If you have a good old fashioned auto electrician in your town I would suggest talking to him. Given the car is fairly old the stater motor may need new brushes and it is always possible it will need a complete re-build. He should also be able to identify and replace the starter relay. The starter motor will have a brand and model ID stamped on it and the relay will probably be the same brand.
A solenoid is a combination relay and a device that moves a sliding iron core with the creation of a magnetic field to throw the starter gear out. It would always live on top of the starter motor itself and looks like a cylinder that rides piggyback on top of the starter motor. Some starter motors use a different system which throws the gear out when the starter motor starts to spin. They would have a separate relay.
Yes, mine is one with separate solenoid on the fire wall with no piggy back on the starter itself.
I'm trying desparately to deal with this myself and not having to resort to professional help!!
As I explained to
when I bought the vehicle...." don't worry dear, it will be very cheap to run as I will be able to do all the servicing etc."
Replacing the solenoid seems a good place to start as not expensive and it will then point to the starter motor if problem persists (will be interesting to see how I cope with that one!!)
Neil.
