How to check the starter retractor relay

Video: How To Test A Motorcycle, ATV & UTV Starter Relay

Content

Steps
Tips
Warnings
Additional articles

As a driver, you've probably come across a situation where you get into a car, turn the key in the ignition, and there is silence. If this has never happened to you, then do not be discouraged - everything is still ahead. But if you know where to dig, you can narrow the range of possible malfunctions to a few points of failure - the battery, the starter, or its solenoid (pull-in relay). If you take up this business, you will easily save on diagnostics and repairs. Make sure the problem isn't with the battery, the ignition switch, or the starter itself. Testing the battery is easy, but in order to properly test the starter retractor relay, you need to clarify a few additional points. Armed with a few simple tools and the knowledge gleaned from this article, you can easily test the starter retractor relay and pinpoint the problem.

Steps

1 Position the vehicle so that you have access to the starter retractor relay.
- You may have to crawl under the car to manipulate the starter, depending on the model of your car. In this case, use a pit, overpass or lift, taking all the necessary safety measures in advance. It is also possible that in order to facilitate access to the starter, you will have to dismantle nearby components and assemblies.
2 Find where the terminals are located on the solenoid relay. A braided wire is connected to one of them. This is the positive terminal.
3 Connect a voltmeter to the positive side of the solenoid relay to see if sufficient voltage is being supplied to the starter motor.
- Connect the red (positive) voltmeter probe to the positive terminal of the solenoid relay, and connect the black (negative) to the vehicle ground. Then ask the assistant to start the car. When he turns the key in the ignition lock, the device should show a value of 12 V, and the starter should give out a series of clicking sounds.
- If less than 12 volts comes to the starter, then the problem lies in the battery or ignition switch. By the way, the starter can click even when insufficient voltage is applied to the relay - which is why a voltmeter is so important.
4 Check the operation of the solenoid relay by connecting power directly to it.
- Disconnect the wire coming from the ignition switch from the retractor relay, take a screwdriver with an insulated handle and short-circuit the positive terminal of the relay with the terminal to which the ignition switch wire was connected with a sting. This will supply 12 volts to the solenoid relay directly from the battery. This manual activation of the starter motor can start the vehicle. If the start is successful, then either the ignition lock is no longer able to pass the current required by the starter through itself, or the relay is stuck or worn out.

Tips

Do not throw away a faulty starter or retractor relay and do not rush to buy new ones: some specialized stores provide a service for a complete replacement of the filling for such spare parts, and the final price comes out much less: you can save a lot.
First of all, check the battery, then the ignition switch and the starter itself, and at the end, proceed to testing the starter retractor relay.
Regardless of what has failed - the retractor relay or the starter itself, try to replace the entire assembly as a whole. It will not be much more expensive, but you will be confident in this node. And mechanics recommend doing just that, because the relays with the starter work together.

Warnings

Before starting work, be sure to turn on neutral and raise the handbrake.This does not depend on where the car is parked: on a ramp, on a lift, in a pit or just on the ground.