Broken starter wall between ring terminals - 1996 Volvo 850 GLT N/A

jragone · Post by **jragone** » 17 Apr 2026, 21:45

While removing one of the nuts on one of the original starter contacts, I ended up braking the Bakelite material wall between the two ring terminals. See the attached photo for the wall I’m describing. It looks like a clean break, and I have the broken piece. My understanding is this wall exists to prevent shorts between the two terminals on the starter. Would it be any issue to JB weld the piece back on?

I don’t want to take any electrical risks that could start a fire, especially as I’m not the only driver or this car. But if this piece exists just as mass to prevent a short, I feel like it should be okay to key it back into place.

Post by **jreed** » 18 Apr 2026, 06:15

I agree that it's to prevent shorts/arcing and would be comfortable with epoxying that piece back on.

Post by **scot850** » 18 Apr 2026, 07:06

+1 on that. It is exactly what I would do. You might want to use a temperature resistant epoxy on that.

Neil.

greg850r · Post by **greg850r** » 18 Apr 2026, 15:06

I would JB it back on too.

Post by **misha** » 18 Apr 2026, 16:07

I would just replace the solenoid...it's around 20€(at least in EU) and you will need to remove the starter anyway.

Post by **abscate** » 20 Apr 2026, 08:30

JB weld and move on. You don’t even have to colour match it unless you are OCD

Post by **scot850** » 20 Apr 2026, 08:32

Not color matched??!!

Neil.