AndyO Posted March 29, 2009 Share Posted March 29, 2009 Hi All, I'm andy - long time reader, short time poster! I'm hoping someone can help identify a wire and what I need to do with it! This red wire comes from the back of the starter (I think) and is just waving in the wind!! can anyone suggest where I need to re-attach it? Ta Andy 200tdi 90 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markyboy Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 Hi All,I'm andy - long time reader, short time poster! I'm hoping someone can help identify a wire and what I need to do with it! This red wire comes from the back of the starter (I think) and is just waving in the wind!! can anyone suggest where I need to re-attach it? Ta Andy 200tdi 90 Hi Andy, It looks like it's a broken earth wire, which should attach to the chassis. It threw me a bit at first because it's red, generally speaking red is used for battery positive supply. But I can see the supply to the starter attached to the starter solenoid. Pretty sure it's an earth wire, most starter motors have them because, technically, the engine is insulated from the chassis by the engine and gearbox mountings. However, there will also be an earth wire from the engine to the chassis somewhere, this is what's allowing your starter to continue functioning normally. The starter earth is essential though, to avoid starting problems. HTH. Mark. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ibexman Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 That nice chap Ralph will be along shortly ??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lars L Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 It must be some "aftermarket" one, nothing that was there from the factory IMHO. The earth lead necessary for the starter is a lot more sturdy and sits further front from the block to the chassis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zim Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 Hi Andy,It looks like it's a broken earth wire, which should attach to the chassis. It threw me a bit at first because it's red, generally speaking red is used for battery positive supply. But I can see the supply to the starter attached to the starter solenoid. Pretty sure it's an earth wire, most starter motors have them because, technically, the engine is insulated from the chassis by the engine and gearbox mountings. However, there will also be an earth wire from the engine to the chassis somewhere, this is what's allowing your starter to continue functioning normally. The starter earth is essential though, to avoid starting problems. HTH. Mark. errrrrr....... you contradict yourself in the above reply (or i'm misreading it). yes, your engine / gearbox is essentially isolated from your chassis, but you have a cable connecting your chassis (or battery negative) to your engine. the starter motor will take its earth through its casing. i don't know what a defender starter looks like from the back, so i can't see where that cable goes on but that is not how to get it an earth especially using such a small cable. (from what i can see, it is connected to the case, which in effect will be earth) does your car start ? i would remove that cable. Gordon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyO Posted March 30, 2009 Author Share Posted March 30, 2009 Hi Guys, Thanks for the replys. My car does start most of the time - however occasionally it will just not turn over, but then next turn of the key it starts fine. The red colour of the wire is what had me mostly confused!! as said - if it were an earth wire surely it would be black! I had the wing off a while ago (after a little oopsy!) so had a good look around but could not see where it may have attached too originally. Its not like it has a massive reach so there was only a small search area!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Chua Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 on a stock defender, the earth from the engine is derived from the factory earth cable from the gearbox to the chassis. engine -> gear box -> chassis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
western Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 on a stock defender, the earth from the engine is derived from the factory earth cable from the gearbox to the chassis.engine -> gear box -> chassis not quite see mt relpy below Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crwoody Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 It looks to me (from the second photo) like its attached to the main terminal, along with the battery positive wire, if thats the case it's most likely where a live feed has been taken off for some after market "add-on" of some sort. Best thing here would be to just remove it. Of course I could be speaking into my trousers here, in which case please ignore me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zim Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 It looks to me (from the second photo) like its attached to the main terminal, along with the battery positive wire, if thats the case it's most likely where a live feed has been taken off for some after market "add-on" of some sort.Best thing here would be to remove it. Of course I could be speaking into my trousers here, in which case please ignore me. i thought the 12v went in through the top of the starter ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
western Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 Hi All,I'm andy - long time reader, short time poster! I'm hoping someone can help identify a wire and what I need to do with it! This red wire comes from the back of the starter (I think) and is just waving in the wind!! can anyone suggest where I need to re-attach it? Ta Andy 200tdi 90 My 110 has the same engine, just been out to check it, there is no lead on that starter body bolt, so take it off & chuck in the nearest rubbish bin, looks like a previous owner has done a earth lead BODGE job. should be 2 earth leads on your vehicle 1 from from engine PAS pump/alternator bracket to left chassis part of left engine mounting & 1 from battery Neg terminal to main gearbox/transferbox joint. also a multi earth point on the bulkhead near the fuel filter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markyboy Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 errrrrr....... you contradict yourself in the above reply (or i'm misreading it).yes, your engine / gearbox is essentially isolated from your chassis, but you have a cable connecting your chassis (or battery negative) to your engine. the starter motor will take its earth through its casing. i don't know what a defender starter looks like from the back, so i can't see where that cable goes on but that is not how to get it an earth especially using such a small cable. (from what i can see, it is connected to the case, which in effect will be earth) does your car start ? i would remove that cable. Gordon Yeah i suppose I do contradict myself in a way, what I was trying to say was that it has to have an engine to chassis earth otherwise the engine wouldn't be earthed. I think it was fairly obvious what I was trying to say. However, you cannot rely on just having the starter earthing through the casing, it could lead to starting problems. New starters have an earth wire lug on them specifically for that purpose. As is pointed out elsewhere in the thread, the wire in the photo is not the original one and is a bit too small for the job it's intended for. Mark. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zim Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 New starters have an earth wire lug on them specifically for that purpose. i'm not doubting you, but which vehicles are like this ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markyboy Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 i'm not doubting you, but which vehicles are like this ? The 200 Tdi Disco engine I've just fitted into my defender. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KKMobile Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 I have just changed the starter motor on my 90 & it had that wire on the back going to the side if the engine as an extra earth wire!! The new starter did not have this fixing for the wire so removed it completly! Starts with no problems!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zim Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 The 200 Tdi Disco engine I've just fitted into my defender. cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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