terminal on relay.
3, Make up a short lead to connect 86 terminal to engine ground, earth, negative or whatever other term you Identify the - pole.
4, Identify the large terminal on the solenoid that connects directly to the battery +, make up a lead and feed this to the
30 terminal on the relay.
5, Final lead from the 87 terminal on the relay to the small terminal on the solenoid.
6, Send many beer tokens to above address for fixing your prob.
Click to expand...

My 88HP Yanmar has just such a switching relay. I now carry a spare because a year or so ago the original one failed. Its this sort of thing https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/12V-Auto...327787?hash=item4b3d336dab:g:IeIAAOSwxwRarIz9
 
Had problems with the 1GM10 starter, shorting the terminals was the tempory fix, then that didn't work, So pulled the starter and stripped it. The brush plate and surrounds were clogged up with muck, much of which was ground up brush material. Cleaned it out and freed the brushes...presto! Spun better than ever. The brushes do need changing soon, so will find an auto bloke.
 
third engines said:
Step 1, Purchase a standard 12v 40A N/O relay, about £2
2, Remove small cable from solenoid and connect to 85 terminal on relay.
3, Make up a short lead to connect 86 terminal to engine ground, earth, negative or whatever other term you Identify the - pole.
4, Identify the large terminal on the solenoid that connects directly to the battery +, make up a lead and feed this to the
30 terminal on the relay.
5, Final lead from the 87 terminal on the relay to the small terminal on the solenoid.
6, Send many beer tokens to above address for fixing your prob.
Click to expand...
 
bobwilliams said:
Thanks for that. What size cable would you need to use?
Click to expand...
At least the same cable size as the original cable. Do not go any smaller on the positive sides but the negative from the relay is only taking a small current through the coil so that could be reduced to about 1.0 mm if you keep it short.
 
The old starter (who knows how old, but old) was totally gone. Not worth saving considering the price of a new hitatchi starter.

Wired all back up and got it running expect for the cable running from the alternator to the starter. What is that actually for? Obviously it's not a necessity, but I'm curious as to why it exists in the first instance, when output from the alternator goes into my sterling regulator.
 
Mikedefieslife said:
The old starter (who knows how old, but old) was totally gone. Not worth saving considering the price of a new hitatchi starter.

Wired all back up and got it running expect for the cable running from the alternator to the starter. What is that actually for? Obviously it's not a necessity, but I'm curious as to why it exists in the first instance, when output from the alternator goes into my sterling regulator.
Click to expand...

I think that alternators are often wired to the starter because that provides a heavy duty cable directly back to the battery to avoid having to run too many heavy duty cables.

Does your battery charge from the alternator through the Sterling if you don't connect this cable?

Richard
 
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