8 replies to this topic

[89miniflame]

Hi guys

 

My mini (1275 electronic ignition-pre engaged) has been difficult to start and i have found its blowing the inline fuse from the solenoid for the starter relay. Can anyone confirm what rating the fuse for this circuit should be and where to start with fault tracing the wiring ?

 

I have already replaced the relay and cleaned the connections to it. And if anyone has a wiring diagram for this that would be great as the loom is taped up and looks impossible to trace back.

 

Thanks

[sledgehammer]

the 89 should have 2 relays (1 built into starter solenoid) - & one is on the n/s rear  O/S rear of the engine bay 

 

near the bonnet hinge - so trace between fuse block & relay

 

on a few I have seen the hinge sometimes rubs on the loom - so worth a look

 

 

 

edit sorry for any confusion it's the O/S rear not the n/s rear of the engine bay

 

I was thinking the wrong way around

Edited by sledgehammer, 27 June 2016 - 07:08 PM.

[89miniflame]

which circuit of the fuse box is the relay connected to ?

and what amp should the inline fuse from the solenoid be, i can't read anything on the old one.

 

the wiring to the relay is taped up with no obvious signs of damage.

 

thanks for the help so far

[cal844]

Cut the loom open is the only way to check

[KernowCooper]

Can you post up a picture of the inline fuse thats blowing and location

[89miniflame]

how do i upload pictures here ?

 

the inline fuse is right before the connection to terminal 30 on the relay, its the relay in the n/s bulkhead area.

[sledgehammer]

Sorry I've had to re-edit my post as I was thinking the wrong way around

 

it's the O/S rear - not the n/s rear of the engine bay

 

I was thinking from the front of the car - instead of the driving position

 

sorry for any confusion caused - I'm getting old

[KernowCooper]

Terminal 30 is the main feed into the relay and 87 is the feed out to the starter solenoid on the pre-engaged starter, if the fuse is blowing I would firstly there is no short to earth on either wire, and secondly the starter solenoid on a pre-engaged car pull about 12amps so the rule of thumb is current draw +30%, so the fuse minimum needs to be 15.6amps, so obviously a 15amp fuse wont be enough.

 

If you have checked out the wiring and confirmed there is no short to earth, then I would insert a 20amp fuse and retry, if its blowing the fuse then you need to see if the solenoid is not tired or sticky and drawing more current, you would do this with a DC clamp meter, as multimeters wont much current, or if you have access to a inline amp meter which can exceed the amps like the old Wilkinson Test Set everyone had when the cars were new.

[89miniflame]

Hi guys

 

I Cut the loom open and traced the wires, turns out that this particular relay looks to have been fitted by a previous owner for spot lamps i think (not sure) and wasn't wire up correctly. No spots are fitted anyway, looks to have blown the fuse as the connection on 87 went all the way to the front and was just plugged into another wire that brought it all the way back to an earth point so it had 2 earths   and one connection into what i think was the BL/W main beam circuit. And the live feed that was fused was connected to the threaded connection on the solenoid to this relay, so i just removed the lot.

 

Anyway with the loom open i traced form the big spade connection on the solenoid to the starter relay and the wires for this looked with no damage or signs of shorting. The relay did have very corroded conections so i put the new one in its place, not sure if the starting problems are sorted yet will wait and see.

 

Thanks for the help guys electrics are not my forte lol