Starter motor Wiring

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Vossie

Vossie

#thecrazycruiserman
10 Year
Joined
Sep 9, 2013
Threads
60
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1,496
Location
Harare, Zimbabwe
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Hi Mud o7

searched for a long while but came up empty.

so im trying to wire my starter motor for my new 12ht motor in my 45. it has two bolts and a wire. the wire i know goes to the solenoid and the start signal wire from the ignition switch goes to it.

now on the 2 bolts, one has a braided wire that goes into the starter itself and the other doesnt. which one should my main cable from my battery + go to?

i have tried both. if i go to the one without the braided cable, then when i try to start the solenoid fires but nothing happens. if i wire the battery cable to the bolt with the braided cable already, then as soon as i hook up the battery, with the key off, the starter motor spins but the solenoid doesnt fire.

any help will be greatly appreciated!
 
the main battery cable should go onto the solenoid on the other terminal to the one with the braided wire going into the starter motor, the solenoid is an electro magnet switch to connect the battery current into the starter motor when the key is turned to the start position. There should be heaps of generic diagrams on google images if that doesn't make sense to you

you may also need an earth strap from the starter or engine to the frame and onto the negative terminal of the battery to complete the circuit
 
sadam_husain said:
the main battery cable should go onto the solenoid on the other terminal to the one with the braided wire going into the starter motor, the solenoid is an electro magnet switch to connect the battery current into the starter motor when the key is turned to the start position. There should be heaps of generic diagrams on google images if that doesn't make sense to you

you may also need an earth strap from the starter or engine to the frame and onto the negative terminal of the battery to complete the circuit
Click to expand...

so if i understand correctly, the bolt with the braided cable going into the starter, thats where i connect the main battery cable? why does the starter spin though when i connect there and attach battery without touching the key?
 
Vossie said:
so if i understand correctly, the bolt with the braided cable going into the starter, thats where i connect the main battery cable? why does the starter spin though when i connect there and attach battery without touching the key?
Click to expand...


Nope


sadam_husain said:
the main battery cable should go onto the solenoid on the other terminal to the one with the braided wire going into the starter motor
Click to expand...
 
OK, so the other one. OK. Any idea why nothing happens when I turn the start key other than hearing the solenoid click? @sadam_husain
 
Screenshot_2016-11-18-07-04-53.webp


So the battery cable goes to the bolt where the yellow circle is?
 
I don't know what your specific starter motor looks like other than your pic showing one side of it but it should have a solenoid something like this pic, one side goes to the battery and the other side goes to into the starter motor and the spade terminal goes to the ign switch


solanoid.webp
 
OK, thanks for that @sadam_husain . Will take out the starter and have a better look at it. Doesn't help that it's so tight in there and can't really see anything
 
This is pretty simple, as most of the guys said. If you have a good 12v going to the solenoid terminal that doesn't have the braided wire and you hear the solenoid click then there aren't many things that could be wrong.

1. Is there a ground cable running from the starter to the frame? If not, start there by adding one. The current needs a path back to the battery negative.
2. It could be a bad solenoid. Put it in Neutral. Take a screwdriver and jump across the two terminals on the solenoid. It should spark and the starter should turn. If it does, then the problem is in the solenoid.
3. Could be a bad starter motor.

I think that the likelihood is in that order.
 
edwjmcgrath said:
This is pretty simple, as most of the guys said. If you have a good 12v going to the solenoid terminal that doesn't have the braided wire and you hear the solenoid click then there aren't many things that could be wrong.

1. Is there a ground cable running from the starter to the frame? If not, start there by adding one. The current needs a path back to the battery negative.
2. It could be a bad solenoid. Put it in Neutral. Take a screwdriver and jump across the two terminals on the solenoid. It should spark and the starter should turn. If it does, then the problem is in the solenoid.
3. Could be a bad starter motor.

I think that the likelihood is in that order.
Click to expand...

ok, thanks. spent the whole night disassembling the entire starter motor, cleaning it and then putting it all back together. any ideas where i should earth the starter?
 
Vossie said:
ok, thanks. spent the whole night disassembling the entire starter motor, cleaning it and then putting it all back together. any ideas where i should earth the starter?
Click to expand...
There should be a heavy gauge wire from the bolts that mount the starter to the engine to the frame near where the battery negative connects to the frame.

If the starter is out, you can test it out yourself with some jumper cables. Jumper from the starter mount flange to the battery negative with your black cable. Jumper from the battery positive to the solenoid terminal with the braid on it. The starter should turn. If it does, move that positive cable to the other solenoid terminal and then with a smaller wire, jumper from positive to the starter control terminal. The solenoid should click and the starter should turn.
 
edwjmcgrath said:
If the starter is out, you can test it out yourself with some jumper cables. Jumper from the starter mount flange to the battery negative with your black cable. Jumper from the battery positive to the solenoid terminal with the braid on it. The starter should turn. If it does, move that positive cable to the other solenoid terminal and then with a smaller wire, jumper from positive to the starter control terminal. The solenoid should click and the starter should turn.
Click to expand...

ok, did that. on the bench, starter works perfectly. but once on engine, it clicks like the solenoid is pushing the rod out, but the motor itself doesn't spin....
 
It doesn't take much juice to engage the solenoid but it does to turn the starter motor and the engine.
Try just taking a jumper cable and jump from the starter flange to the battery negative and try it.
If that fixes it, then you need to add a ground from the starter to the frame.

edit: Oh, and are you sure you've got a good ground cable on the battery?
 
Last edited:
edwjmcgrath said:
It doesn't take much juice to engage the solenoid but it does to turn the starter motor and the engine.
Try just taking a jumper cable and jump from the starter flange to the battery negative and try it.
If that fixes it, then you need to add a ground from the starter to the frame.

edit: Oh, and are you sure you've got a good ground cable on the battery?
Click to expand...

yup, made sure i had a great ground to battery, chassis and motor. but i think i found the problem...

i tried to rock the car to get the starter motor and flywheel to move a bit in the hopes that it would line up better. thats when i figured out the clutch was not engaging at all. damn. thats when it hit me that if the solenoid was firing, but not throwing the pin in all the way, then the contacts wouldnt close and the motor wouldnt spin, hence the click from the solenoid but no spinning.

so, all i can assume is that something has gone wrong in the bell housing between clutch and flywheel. so tonight im taking the engine and gear box out so that i can run through everything again and get it going as it should
 
Hi Vossie

Another kiwi here (just over the hill from Marty/Sadam too)

The solenoid first throws the drive cog out to engage with the ring-gear on your flywheel.

And if the drive cog is unable to complete that movement for any reason (such as a drive-cog/ring-gear mismatch that stops the teeth engaging) then the solenoid won't move sufficiently to perform its second function - which is to close the big electrical contacts that complete the electric circuit through the starter motor (to crank your engine).

So - Did that starter come with that motor? Could it be meant for a different engine or different ring-gear?

:beer:
 
lostmarbles said:
Hi Vossie

Another kiwi here (just over the hill from Marty/Sadam too)

The solenoid first throws the drive cog out to engage with the ring-gear on your flywheel.

And if the drive cog is unable to complete that movement for any reason (such as a drive-cog/ring-gear mismatch that stops the teeth engaging) then the solenoid won't move sufficiently to perform its second function - which is to close the big electrical contacts that complete the electric circuit through the starter motor (to crank your engine).

So - Did that starter come with that motor? Could it be meant for a different engine or different ring-gear?

:beer:
Click to expand...

Hwzt Tom, been a while. sorry to hear about your BJ40. a sad day im sure.

the starter came with the 12HT. but i have a very distinct feeling that something funny is going on at the flywheel. the fact that the starter is not engaging fully and not having clutch even after we tested it initially tells me something has gone wrong some where there. will know more when i pull the engine/trans and open it up
 
If the problem was just that the clutch was not engaging then the truck would try to jump forward. Has to be something else like a gear mismatch between the starter and the flywheel gear ring.
 
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