Hi everyone. So....I was stupid, well mostly just careless, and I broke something. My car has a really small leak on one of the convertible rams, so about every other year, I have to top up the fluid. I should actually fix the issue, but I haven't yet, and it's slow enough, I'm not too concerned. Well, today I decided to top up the fluid since I can tell it was a little low. I've removed the cap and filled the pump in place before, but I was having trouble getting the top off today, so I decided to pull the pump itself. In the process, I must have bumped one of the electrical connects to one of the solenoids and broke it (see green box in photo) It's the classic case of wanting to quickly do something before we take the car...and end up with the top stuck down (i didn't want to manually raise it, so we ended up not taking the Jag)

A few questions: Is there a difference between the two of these on top of the pump? Does anyone sell these separately or am i stuck buying a used pump? If I end up with another pump, can I just swap this solenoid? (I can't imagine I couldn't)

 

Here is what I find so far: https://www.jagbits.com/product/SOLENOID-USED.html $150.00, free US shipping
https://roofmotors.co.uk/index.php?route=checkout/cart $66.21+$46.19 shipping from UK=$112.40 (longer to arrive and not as specific of information on it, but $38 less)

I'm hoping someone knows of something else, but this may be it.

 

I ended up with a new pump (~$300), figured anything used would fail again. I've now replaced hoses, the pump, and rebuilt the latch, I guess there's only the rams left. :P

Side note, do you mind uploading the pictures where you repaired your defroster vents? Unfortunately no longer available.

Jacob

 

Hi, seems to me like a simple two pin plug. i would solder to wires to the solenoid and connect them with another suitable plug.
Fritz

 

+1 to flatsix,

So long as you don't mind a bit of a "hack job" just solder the wires to respective spots anywhere on the solenoid terminals. Make sure you have the right +ve and -ve though.

 

Sadly my hard drive crashed after I did that, so I no longer have the photos

Quote:

Originally Posted by DavidYau

+1 to flatsix,

I may give that a try. There isn't much wire on the side the broke off (actually there is a little circuit board with a resister of some kind (it isn't color coded)) and I don't know if there is much wire on the other side either. It's worth a closer inspection though. The plug itself is fine, so if I can manage to solder the wires together, I could be set. It's definitely smaller than what I've soldered before, so a new adventure. On the plus side, I probably can't make it worse, so its worth a shot

 

Keith,
try to include the component in whatever you engineer. It's there to limit voltage spikes so as not to damage the upstream electronics controlling the solenoid.

Good luck in finding the wire ends of the solenoid winding!

 

Well I pulled the solenoid from the pump and I didn't even see the wire...so I thought I was doomed and it was going to be more than what I was capable of fixing. Getting it to my better lit workbench, I spotted the wiring where it sheared. Using a utility knife, I peeled back the surrounding plastic to expose as much of the wire as I could, which still wasn't much, but it was enough to solder. So far so good! I hadn't soldered quite the fine of wire in a while, but I happen to have some braided wire lying around. I removed a few strands and rebraided them so they weren't quite as bulky, but were at least as large as the existing wire. (Ignore the rubber on the bottom, it's the sleeve for my new fuel pump, but it didn't fit in the bracket, so I used the stock one. It made a perfect stand for the solenoid while I soldered):

Next, I lined up the small circuit board and the wire coming off from them and trimmed the wire as short as I dared, leaving enough to solder. Then of course I soldered the wires to the two exposed ends.

This put everything pretty close to where it originally was, just about 3/32" higher than original with some wire and solder preventing it from fully dropping into the stock position. Next went the broken connector piece to cover everything up and allow the wire to clip in, just as it did. Finally, some clear epoxy to hold everything together:

Next up, testing. I was a little concerned I had rotated the shaft that goes into the pump and I wasn't completely sure what direction it needed to be, but it looked like it was close to lining up with one of the holes inside the pump, so I lined it up to that and slid it in, then screwed it down. Success! I have a functional top once more.


I'm going to wait until the epoxy is fully cured before I put the pump back in place. I also put a zip tie around the solenoid and plug, firmly, but not so tight as to pull it out of position, just for some extra support. If you didn't look too carefully, you'd never guess anything happened to it.


Thanks to everyone who recommended repair. I considered it but wasn't sure it was possible. This forum gave me the confidence to go ahead with it, and it ended up not being as bad as I feared. I sometimes tend to panic when something happens with this car, and I really shouldn't.

 

Well done. Sure hope that epoxy can stand the test of time and vibration. Keep us posted....

 

K.Westra,

That is a quality repair. Well done. Glad you didn’t bother trying to source new connectors as 20 year old electrical plastic parts are tough to find.

Right now I trying to find an Econoseal III 2 way female housing connector for the Thermo clip on the coolant cross over pipe.

Good job! Hope yours holds.

 

Hi,
in the end it was a bit more complicated than i thought but you've made a good job. pleased that it worked out that way.
Fritz

 

Well done from me too.