Some Questions About The Starter Motor

[humanz 3]

Ok, I know one cable for the starter motor runs from the battery to the motor (a big thick cable). But there's another cable (thinner, with a typical female spade connection at the starter motor end) attached to my old starter motor. What's the name of this thinner cable, where does it lead, and where on the motor pictured below does the second cable connect to? The motor pictured below doesn't have a spade terminal, so I figured I'd have to put a ring terminal on the end.

 

 

I'm inclined to believe that the thin cable should attach to the smallest of the three nuts/bolts, and the positive cable from the battery would go to the top bolt/nut that's partially undone.

[omega 82]

yes you right

battery lead to the big nut

small lead to the solonoid

[mickie 3]

the smaller connection goes to the ignition switch, when you turn the key all the way it sends its live to the starter

[humanz 3]

Cheers. Got it all wired up and fitted now. Thanks. Now I need to find the time to refit all the things I had to remove to get access to the old starter.

[humanz 3]

Got everything refitted. Reconnected the battery, car lights worked, clock worked but car wouldn't start. Tried to jumpstart it with my other car. Car still wouldn't start. I checked the voltage at the battery and my multimeter is reading about 12V. When I turn the key, the starter makes a loud click (sounds much stronger than the old one) but the engine does not turn over. Not even slowly. Is it likely that I've wired the starter incorrectly? Could the battery be reading 12V but still not be able to start the car? Might push starting work if jumpstarting by a second car didnt work? Need to figure out if it's likely that the starter motor is not working.

 

Note: Seems a bit odd so I will mention it here...the starter motor is sat at a different angle to the large body motor that was on the car previously. More rotated towards the radiator rather than upright like the previous model. Not sure if that could be a clue to why the engine isn't turning over. The little gears on both motors seemed identical to my inexperienced eyes.

 

Where do I go from here?

[pug309twin40s 1]

it could be the 2nd hand starter you have fitted is knackered!

 

eaisest thing to test the starter would be to run a wire from the little nut on soleniod and the other end of wire touch on the positive of the battery, if the engine turns over then starter is fine, if not then starter is dead.

 

if the starter turned the engine over with this wire then the fault is with the wiring from ignition switch to the starter.

[Henry Yorke 269 3 Cars]

As above. Try rocking the car in gear to make sure the starter gears are engaged correctly, though I very much doubt this is the problem

[humanz 3]

As above. Try rocking the car in gear to make sure the starter gears are engaged correctly, though I very much doubt this is the problem

 

Was wondering if that were possible. Will give it a try before I undo all my hardwork and remove the starter. Thanks for all the help. Might have to start a new search for another starter. Depressing.

[jackherer 543]

It is probably a wiring issue, try this suggestion:

 

eaisest thing to test the starter would be to run a wire from the little nut on soleniod and the other end of wire touch on the positive of the battery, if the engine turns over then starter is fine, if not then starter is dead.

 

...but you probably have a spade connector rather than a stud and nut.

[humanz 3]

..but you probably have a spade connector rather than a stud and nut.

 

I replaced the spade connector with a ring connector. Will try to power the motor directly from the battery this evening if time allows.

[Anthony 1,003]

Note: Seems a bit odd so I will mention it here...the starter motor is sat at a different angle to the large body motor that was on the car previously. More rotated towards the radiator rather than upright like the previous model. Not sure if that could be a clue to why the engine isn't turning over. The little gears on both motors seemed identical to my inexperienced eyes.

It's an XU10J4 (405/306 S16) starter motor, which has the solenoid in a different position relative to the body. Makes no odds when fitted to any other XU engine, but needed for the XU10J4's due to the AVAC inlet system that doesn't give sufficient clearance for a normal XU starter.

 

Remove it and put some jump leads on it - negative to the starter body, and positive to the 13mm nut. Touch positive to the solenoid to engage the starter, and it will spin over fine (or atleast it did when I tested it several times prior to sending it!). Worth cleaning up the contacts a little as well while it's off (assuming you didn't prior to fitting) as they look a little corroded in the picture further up the page which won't help.

 

12v is a little on the low side btw - really should be around 12.5-12.7v for a healthy, charged battery. Still, a jump start should have solved that.

[humanz 3]

Update: it works! Car started.

 

I spent the whole day on this. Got starter off and cleaned up all the nuts and contacts etc. Refitted the starter. Swapped the cable from the battery positive to starter and alternator with a spare cable I had. Swapped the positive terminal on the battery cable with a newer one I had meant to put on for awhile. Refitted the starter. This time when tightening the bottom bolt, I heard a sound like the teeth engaging and the swung forward slightly (neither happened the first time I installed the starter). Refitted all the pieces I had to remove to get to the starter. Reconnected the battery. Turned the ignition and the engine started straight away.

 

So not sure what the problem was but I figure the teeth hadn't engaged the first time. I had tried rocking the car in gear but it wouldn't budge. So thanks to everyone for their help. Now I've just got to sort out my grounding issues. Cheers!