starter trouble, solenoid

Over the weekend the start wouldn't work. So I pulled it off. I was going to replace it but, they were pretty expensive. 70.00-130.00 So I cleaned the starter and pulled the solenoid. The rear of the metal cylinder inside looked like the center had been arcing and was a little rough. I sanded the tiny rough place down and lubed it up and put it back together. Seems to work fine! I quess the question is, Will it hold up? Also, the waterpump went out right after it cranked it. It has been dripping for a week or so.

If you did a good job of cleaning it, there's at least a fair chance that it will go for a long time. There's usually a lot of meat on those contacts, so if the rest of the starter is fine and the brushes aren't worn out, it could go forever. In any case, you lose nothing by trying it. Usually when the solenoid goes like that you will be able to whack the starter with a stick or something to get going in an emergency, so I'd say try it and see how it lasts.

I had a Chevy LUV pickup that I used to whack with a hammer to unstick !!

I just replaced the solenoid and when I took off the old one, it looked fine. I honestly thought that with a cleanup and regreasing it would have been fine, but I went ahead and put in the new part and saved the old one for a spare...

There is no reason the old solenoid will not work as long as the coil inside it is not burnt out. Clean it up, put a light film of grease on the moving part and reassemble. You should be fine......... Good Luck.........