Club 80-90 Forums

Safety note: petrol hose (near filter) passing through bulkhead panel needs a grommet or it will chafe and you will end up with no van!

silverbullet wrote:Earth back to body is important for coil or a weak spark will result! Heavy earth direct from battery to block is best for cranking and will give max current to starter.
We may be homing in on the problem...

True but at this stage we dont know that smaller cable doesnt go to the body,
im also wondering how much volt drop there is for the ignition pos to the front and back, on a petrol van batt is up front, hence my suggestion to add a fused pos to the coil as a temporary test.

Here is a labelled pic from what I have worked out (tracing wires along)


Full sized for better clarity - http://s13.postimg.org/8aspy9hnb/wiring_issues.jpg

The Green sheathed wire labelled "Wire from back of Alternator" is the one I had queries about. Tracing it around if joins on to a neutral wire that then goes into the sleeve going to the top Right box in engine bay (fuse box?).
The +ve is not connected to anything. See pic below;

Note the yellow sleeve on the right to ID the yellow sleeve on left in following photo.



Am also thinking of cleaning up the terminal connectors.

Will also check wiring on solenoid of starter motor is ok - had issues with bad wiring to the solenoid connectors on another vehicle.

itchyfeet wrote:

silverbullet wrote:Earth back to body is important for coil or a weak spark will result! Heavy earth direct from battery to block is best for cranking and will give max current to starter.
We may be homing in on the problem...

True but at this stage we dont know that smaller cable doesnt go to the body,
im also wondering how much volt drop there is for the ignition pos to the front and back, on a petrol van batt is up front, hence my suggestion to add a fused pos to the coil as a temporary test.

Thank you for reminding me of this

-ve wire from solenoid is loose in its crimp. Will re-crimp it & reattach

MarrV wrote:-ve wire from solenoid is loose in its crimp. Will re-crimp it & reattach

MarrV, you have referred to a -ve wire earlier, from the alternator, (there isn't one), now you refer to a -ve wire from the solenoid, there is not one of those either. Both devices get their -ve by being earthed via their cases to the case of the engine = a bit confused here

ghost123uk wrote:

MarrV wrote:-ve wire from solenoid is loose in its crimp. Will re-crimp it & reattach

MarrV, you have referred to a -ve wire earlier, from the alternator, (there isn't one), now you refer to a -ve wire from the solenoid, there is not one of those either. Both devices get their -ve by being earthed via their cases to the case of the engine = a bit confused here

Sorry, most likely my head being muddled up atm.

The wire coming of the alternator which is labelled in the above pics is a mystery to me

The are two wires coming off the solenoid. The big red one is obviously the +ve. The is a second (black) wire coming off. This second wire is the one that is loose. I think GCSE physics drilled it in to me red = +ve black = -ve & I naturally make that assumption, when I really should stop making any!

That thin wire will be the "trigger" wire. The one that comes from the ignition switch to make the solenoid (just a big relay really) work when you go to crank the motor on the key. They often require attention. The symptoms are no life at all, not even a click, when you go to start the engine.

MarrV wrote: I think GCSE physics drilled it in to me red = +ve and black = -ve

Aye, and in the world of UK 240V mains, brown is live, but in the world of T25s (and most other vehicles), brown is earth (and therefore -ve)

ghost123uk wrote:

MarrV wrote: I think GCSE physics drilled it in to me red = +ve and black = -ve

Aye, and in the world of UK 240V mains, brown is live, but in the world of T25s (and most other vehicles), brown is earth (and therefore -ve)

Sorry for the confusion. As for this other wire coming of the alternator, not got a clue about that.

Going to add in the temp 15a fused wire as suggested above by itchyfeet & put a grommet on the fuel line. Then try again with a battery that would have been on charge for 22 or so hours at that point (no not trickle )

Tried adding a 15a fused wire from batt +ve to coil - she did not fire, only turned over on starter motor

Tried without it & that clunk noise but nothing more

3rd time no electric or anything - taken battery out & charger is saying its low again

tells me that battery is shagged out

15 pages. Got to be a new record

ghost123uk wrote:

MarrV wrote: I think GCSE physics drilled it in to me red = +ve and black = -ve

Aye, and in the world of UK 240V mains, brown is live, but in the world of T25s (and most other vehicles), brown is earth (and therefore -ve)

DIN wiring colours, not BS/Joe Lucas...

MarrV wrote:Tried adding a 15a fused wire from batt +ve to coil - she did not fire, only turned over on starter motor

Tried without it & that clunk noise but nothing more

3rd time no electric or anything - taken battery out & charger is saying its low again

Are you still spraying something into the carb whilst turning it over? It would be fab to hear that this van successfully ran for a while even if you were spraying blooming funny fuel into it!