e30 starter wiring help

[BFT_Boyle]

Delayed on the post. By "that terminal" I'm referring to the little one on the right if the solenoid. Not related to your post above.

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[BFT_Boyle]

The two relays are probably the unloader relays? On my 86 they are in the fuse/relay box.

Asides from the wires being crossed, or the wrong starter solenoid, I am stumped. Unless its something like a bad ground connection to the battery, which can be intermittent an only show up under high current loads (Like cranking a starter). But yeah I'm afraid I'm out of ideas.


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[theserj]

The two relays are probably the unloader relays? On my 86 they are in the fuse/relay box.

Asides from the wires being crossed, or the wrong starter solenoid, I am stumped. Unless its something like a bad ground connection to the battery, which can be intermittent an only show up under high current loads (Like cranking a starter). But yeah I'm afraid I'm out of ideas.


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I was wrong the red cable actually goes to something else. But yeah this is crazy I'm not sure what to do

[theserj]

Okay so I actually stumbled upon new info.

So it is not the two larger cables causing the problem, its actually the black cable on the bottom.

The car does not short out when I have that cable disconnected

[BFT_Boyle]

Ok so that one you have disconnected there should be the one that gets power when you have the key in the crank position. That is the "signal" wire to tell the starter to crank.

Does anything happen when you try to crank the engine? The starter shouldn't do anything.

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[theserj]

Ok so that one you have disconnected there should be the one that gets power when you have the key in the crank position. That is the "signal" wire to tell the starter to crank.

Does anything happen when you try to crank the engine? The starter shouldn't do anything.

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No with that cable disconnected, nothing happens when I turn the key. It doesn't short out, but it also doesn't crank.

[BFT_Boyle]

Ok that is good. The wires are not swapped then.

I couldn't help but notice that spade terminal is super close to the motor terminal. Are they touching?

This would connect the starter motor directly through your ignition switch (bad)



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[theserj]

Ok that is good. The wires are not swapped then.

I couldn't help but notice that spade terminal is super close to the motor terminal. Are they touching?

This would connect the starter motor directly through your ignition switch (bad)



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No it is not touching, that was a bad angle

[BFT_Boyle]

Oh dang! Was hoping that was it :/

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[BFT_Boyle]

Well any new revelations on this? Very curious to what the problem is.

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[theserj]

No I have not figured it out yet.

I did clean out the fuel injectors prior to this, could it be that I miswired something there?

[theserj]

***Problem Solved*** E30 Running

So I carefully inspected all the cables. As I mentioned, everything was in its proper place.

I had also cleaned the fuel injectors right before changing the starter, so I thought I may have screwed something up there.

I hate solving these issues because now I don't know where the problem was for anyone else to reference in the future.

So my guess is either of these two:

I rotated the part in the picture because I noticed it was loose.

I also unplugged the temp sensor and plugged it back in.

Thats all, then I went to start the car and no shortage at all. The problem has not returned

[theserj]

So I noticed that my alternator is not charging my battery.

Could this be related to the starter wiring?
IM thinking maybe the red and black cable on the bigger terminal?

[theserj]

**Update**

So I took apart the instrument cluster to tighten the gauges. After reinstalling the cluster, this problem returned.

So I went back and disconnected that same bottom terminal from the starter that was originally causing the battery to short, and guess what, the car does not short.

How weird is it that this problem returned after I worked around the ignition?

So now my problem is that the battery shorts out when I turn the key, AND the alternator is not charging the battery.

Both of these issues I am guessing are being caused by some wiring from the starter?

[theserj]

**Problem Solved**

Replaced the engine ground cable on the bottom, it was worn out. This solved my problem if anyone was curious.