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MG MGB Technical - overdrive solenoid test

transmission out of car how do i check ststus of solenoid. and anything else to double check. thanks les
les

Les, Ground the body of the transmission to the negative terminal of a charged battery. Hook a line from the positive terminal to the solenoid with a switch wired in. Turn the switch on and you should hear the solenoid operate. Beyond that, there is not much you can do to test it.

Les
Les Bengtson

Depends on the OD type. Earlier D-type *does* make an audible click each time you power and depower it, later LH-type doesn't.

The D-type has a two-stage solenoid with a pull-in current of 17 amps and a hold current of 2 amps. It involves a switch which opens when the operating rod moves far enough to insert a 3/16" diameter rod through the hole in the lever and into a similar hole in the casing, at which point the current should have dropped to 2 amps. You can check the high current winding by wedging the lever so it can't move this far (only momentarily).

The LH-type uses a single-stage solenoid that only draws about 800mA.
Paul Hunt 2

I watched a guy test bench the overdrive on an MGB transmission. He radiator hose clamped a short piece of rubber hose to the input shaft. On the other end of the hose he inserted the chuck of a half inch electric hand drill and secured that with another radiator hose clamp.
Put it in 3rd gear. Turned on the drill. Watched the output shaft on the transmission while connecting juice to the solenoid.
Dana Wilson

Dana

The club member who does our transmission rebuilts uses a similar setup but instead of a drill, he uses a electric motor.that is mounted on a board that also mounts to the transmission.

With the the transmission running, in 4th, he engages the overdrive. He also uses this to bench test the OD oil pressure'

He runs all rebuilds for a couple of hours as a bench test.
BEC Cunha

This thread was discussed between 04/01/2007 and 05/01/2007

MG MGB Technical index

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