12 replies to this topic

[nathansminis]

Model: mayfair
Year: 1992
Description of problem (please be as in depth as possible):

hi all,

ive changed the engine in my mini, for an earlier one. the wiring has been the only problem thus far.

i have changed from pre-engaged, to an inertia starter. i have the wing mounted solenoid. ive looked at all the topics in the search. everything is on the terminal closest to the engine. the feed to the started is on the other.

what should go on the little spade to the rear? i have a white wire, that goes to a spade, that then branches off with a little white wire. i assume these are coil and the little spade on the solenoid???

i did it this way and it wouldnt work. i pulled the piggy back spade off the coil, and it was smoking from the earth lead on the upper stabaliser.

where should these wires go, and what the hell caused it to smoke?

also, to everyone whose done this starter swap, did you lengthen any wires or am i doing it completely wrong.

help and possible photos appreciated!!

thanks in advance. nathan.

Edited by nathansminis, 15 November 2008 - 05:12 PM.

[nathansminis]

bump. any one help?

been reading through some more search finds, and i have replays. does this change things??

[syholl]

Did your car have ballasted ignition with the previous engine.....? This will affect how the solenoid is wired up....

[lrostoke]

The wires to the coil you can leave

All the brown wires and the positive feed from the battery need to go to one of the large terminals on the new solenoid.

The white/yellow and main cable from solenoid to starter go to the other large terminal on the solenoid.

The brown/red goes to the smaller spade connection that switches the solenoid on .

Make sure the solenoid is earthed as well, should be if you;ve secured it to the wing, we actually bolted ours to the flywheelhousing ,saved altering the length of the wires.

Did one the other week, if my bro-in-law comes round today I'll take a photo its his car we did it on

Edited by lrostoke, 16 November 2008 - 08:47 AM.

[nathansminis]

ok, cheers.

so there should be nothing on the large spade on the solenoid?

and if it is ballasted, how would i wire it up?

 solenoid.jpg   27K   3 downloads

this has been borrowed from another post, but it seems pretty fitting.

number 5 is a smaller spade connection.

1:
2: battery main. 2 ring connectors (browns etc)
3: cable to starter
4:
5:

this is the last bit i need so i can drive my car to college tomorrow. thank you!

[lrostoke]

Your basically trying to get two different wiring systems to work so bit of altering is needed.

Think you may have mixed some of the numbers and descriptions

No 3 thick cable to starter motor + white yellow (this is your 12v feed to the coil for starting) only live when starter is cranking

No 4 battery cable and all browns

No 5 is the one you need to put the brown/red wire to, if I remember right it probably had a big spade connector on it I seem to remember having to cut it off and replacing with a smaller one to fit the No 5 spade terminal

It was a couple of week ago now and not got car here, but pretty sure that was how it went.

That is for a ballasted system

[Ethel]

number 2 in your pic is where the operating wire from the ignition switch goes. There may well be another spade sticking out of the plastic on the opposite side of the solenoid that can be used for the direct supply to the ignition coil on ballasted systems. The big spade (1) is part of the the screw post (4) for connecting to the loom's, brown, live wires. The cable to the starter goes on 3.

The smoking earthing strap suggests a poor connection on that strap or a short on the supply at the starter, make sure the lead is only touching the screw terminal and not the starter's body.

[lrostoke]

Ethel you sure about that No 2 terminal I only ask because I couldn't remember which, but what made me say No 5 for the ignition wire brown/red was because I've got no female spades that small, and only remember using a standard size spade.

Also just checked my solenoid on my 1984 and the really small spade No 2 as a white/yellow going to it for the coil, and the other small spade No 5 as the ignition starter feed.

Edited by lrostoke, 16 November 2008 - 09:27 AM.

[nathansminis]

haha trust me to get it all in the wrong order, im still half asleep.

i do have all the browns and the battery live on 4, and the cable to the solenoid on 3.

the large connection i have on the large spade (1) will be changed to number 5.

and yellow from coil to go on the same as starter cable (3)

[Ethel]

Not all solenoids have the 2nd terminal, connecting the white/yellow to the starter motor post works just as well.

[nathansminis]

ok guys, thanks so much!!!! its turning over now which is one huge step forward.

now im having troubles getting it to run. its sparking, but i dont think its in the correct order.

ive spun my engine over so the timing marks on the flyweel are at 1/4. piston 1 is at TDC with the rockers 'on the rock'

what do i do now. my rotor arm isnt poiting towards cylinder 1. more like 3 o'clock as your looking at it.

where does it need to be? the clamp was loose and as the new engine went it it all moved and now it wont start.

could anyone help please?

[syholl]

Not all solenoids have the 2nd terminal, connecting the white/yellow to the starter motor post works just as well.

I'm not entirely sure about that. Once the car has started, the ballast bypass wire will have a potential of 6v, which will be permanently trying to turn the starter. Obviously it won't be enough to turn the starter over, but it will probaly draw plenty of current and overheat the wire....

Sy

[lrostoke]

Good point I hadn't actually connected the yellow/white wire to the starter post, but was going to.
I'll have to re-think that.

At the moment the cars starting fine without the extra 12volt coil connection.