Brand new starter. Brand new battery. I'm on my fourth starter solenoid, and second starter. I thought the first starter was bad and made a big stink to get a replacement and I'm getting exactly the same problem.

The starter solenoid welds itself shut.

Double checked all the lines to make sure the juice line wasn't shorted out on it's way down to the starter.

With every single solenoid replacement it's exactly the same thing. Will start just fine and I can run around for awhile then BAM infinite starting.

Is there a beefier solenoid than these terrible aftermarket ones? I have a feeling with all this brand new stuff it's just simply blowing these cheap no-name solenoids.

I can usually take the solenoid off and give it a good WHACK to pop the thing loose again, but this grows tiresome.

Someone mentioned to clean the battery cables, but I'm so gun shy about mounting the cables on strongly because it's the only way I can shut the thing off when it goes crazy.

I guess this is my fault for basically doubling it's value by purchasing a brand new set of tires for it.

 

Check the condition of the battery and starter wires, especially under the insulation at the ends. Make sure you have a good ground to the engine.
And yes, maybe you should try an OEM relay to see if it lasts any better.
Good luck with it.

 

...and the answer is...

Weak battery. Spent the day on the charger, turned the key and started up like a champ. Will have to keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn't happen again, and will probably change the cables just for fun.

 

It started eating solenoids again, so I replaced the cables and also added in a "kill switch" between the solenoid and the starter.

Turned over once and I had to kill the starter via the newly installed kill switch. I whacked the heck out of the solenoid with a dead blow hammer, and I haven't had a problem since.

 

Hey i had this problem a couple years ago on my mustang. I went thru 3 BWD's on gp sorenson then i bought one from ford and it never happend again.