starter motor (1 Viewer)

[bad_religion_au]

what test/ tests can i do to my 2F starter motor, i turn the key to start and nothing, not even a click.

it was starting strong and true untill the second last time i stopped during todays wheeling, then it hasn't worked since

 

[FLFJ40]

If you aren't even getting a click it is most likely one of two things. You aren't getting power to the starter seleniod or it is fried. You can jumper from the battery wire to the seleniod enegizer wire to find out if it is a juice problem. You can also jumper the selenoid to make the motor spin.

 

[fj40_rico]

This might be dumb but is your battery dead?

- Rico.

 

[77TLCFJ40]

If possible, remove the starter and take it to your local parts store and have them test it. Most stores can test a starter, alternator, battery and probably more. Price a rebuilt one to give them some hope. I have heard a FJ60 gear reduction starter is a great upgrade for a 40.

Does anyone know if a FJ62 starter is gear reduction? And will it plug and play in a 40?

Good Luck

 

[bad_religion_au]

my battery is 100% fine i know that much

 

[bad_religion_au]

just thinking out loud, these earth through the body of the starter to to the motor right? how can i test if maybe it's not earthing?

 

[paranoid56]

make sure your ground wire from the engine to the block/battery is good.

 

[bad_religion_au]

yeah it's good...

anyway i just arced from the big wire to the little one on the starter (the stop start wire and the "feed me the juice" wire)

it cranks well.. .where should i start lookin now?

 

[IDave]

Ignition wire broken, melted, etc, or the ignition itself could be screwed.

 

[bad_religion_au]

ok this is sending me in circles

first up i'll describe the circuit in case it's not factory

wire comes from the key barrel to a relay on the firewall, to an earth. we shal call this the "key circuit"

then the other circuit on the relay goes battery + to relay to starter. we shall call this the starter circuit

earth is good on starter, and on relay

when i bypass the relay on the starter circuit (i.e. pull the two terminals off and put them together) the starter works (heck i started my truck like this).

when i put a multimeter in the starter circuit and i turn the key, initially nothing happens, then i get (after about a second) i get 10.4 volts (does fluctuate a little) but the starter doesn't spin

when i put the multimeter on the key circuit i get nothing, then 4 volts then 8 volts then 11.5 volts, in the span of 1-1.5 seconds.

if i bypass the ground wire on the key circuit and go straight to the battery -ve, same thing happens (rulling out a bad earth)

i have tried 3 relays in the place of this one (one was my drivelight relay that i know works, one was brand new out of the packet)

i'm stumped.

 

[IDave]

What year is it we're talking about? I pulled out my Max Elery manual and realized I'd never be able to read the wiring diagrams without a microscope. ("Damn my eyes!" )

It looks like from the USA/Canada diagrams I have that before 79, there is no break in the BW wire that goes from the starter position on the key cylinder to the terminal on the starter. In years after that, there is a junction that sends a wire to the emmisions control computer. At no point does it ground out.

 

[bad_religion_au]

ok i don't think wiring is stock

it goes through the key (where it originates i don't know) switch, through the firewall to a relay. trips the relay circuit (switching the other circuit on the relay to on) and once its gone through the relay it grounds onto the firewall we'll call this the key circuit

the other cicuit goes battery + to relay to starter solenoid.

wierd. testing the voltage of the key circuit, it reads 11 volts, but no measureable current on the lowest setting of the multimeter (worked down to it). tested the voltage on the AC setting, with the dial turned to 200 (i assume volts) and it reads 2.2... so i assume it's reading 220 volts AC... is that bad

also wierd. ran a wire from battery + to relay to battery - to try to switch the relay and see if that's the issue... it didn't crank, then i tried again and it did, then it didn't crank again.

who votes i just wire in a 12v button, or douse it in petrol and burn it?

 

[bad_religion_au]

oh it's a 76 Victorian (australia) spec

 

[IDave]

So you guys have 24 volt systems? That must be why the relay? Or is that maybe an aussy wiring requirement for fire hazard or something. Anyway it sounds like a) ignition wire isn't tripping the relay or b) relay is bad.

 

[bad_religion_au]

it's a 12 volt system, 1. i think it's been rewired P.O. style, but 2 i was under the impression that aussie laws stated that you couldn't run high voltage applications through the firewall

anyway. i've tried 3 relays, one brand new, one that works with my drive lights (or did before i cut the front bar off) and hte one on it

i can hear the relay click sometimes, and still nothing...

 

[IDave]

Makes you think the power to the relay switch is the issue. If you power the switch directly off of the battery, does that make it start?

I would pull the ignition switch and inspect the wire that goes to the relay. Clean the contacts up real well, too. Maybe disconnect that wire and run a fresh wire around to the relay from the switch, and see if that works. It is likely, if that doesn't work, and the relay switch works fine off of the battery, then it is your switch that is worn, bad, etc.

It runs with the key on, correct? So the power to the ignition switch is probably not the issue. That power comes from the Black/Red Stripe wire that comes off of the wire between the alternator and the fuse box and goes to the AM terminal on the ignition switch.

 

[theo]

A starter solenoid IS a relay. In general (US, Japanese, British autos I've worked on) there is no need for a relay to run a relay. The starter solenoid gets power directly from the START position of the ignition switch.

I would remove the PO's relay completely and run the START wire directly to the solenoid. You could look at your wiring diagram first I suppose, but dimes to dollars that's the way it was built.

.02 of course

 

[IDave]

Weird thing is that ? variable power you seem to be getting off of the wire from the ignition switch. I think you'll have problems until that's straightened out.

 

[bad_religion_au]

yeah i'd say it's the variable power, and i'd say (at a guess) it was originally wired up to the starter solenoid, but when this variable power issue came up the P.O. threw the relay in there to get good 12V feed to the starter...

yes it runs with the key to ON. i've tried hotwiring the relay, to trigger the switch, it cranked one time out of 10 attempts...