RV8 Starter Motor Wiring...

[BenBaron]

Hi guys,

need a little help with wiring up my starter.

from the dax loom I have a red/white lead and a yellow/white and a brown.

on the starter(coil) I have 1 connector that is a big bugger(presumably the live), 1 marked IGN and a chunk of solder marked stn.

from the instructions on the loom it says the red/white goes to ignition (presumably IGN)

afetr all that I get to my point

yellow/white says cold start circuit? where does that one go?

cheers

Ben

[SimonP]

Ben,

The thick brown goes to the big (M8 or M10) bolt terminal.

The two thin wires you have are easy to sort out.
Look on the "start" terminal of the ignition switch (or start button). One of those wires (White-red) will end up there. That works the solenoid on the starter.
This may be a smaller bolt terminal or larger spade connector. You should be able to measure a resistance of a few ohms to the casing of the starter motor.
This will be your "STA" terminal.

Next look on the coil positive terminal or on the ballast resistor.
The other wire (White-Yellow) should end up there.
This should be the smaller spade connector on the starter.
This will measure open-circuit (no connection).
This will be your "IGN" terminal.

Basically there's a twin relay built into the starter solenoid. It has a big chunky contact to switch the battery feed to the motor.
There's also a smaller contact that switches the battery feed directly to the ignition coil (bypasses the ballast resistor) whilst the starter is operating.

The purpose of this is that the battery voltage will be reduced because of the heavy load placed on it by the starter. (say down to 9 volts).
Ballasted coils are designed to run at about 6 volts. (when the engine is running, and the battery is about 14 volts.
As you can imagine, this would result in a weak spark if there's only 9 volts available, not 14.
Now, this little contact bypasses the ballast resistor and gives the coil 9 volts to work with. So, now you get an extra beefy spark to help the engine to start!

Note - If you are using an aftermarket electronic ignition, you may not need the white-yellow wire.
Also, if the starter is designed for an electronic ignition only, it may not have the ballast bypass connection for the white-yellow wire!

Simon.

[BenBaron]

Great Simon,

many thanx, all I need to do now is read it about 5 times to understand it!!! :tu

[SimonP]

Oops sorry!

Skip the bull then.

Here's info on one type of Lucas Starter. (I've added wire colours)
TERMINATIONS:
Ballast : 5 mm lucar blade *White-Yellow*
Battery : M8 x 1.25 *Brown*
Solenoid : ¼ "Lucar blade *White-Red*

Note that if there's a smaller (5mm) threaded stud, that will be the solenoid terminal (White-Red).
Not all starters (especially modern types) have the ballast connection for the white-yellow wire.


Simon

[BenBaron]

cheers buddy,

check on all that and it now makes sense to me, all wired up correctly


Now then another small problem I have with the ignition dufer on the column if you can help.
From what I remember I have brown(harness) to red (column)
white (harness) to black (column)
red/white (harness) to black/yellow (column)

seems right to me, but the wring instructions mention diff colours than that but think I figured it out.

now also from the column ignition I have extra wires that I have no Idea here they go..

1. yellow wire
2. black/yellow
3. connector with red wire and black wire

If you can help me with that one Simon your a star....


cheers

Ben

:}

[SimonP]

Ben,

If you have a multimeter or test lamp, it's easy to find out what all those connections do!

You have the main feed as red.
I'd go for these:
Pos. 1/2: Yellow. Power for radio and minor accessories (only connect if you need it)
Pos. 2: Black. Power for main accessories, like heater and wipers. (connect to white)
Pos. 2/3: Black-Yellow. Power for ignition system (connect to white, see below)
Pos. 3: Black-Red. Power for Starter Solenoid (connect to White-red)

The Black-Yellow on position 2/3 is provided because the accessories and radio feeds are disconnected when the key is in the start position. Makes life as easy as possible for the battery!
However, if your loom does not have separate ignition and accessory circuits, you will have to link the black-yellow to the black wire so that the car will start reliably! Bet that's fooled a few people!


The two pin connector could possibly be for ignition switch illumination, which I guess you won't be using!

Simon

[BenBaron]

Many Thanx for the help Simon,

its a good job somebody knows what they are doing!!!



:7 :7 :tu

[BenBaron]

yippe,

managed to get the engine turning over (not fired up though yet, need to plumb it up first).

Many thanx to ya Simon, still spent hours fiddling with the wires!

ended up as..

Red - Brown
White - Black
Red/White - Black/yellow.

On my starter the red/white went to the spade? terminal.
The smaller bolt terminal is not used? (that is marked as IGN) presumably that is my coldstart jobbie (the bypass you mentioned for the coil)

But it now engages the solenoid and turns it over yeah .... half way there now!
cheers again

Ben