Brown wire fix

[geno58]

I have read several articals on brown wire fix or running relays for head lights. They all seem to say to run a new 10 gauge wire from the battery all the way up front. My question is, can't you acomplish the same thing just by picking up power at the starter where the battery cable attaches to the solinoid?

[thefiatek]

You could just clean the connections at the ignition switch and the junction block and it will be fine, unless the JB is burnt, then replace it. Use dielectric grease.

[Zulu]

The brown wire fix is not a wire from the battery to the starter; the stock wire is sufficient there. The mod is to run a separate 10-gauge wire along side the current brown wire from the ignition switch to the starter. You can read all about it on Mirafiori: http://www.mirafiori.com/faq/content/bwfix/bwfix.htm

The brown-wire mod is recommended for all Spiders, as the stock system funnels are electrical current through one relatively small wire. On one of my cars the ignition end of the stock brown wire was burnt up from the overload. The brown wire mod will instantly brighten your lights, speed up your wipers, etc.

Zulu

[124JOE]

so its a second soliniod wire
do ya leave the other hooked up?

[joelbert2k]

It's not actually a solenoid wire. It just connects to the main electrical connection that happens to be part of the solenoid. The main function is to split the electrical current load now being carried by the brown wire.
If you don't have one yet you should get a copy of Brad Artigue's fantastic wiring diagrams for you model.
Check them out here http://www.artigue.com/fiat/wiring-diagrams

Joel

[geno58]

Yes, I have read several articals on the fix, my point is, instead of running a wire from the battery to any electrical up grade. You go to where the long positive battery cable hooks to the starter, and pick up your power source from there.

[digitech]

Yes, you can do that. That's where the "brown wire" originates anyway. Or, if your wire is of a sufficient gauge, you can run back to the battery with it - but a 10 gauge wire is not big enough to do that and besides, why use 10' of wire to go that route when you can use 5' to come off the starter instead? Another way would be to replace the brown wire entirely with something like an 8 gauge wire - but there would be some difficulties encountered attaching to the ignition terminal.

The "brown wire fix" is simply adding a wire in parallel to an exisiting wire to increase its effective gauge in order to lower its resistance and increase current available to the ignition switch. The original 10 gauge wire has proven, over time, to be a bit small. There are many ways to do this and as they say, the exercise is left up to the reader.