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OD Advice for a BJ7

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B

BG 62AH

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Guys, I need some advice for the OD on my car. Since I bought the car, the OD has never worked. I recent took the trans tunnel off to investigate this and found 2 issues. 1) My OD no longer has the rubber bump stop under the solenoid plunger. Neither Moss or VB carries them. Can anyone advise where to get one, or how thick it is so I can make one? 2) When the car is parked and the engine off, I put the shifter into 4th gear and flick the toggle switch on and the solenoid seems to engage the OD properly....however when driving in 4th gear, when I flick the OD switch on, the OD will not engage. But if I manually push the valve setting lever down, the OD engages and operates perfectly. Has anyone had a similar issue. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you. Bill.
 
1..... Could be a faulty solenoid (with the engine off but the key turned on put the car in 3rd or 4th and move the gear stick from side to side laterally). Check to make sure the solenoid is properly 'earthed'. If you hear the click click when you move the gearstick left and right the solenoid is not faulty. 2....It could be oil pressure (the O/D system needs a minimum oil pressure to activate the plunger properly). When running and warm the oil pressure may not be enough to activate the plunger. 3...Check your wiring for faulty or dirty contacts. Somewhere on the forum is a guide which I used to sort out my 63 BJ7.. Good luck
 
I haven't had to look into the complete circuit of the OD for awhile but you should have a throttle switch that has to have the gas pedal depressed to engage the OD. I took the throttle switch off my BJ7 along time ago. Make sure your throttle switch is adjusted right. Dave.
 
I was able to buy the little rubber bump stop from Healey Surgeons. And I agree with the earlier posts, you may need to adjust the 'throw' on the solenoid. There are instructions in the workshop manual that involve inserting a metal rod into two holes on the lever on the opposite side of the unit. I can't remember it exactly, but it worked for me. If you don't have the manual and need more information, I can copy the relevant sections tonight.
 
1st - check or adjust the lever. If it still doesn't engage, sometimes the solenoid gets "tired". That recently happened to me and replacement of the solenoid did the trick.
 
Gentlemen, thank you for your help on this. In the end, your suggestions on the solenoid being bad were correct. It was a case of "no good deed goes unpunished". I had put a new solenoid on the OD a while back, I switched back to the old solenoid and the OD engaged perfectly. Go figure....Thank you...Healey's Rule!!
 
Bob, thank you.

My only issue now is where to find a good replacement soleniod. I originally replaced the old one because the rubber cover on the top of the soleiod was showing signs of cracking (despite the fact that it still worked properly). The fear is that if it gets wet it may short out. The replacement was from a major Healey parts supplier here in the US.

When comparing the 2, I did notice a difference in the plungers. The older one was longer and a little thinner than the new one. The larger shaft outside diameters were the same, though.

Again thans everyone for the help.
 
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