Hi everyone,

I replaced my starter recently, and when I was bolting down the hook coming from the positive battery terminal, the plastic housing on the solenoid cracked. It worked for a little bit, but now the plastic has fully snapped off. It's covered by warranty, and my new one will be in Sunday. I tried jb welding it back into place, but it eventually snapped again.

My question is, can I take a copper bolt from my old starter, directly touch it with the copper plate on the starter solenoid, and then hook the battery wire on the bolt? The spring was pushing on the plastic casing, so I don't know how that will effect the starter with the plastic gone.

Pictures: https://imgur.com/a/m4UzT

 

I am having a hard time visualizing what you want to do, but I doubt that it will. The solenoid is a powerful electromagnet that slams a contact plate against the two bolts and this is why the JB Weld didn't work. Because of the high amperage that flows through those bolts, you need to keep the bolt touching the contact plate with a lot of pressure.

Since you have to old starter, you would be better off to swap the old solenoid over to the new starter and chances are it would be less work.