Solenoids 101: The Life And Death Of A Engine

[STREETDRAG]

I don't know everything and won't claim too.

Solenoids are the meat of nitrous setup. Proper maintenance can be the life and death of and engine. It can stick open and send your motor parts into cyber space, or hang shut and kill the motor from all the extra gas it should be creating space for in the cylinder.

There are a few parts in a solenoid that need to have upkeep done on them for them to last and work at their best or inefficiency will rear it's head.. The onset of frustration is next, then removal and nitrous badmouthing starts...

Get to know your system..

You have in a typical solenoid these parts:

Top Nut
A Solenoid Cap Cover
Coil Wire Grommet
A Coil
Wave Washer
Base Washer
Plunger Housing/Coil Shaft
Plunger Spring
Plunger
Plunger Housing/Base Oring
Plunger Solenoid Base

Simple mechanics will tell you how it works:

Nitrous enters the dual ports on the intake side and rest at the base of solenoid and inside the side around the plunger. The coils resistance and nitrous pressure keeps the plunger at rest. The second power is applied to the coil the magnetic field makes the plunger move in a upward position to open the pathway for nitrous to flow to the outlet side of the base..

Pulsing is the slow or rapid application of pulsing power to the solenoid's coil which creates a rapid field of push/pull of the plunger moving it up and down inside its housing.

Maintenance is something that is often overlooked in something that we depend on the most. We take for granted it's fine if it's making power, never really knowing if it is or isn't making all it can. Don't find comfort in guessing, do regular maintenance on it..Nitrous gets a bad rap for alot of reasons, and sometimes it's actually lack of knowledge and our own upkeep of the system.

Used Solenoids can be good and bad. Did previous owner do upkeep, how old is solenoid, how was it used, what kind of pressure was ran thru it, what kind of maintenance cycles did it go thru? Was it ever rebuilt?

I say these things cause buy used can be a $40 part to cause a $10k blowup... I usually don't buy used solenoids unless I installed it and know how it was kept up on.. I show you why from a solenoid I just purchased.

These are just a few pics of the solenoid before I ever get ready to clean it.. You have done it and I hope this deters you from here on out. If you buy used do the maintenance before you ever install it or you may wish you had.. Remember $40 only to blow $10k away..

This is what you may find and you don't know unless you do it.. I'm not pointing fingers but this could have been catastrophic to some of you that aren't really experienced in what to look for anyways..I suggest you grab some of the nitrous books out there and get your knowledge game on..The net is good for something but Knowledge is POWER.

Here you go and I hope this helps some of you:


I found a tiny pebble completely sealing one of the inlet ports inside the base

Trash inside the base of where the nitrous rest before plunger moves up

Light rust, grainy sediment and small piece of pebbles around plunger base

moisture particle buildup on top of plunger and inside spring and it's seat area

moisture/rust build up around top cover where coil sits at

plunger had moisture slime and some foreign matter in it's rail where nitrous would flow through to sort of balance the plunger in it's housing...


These are all things that could make this solenoid fail and take out lots of high dollar parts..

Invest in a good nitrous filter for your system. I filter from my big bottle to little bottle, and from my little bottle to my solenoids.

Buy good quality solenoids, do the maintenance and save yourself, tuner, mechanic and family grief...

I hope this has been a good read, helpful to those that didn't know and a refresher for those that have been lacking on doing it and wondering why they are having issues...

[STREETDRAG]

More Pics from Same Solenoid

[Redline]

Damn what were you putting through those solenoids. They look pretty rough. may want to consider running a filter before the solenoids to avoid some of that build up.

[sportbikeryder]

Damn what were you putting through those solenoids. They look pretty rough. may want to consider running a filter before the solenoids to avoid some of that build up.

"Invest in a good nitrous filter for your system. I filter from my big bottle to little bottle, and from my little bottle to my solenoids."

[Quick]

Ok Streetdrag, I'll be the first to sign up for dummies for maintaining solenoid. when I open up the solenoid, is there any small parts i should be worried about that may jump out, or that is very fragile? and what do i use to clean the parts?

[STREETDRAG]

Bro, this isn't about dummies or genius, it's just information to help others. There really is nothing major to watch for depending on solenoid type, most are same and basic. It's just lack of doing them. The only tiny parts inside are the plunger and it has a spring in the top of it up, and there should be a base o-ring in the bottom of the base where plunger housing seals and screws over top of it.. The one I received today didn't have a o-ring in it, so it's been apart and someone lost it or messed it up and put it back together..The o-ring is important to keep from it leaking into the atmosphere or bottle pressure going away...

Ok Streetdrag, I'll be the first to sign up for dummies for maintaining solenoid. when I open up the solenoid, is there any small parts i should be worried about that may jump out, or that is very fragile? and what do i use to clean the parts?

[STREETDRAG]

Damn what were you putting through those solenoids. They look pretty rough. may want to consider running a filter before the solenoids to avoid some of that build up.

I purchased it this way, I use lots of filters. I hardly can tell difference from a new one and my used ones, I'm anal about electronics..


Quick:
I use chemitool for heavy soaking, regular gas for anything I can lightly scrub or wipe off, alcohol to do final cleaning,and then a light oil to wipe lightly to coat parts

[Quick]

I purchased it this way, I use lots of filters. I hardly can tell difference from a new one and my used ones, I'm anal about electronics..


Quick:
I use chemitool for heavy soaking, regular gas for anything I can lightly scrub or wipe off, alcohol to do final cleaning,and then a light oil to wipe lightly to coat parts

Cool, Im sitting here watching tv, and decided to take a old one apart. found out not a tool in my shop will open it up without scaring things up. what tool will fit in the holes to be able to unscrew the housing?

[STREETDRAG]

It's actually not in there tight. I take a pair pliers lightly squeeze shaft with cloth over it and unscrew base by hand..I have never left a mark on shaft. I do it by hand most times cause it's just snugged.

Cool, Im sitting here watching tv, and decided to take a old one apart. found out not a tool in my shop will open it up without scaring things up. what tool will fit in the holes to be able to unscrew the housing?

[busadominic]

Wow!!!! This is where this site needs to get back too!!! I remember back in 04 when I first started on here and there was alot of how to's and general to advanced mantinence stuff on here for drag racers. You don't see a whole lot of these posts any more, just a lot of shit talkin garbage!! Nice post

[STREETDRAG]

Yeah I feel where you coming from, but it has alot to do with where folks spend their time (bs posting/begging) and money( sending all your money to china) is why you don't get the info anymore. Shop owners need return on their info and time spent on the net or they may as well stay in the shop working or spend time with family.. The site has become what it has because of the take all, give none approach.There is a new generation of bikers and racers here, they know little really about bikes/mechanics of systems, talk ish like they know everything and can 60 foot faster on feet than on their bike cause they know it all. They could learn alot if they gave to those that help them learn, read a book every now and then, learned how systems operate instead of depending on a tuner/mechanic. Racers have lost their way, cause of cost not service being important..I'm not pointing fingers at anyone racer but collectively as racers, I give it to you on the real and never will be a sugar coater for anyone or any company. I give it to you raw and 100, everytime I speak..I feel at the end of a conversation there should be no confusion and our points should have gotten across the table. All the frontin, trying to be bigger than the next man, really has slowed folks down in life and on the track. they can't go faster and get ahead cause they trying to hold the next man down. Kill It, and lift your racer buddy up and all the animosity will go away, racing will become fun again and the sport will thrive and live on... See you in the next lane..

When we give, we shall recieve...Support those that support you..

.

Wow!!!! This is where this site needs to get back too!!! I remember back in 04 when I first started on here and there was alot of how to's and general to advanced mantinence stuff on here for drag racers. You don't see a whole lot of these posts any more, just a lot of shit talkin garbage!! Nice post

[Quick]

Yeah I feel where you coming from, but it has alot to do with where folks spend their time (bs posting/begging) and money( sending all your money to china) is why you don't get the info anymore. Shop owners need return on their info and time spent on the net or they may as well stay in the shop working or spend time with family.. The site has become what it has because of the take all, give none approach.There is a new generation of bikers and racers here, they know little really about bikes/mechanics of systems, talk ish like they know everything and can 60 foot faster on feet than on their bike cause they know it all. They could learn alot if they gave to those that help them learn, read a book every now and then, learned how systems operate instead of depending on a tuner/mechanic. Racers have lost their way, cause of cost not service being important..I'm not pointing fingers at anyone racer but collectively as racers, I give it to you on the real and never will be a sugar coater for anyone or any company. I give it to you raw and 100, everytime I speak..I feel at the end of a conversation there should be no confusion and our points should have gotten across the table. All the frontin, trying to be bigger than the next man, really has slowed folks down in life and on the track. they can't go faster and get ahead cause they trying to hold the next man down. Kill It, and lift your racer buddy up and all the animosity will go away, racing will become fun again and the sport will thrive and live on... See you in the next lane..

When we give, we shall recieve...Support those that support you..

.

Streetdrag, this is what Im talking bout! when I said dummy, I meant Im not experienced in this drag racing. I spend more time reading old posts from turbo/nitrous, and tunning performance, trying to learn as much as I can, but like busadominic said, not alot of recent info. I want to learn as much as possible, so keep this type of info coming.

[woody29526]

Great thread!! Thanks for the information. I purchased a used wet kit off this site and hadn't thought of inspecting the sonlenoids. I will disassemble them and determine if I they can be saved or new ones purchased instead. Thanks again.

[Hughesracing]

One other thing to look at is the plunger seat on the bottom of the plunger.Make sure it is not worn down or pitted as this will affect the sealing capabilities, you can also purchase a solenoid wrench for about 10$ to make tear downs easier.

[STREETDRAG]

Well I hope someone gained some knowledge of what to do. I contacted seller and he not willing to help me out on this and says he won't take back something I took apart. I asked him how he would feel if it was him buying a $10k motor and he got it taken apart just to see if all was there and it wasn't how would he feel..... Be careful with some of these guys on here selling junk...