My New (old) rx7

[marked]

I wasn't very clear below - the main (larger) cable is fine, it's the other cable that goes to the solenoid I'm talking about.

Cheers

Right so, Hello nice weather! Time to have another pop at my project..

I've replaced the starter and connected back up the main cable, however the similar other cable on the old starter was completely worn, and just fell to pieces when I tried to touch it.

It doesn't quite seem to fit though, I have removed the plastic part which shows the frayed wires (see pic) however it looks to me like this should actually be a sort of "in between" short piece which goes between this plastic clip and a "male" wire which plugs in to the smaller wire coming out of the starter? There is also another plug in the same area (not plugged in) which is black and yellow, any ideas what this is? or should be plugged in to?

http://imgur.com/9bW4Pio

Cheers!

the series 3 starter has 2 small wires plus the main heavy wire going to it

[ian65]

You're right, the frayed wire you have is just a short connecting wire, you can make one up of your own....
it connects like this....



the black and yellow wire goes onto the small spade connector on the solenoid that you can see in the photo....
on the starter loom which goes from the engine bay to the starter, there are 3 wires, the large heavy cable then the yellow and black wire plus another light gauge wire which goes onto that connector wire... hope that all makes sense?

[marked]

Thanks Ian,

How would I go about making this? If you could give me a quick howto that would be much appreciated.

Otherwise is it a standard part that I could get from somewhere?

The wire coming off the solenoid on my starter doesn't look the same as in your picture though, it just looks like a push in and doesn't have any plastic clip. do I need to get a clip for that end also?

You're right, the frayed wire you have is just a short connecting wire, you can make one up of your own....
it connects like this....

the black and yellow wire goes onto the small spade connector on the solenoid that you can see in the photo....
on the starter loom which goes from the engine bay to the starter, there are 3 wires, the large heavy cable then the yellow and black wire plus another light gauge wire which goes onto that connector wire... hope that all makes sense?

[marked]

OK.. So I'm very slow, but I think I know now that the solenoid wire is standard and will go in manually without all the clips required.. I'm going to use an 18AWG wire to connect this up and see how I get on!

Thanks Ian,

How would I go about making this? If you could give me a quick howto that would be much appreciated.

Otherwise is it a standard part that I could get from somewhere?

The wire coming off the solenoid on my starter doesn't look the same as in your picture though, it just looks like a push in and doesn't have any plastic clip. do I need to get a clip for that end also?

You're right, the frayed wire you have is just a short connecting wire, you can make one up of your own....
it connects like this....

the black and yellow wire goes onto the small spade connector on the solenoid that you can see in the photo....
on the starter loom which goes from the engine bay to the starter, there are 3 wires, the large heavy cable then the yellow and black wire plus another light gauge wire which goes onto that connector wire... hope that all makes sense?

[codge]

The middle sized short wire in Ian's photo is the one you're going to replace yes?

The ends on that wire (push connector and ring terminal) are applied by crimping tool in the factory.
If you're not electrical the ring connection will give you trouble. Without the ring lug you'll have a job making the wire stay in place. Something called a Ross Courtney washer would do it but where to get one.
Also do you intend to cut out the push connector altogether, using some type of aftermarket connector?

Maybe take the old bits & Ian's pic to an auto electrician and ask him to make you one up?

Hope that helps

Codge.

[marked]

Hi Codge,

The replacement starter I have has that cable in place, but it doesn't have a push connector like in the picture. It looks like it just has what would be inside the push connector

I thought that there was supposed to be another (very) short cable in between that and the female connector in the car? Is that not the case?

It doesn't look like the cable attached to the starter (the one in the pic) is long enough to reach all the way to that connector, even if it had the push connector on the end. Does the push connector have a name and can they be purchased from somewhere?

I was planning on just using a bit of 18AWG wire taken from a PC molex connector (I build PC's), stripping the ends off so the wire is exposed then connecting it to the push connector I have and and the starter end then just wrapping it with some insulation tape to hold it. Will that not work?

Cheers,
Mark

The middle sized short wire in Ian's photo is the one you're going to replace yes?

The ends on that wire (push connector and ring terminal) are applied by crimping tool in the factory.
If you're not electrical the ring connection will give you trouble. Without the ring lug you'll have a job making the wire stay in place. Something called a Ross Courtney washer would do it but where to get one.
Also do you intend to cut out the push connector altogether, using some type of aftermarket connector?

Maybe take the old bits & Ian's pic to an auto electrician and ask him to make you one up?

Hope that helps

Codge.

[codge]

Have you got a pair of good reasonably heavy crimp pliers though? Because then you can make longer or shorter wires to suit.
Without the crimp tool, the correct sized flexible cable and fresh lugs that you want to be crimped I don't see how you're going to do it easily.
(You could do it with a good soldering iron as well).

If you can do it then fine, no probs but I'm not clear how up to speed you are with auto work.

[marked]

I'm not up to speed at all, frankly I am useless at autowork!! I want to do as much as possible myself though, as I see that as part of the learning process.

I don't have any crimp pliers at the moment, I was just planning on pushing it in and securing it with the insulation tape. I'm happy to buy any tools I need, if you have advice about what would be required that would be appreciated. Also if you could advise on what lugs I should use, and if there is a specific type of cable I should be using?

Cheers

Have you got a pair of good reasonably heavy crimp pliers though? Because then you can make longer or shorter wires to suit.
Without the crimp tool, the correct sized flexible cable and fresh lugs that you want to be crimped I don't see how you're going to do it easily.
(You could do it with a good soldering iron as well).

If you can do it then fine, no probs but I'm not clear how up to speed you are with auto work.

[marked]

OK, I have done a bit of research and bought a blue male spade (to connect to the female spade on the replacement starter), a blue female spade (to go in to the male spade which has the plastic connector on it from the existing supply), and some crimpers.

If this doesn't sound sane, please let me know!

Cheers

[codge]

Allow for a few practice attempts on this size cable first. This will mean buying more lugs as they're only one shot items.
You're working on a low voltage system on a car (12V DC), but usually much higher currents than say within a PC. Consequently the crimp lug has to be squidged up really tight and neat, otherwise the connection will burn out.

If you've got blue lugs it sounds like they're pre-insulated, which is OK. The crimp tool sqidges the blue insulation as well, just not as tight as the copper tube part.
Make sure you're using flexible cable, not stranded (flex is many fine wires which will 'yeh - flex' rather than stranded i.e coarse wires, which will fracture).

You don't mention the ring terminal? are you able to reuse this bit?

Codge.