So my solenoid called it quits a few weeks ago and I’ve been driving a different vehicle so I don’t wreck my clutch (stall to shut off). I tried cheaping out on a new solenoid as genuine and OEM ones from reputable sellers are around $200AUD.
My thought process was “it’s just a simple solenoid why does it need to cost that much?”, so I bought one on eBay from china and as soon as I fitted it wouldn’t start. No exhaust or anything when cranking. You get what you pay for I guess. So I put my old one back in without the poppet and spring, it fired up instantly and then ran it for a few seconds to get the injector lines full of fuel.
I then changed back to the Chinese one with the poppet and spring and it started up and ran for 10 minutes, then shut off with the key. Then it did not start at all. As if the poppet got stuck shut (the reason I’m replacing to begin with). Even tried hard wiring it to the battery tried it a few times each time it would either stick open or closed. Only worked properly for the first test.
Now obviously before I installed it I did a quick test of the solenoid with a clear cap over it and watched the poppet move in and out and it seemed to work fine. I wonder why it was not working when actually installed?
So i thought I’d post this to see what others think about using cheap solenoids. To me the worst that can happen is I wasted $30 on the eBay solenoid and have to fork out the cash for the legit one and the best is that it would just work.
has anyone else tried a cheap alternative that works? Currently leaning towards just forking out the cash now.
it’s just painful to spend so much money on such a simple little part.
My thought process was “it’s just a simple solenoid why does it need to cost that much?”, so I bought one on eBay from china and as soon as I fitted it wouldn’t start. No exhaust or anything when cranking. You get what you pay for I guess. So I put my old one back in without the poppet and spring, it fired up instantly and then ran it for a few seconds to get the injector lines full of fuel.
I then changed back to the Chinese one with the poppet and spring and it started up and ran for 10 minutes, then shut off with the key. Then it did not start at all. As if the poppet got stuck shut (the reason I’m replacing to begin with). Even tried hard wiring it to the battery tried it a few times each time it would either stick open or closed. Only worked properly for the first test.
Now obviously before I installed it I did a quick test of the solenoid with a clear cap over it and watched the poppet move in and out and it seemed to work fine. I wonder why it was not working when actually installed?
So i thought I’d post this to see what others think about using cheap solenoids. To me the worst that can happen is I wasted $30 on the eBay solenoid and have to fork out the cash for the legit one and the best is that it would just work.
has anyone else tried a cheap alternative that works? Currently leaning towards just forking out the cash now.
it’s just painful to spend so much money on such a simple little part.
