Really didn't want to ask but..BROWN WIRE SURGERY

[GDR76SPIDER]

I connected the 10 gauge wire to the 2nd 30 male connector on the back of the ignition switch, and then ran the wire back to the battery as per http://flumichigan.italiancarclub.com/T ... urgery.pdf
when i connected the battery back, the keys werent even in the ignition but the car was receiving power as if it was in the "run" position?

should i be connecting the wire to the starter then? but solenoid @ the starter is connected to the connection coming from the positive terminal of the battery though, so wouldn't i get the same result?

what am i doing wrong here?
should i connect to the other solenoid on the starter? (with the red wire)?

[Zulu]

The brown wire surgery is to reduce the load on the brown wire, which runs from the ignition switch to the starter. To accomplish this, run a similarly-gaged wire from the ignition switch to the starter.

I'm not really sure where this misinformation comes from about running it from the switch to the battery.

[GDR76SPIDER]

@ the starter there's two places i could connect it to. am i connecting to the solenoid with the connection coming from the battery? or the one with a red wire ?

[Zulu]

The stud where the battery wire connects. You will need a ring terminal. It is very important that you do NOT connect it where the red wire goes. The red wire gets current when the key is turned to start, clicks the solenoid, and turns the starter on.

[GDR76SPIDER]

ok awesome, thanks
will this give me the same result i got as connecting directly to the battery?
the key wasn't even in the ignition but the car was like it was in the run position...

[Zulu]

If it gives you that same result, you'll want to check the connection at the ignition switch. As I understand it, some switches have a spare terminal that works and others require splicing at the existing brown wire connection. On my 75 and 77's, there was a spare terminal on the switch.

[GDR76SPIDER]

ok great, thanks again! i'll check it out tomorrow

[Zulu]

You're very welcome. Good luck.

[GDR76SPIDER]

hmm so it seems like my ignition switch wiring isn't where it should be... i did a search and on a 75 coupe at least, blue and pink goes to 15 not 30. on mine its on the 30. if anyone has the correct order of the wiring @ the switch for a 76 spider it would be greatly appreciated.
thanks!

The order clock wise goes
30/1 is empty
16 -gray/green & black
30 - Brown wire
30 - Pink/Blue & Black
50 - Red wire
15 - Blue/ Blue & red

INT is in the middle, and he black wire is on the Left INT

[4uall]

this may help

http://forum.fiatspider.com/f08/viewtop ... =3&t=20761

http://forum.fiatspider.com/f08/viewtop ... =6&t=17065

[GDR76SPIDER]

thanks, i used that first links picture and think i got it. it didn't show all my wires but i think i got'r

[sandro]

Hi all,

I am a little confused here, i have gone therough all the posts on electrical itemas and many suggest the brown wire fix, you can simply attach direct to the battery then to the ignition switch on terminal 30. This post here says otherwise. Which is right?

I will explain what I am doing...long story

Originally i bought a CS....the body was too far gone so i stripped it and looked for a new shell. I found a DS shell that was in excellent condition so i have gone with that.
I want the car to look like a 1973 model with chrome bumpers so i am using all the parts from my CS, where possible to convert it, this includes the wiring loom. As you all know the DS has the battery in the trunk and the CS has it under the hood. So some mix and match on the wiring is needed, ie the power cable from the battery from the DS is needed to power up the CS loom. This is where it gets interesting.....the power cable comes with a brown and red wire for the DS. SO my quesiton is can I attach the brown wire straight from the battery using the DS power cable to the ignition switch or does it have to go to the starter? or do i simply do the brown wire fix as described in mirafiori.com where you put a brown wire from ignition switch to starter?

I did not use the DS loom as it was in bad condition and parts missing

confusing I know...sorry...

thanks

sandro

[westy64]

hmm so it seems like my ignition switch wiring isn't where it should be... i did a search and on a 75 coupe at least, blue and pink goes to 15 not 30. on mine its on the 30. if anyone has the correct order of the wiring @ the switch for a 76 spider it would be greatly appreciated.
thanks!

The order clock wise goes
30/1 is empty
16 -gray/green & black
30 - Brown wire
30 - Pink/Blue & Black
50 - Red wire
15 - Blue/ Blue & red

INT is in the middle, and he black wire is on the Left INT

@GDR76SPIDER,

can you tell how you wired it at the end ?
the link given by 4uall (and the picture included) does not show where to plug the grey and green/black wires on the ignition switch.
thank you

[aj81spider]

Hi Sandro,

Here are my thoughts (that and $1.25 should get you a cup of coffee). If you are putting the battery in the trunk you should use the big fat wire from the DS to the starter. This is carrying the current to run the starter. You want that going through a very large wire to minimize voltage drops.

On my 81 the power to the ignition switch comes off the starter (Brown wire) and alternator (Black Wire). All the power to the car's circuits comes through these wires. The purpose of the Brown wire fix is to counteract high resistance in the wires/connections that cause a voltage drop between the starter and ignition switch (and perhaps through the ignition switch connections) - as well as to distribute the power load across two terminals on the ignition switch. My theory is that where the brown wire fix has a big effect it is generally because the connectors between the ignition and starter have developed resistance and you could probably get just as good results by cleaning or replacing them.

If you are installing a complete new wiring system in your car I think a far better solution would be to put a set of power relays in and skip the ignition switch and brown wire fix altogether. Were I doing a rewire from the ground up I would run the big fat cable from the battery to the starter, then trigger a set of relays from the ignition switch to switch the cars power, routing the wires from the starter/alternator to the relays.

I'm actually debating doing this to my 81 right now.

If you are going to go with the Brown wire fix then my advice would be to run the second brown wire to the same place the first one is connected. This will insure that the current is distributed as close to 50-50 across the two wires as possible. I'd also try to keep them roughly the same length. That said - if the fix has an effect it probably means there is a fair amount of resistance in the original wire so the new one will be carrying most of the current - and the extra resistance caused by the extra length to the battery would be negligible (hows that for unhelpful!).

The more I think about it the more I would suggest you go with relays.

[RMadden]

I figured I'd throw my question in here instead of creating yet another "brown wire fix" topic. I've decided to run some #8 AWG from my ignition to starter to replace my current one, bigger is better right? , and I'm having a hard time finding a ring terminal that will fit the stud on the starter. Does anyone know what size it is?