Ignition Switch white connector

[BPFiat]

Having a problem with the connector at the igniotion switch on my 2001 FI Spyder. Turn the key and only the fuel pump whirrs. Nothing from ther starter. Looked at the white connector at the ignition and can see a brown discoloration what looks like a short. Do I have to replace the connector and would this hinder starting? I just installed a new battery.

I have a photo but don't know how to insert it!

[jimincalif]

Which color wire where the discoloration is?

The fuel pump should not start until the engine cranks, as it should be activated by the movement of the AFM flap, so there may be some prior owner "improvements" in your wiring.

Check and clean all connections at the starter. Also there are two inline connectors, one in the brown wire and one in the red wire going to the starter, behind the alternator. Open them up, clean them on both sides, make sure they are tight when they go back together. If still no go, jump the brown to red at the white connector to see if it cranks. If so then it could be the ignition switch.

I cleaned all the connections and solved 90% of my no-starts. Added a starter relay to reduce the current needed thru the ignition switch and have had no problems since.

[wikkid]

Jim,
Could you post a diagram of how you wired your relay for the starter? I assume you hooked up full 12V directly for power to the relay, and used the red wire to trigger the contact in the relay? Where did you pull the direct 12V from?

Theoretically, one could tap into the 12V power line for all circuits, not just the starter, and take all the heavy loading off the ignition switch. You would need to have relays for each. I would love to work this one out, but I am painfully slow at working out re-wiring issues (I don't want to mess them up).

And Jim, the whirring of the fuel pump on BPFiat's car is no doubt the priming that occurs before cranking.

BPFiat, insert a photo by uploading your photo(s) to photobucket or some other such site, then post a link to the photo in your post (insert the link between the [ Img ] and the [\ Img ] brackets that appear in your post when you click on the Img tab at the top line of your posting box). Be sure the photo is not sized too big to view online (can be done on photobucket resizing).

A picture of the burned white connector would help. Is it fried at any one specific wire terminal?

Was the car starting before the new battery?

I would check your wires at the starter per Jim, but if they are ok, it could be your starter solenoid, if there is no sound of the "kerchunk" of the starter solenoid clicking in to engage the starter to crank the engine.

[jimincalif]

I don't have a diagram, but I will describe the relay. It is a 40A 12v relay from Radio Shack.

I took the current red wire that goes from the ignition switch to the starter and routed it to the low current side of the relay, grounded the other low current terminal.

I put a ring terminal on one end of a 12 ga wire, connected it to the positive lug on the starter, then up to the relay. Another 12 ga wire from the relay back down to the solenoid connection on the starter (where the red wire used to connect). That's it, very simple, no modifications needed to the existing wiring harness.

[spider2081]

Another way to connect relay, although electrically accomplishes the same thing.
First for disconnect the cars battery as the connection to the starter and alternator are hot as long as it is connected.
I connect the relay 12v hot all the time to the alternator output wire. The alternator output is connected to the battery terminal on the starter so they are electrically the same. Near the back of the alternator there is a red wire single terminal connector. This red wire connector is the source of many intermittent starter problems. One of the terminals is the wire from the ignition switch to the starter for the solenoid. The other side of the single terminal is the wire connected to the starter solenoid. I connect the red wire from the ignition switch to one side of the relay coil and the other side of the relay coil to ground. The other red wire from the solenoid connects to the normally open contact on the relay. The 12v hot all the time connects to the movable contact on the relay.
The reasons I connect the relay this way are:
The alternator output terminal is a little easier to work with than the starter battery terminal simply because of location. Also the ring terminal required is smaller on the alternator.
It is common for Fiat owners to eliminate the single push terminal in the red wire because it is so troublesome. Cutting it out and making permanent splices to the relay simply eliminates a possible problem.
I think adding a starter relay is well worth the time and money.

[BPFiat]

Wikkid:

The burned terminal is a Blue wire comming from who knows where under the dash to the white connector. The corresponding connector on the ignition side is a Red wire. The interesting thing is the Blue wire has a wire spliced onto it by a pervious electrical engineer. It has an inline fuse. Not sure where it goes but will have to track it down. I'm working on uploading images to Photobucket and will post once I figure it out. Will I have to cut a used white connector from a donor car any cut out the damaged one?

[BPFiat]

Wikkid:

I bought the car recently and the car started. Had problems starting when the outside temp was hot. Had to cool down before the car would start. Then nothing. Thought the batter was shot, so I bought a new one. Still no change.

[jimincalif]

I believe the blue wire is for the headlights. As wired from the factory full headlight current goes thru the ignition, not one of Fiat's better ideas. My connector was slightly scorched there as well. The good news, easy fix with headlight relays. The bad news, doesn't fix the starter circuit.

[jimincalif]

Another way to connect relay, although electrically accomplishes the same thing.
First for disconnect the cars battery as the connection to the starter and alternator are hot as long as it is connected.
I connect the relay 12v hot all the time to the alternator output wire.

Agree electrically it is the same. There is a wire that runs from the alternator output post to the starter post, where the heavy cable from the battery is connected. I chose to go to the starter terminal to minimize the number of connections in the starter circuit. This way the wire between the alternator and starter post is not in the starter circuit.

[wikkid]

BPFiat: The red wire from the ignition switch to the white connector is used for only one thing: to send an activation charge to the starter solenoid. Not sure what color wire would usually go from white connector onward to starter - especially if someone has worked on the car's electical system. The best wiring diagrams are artigue diagrams, available as free pdf's on his site: http://www.artigue.com/?page_id=58

The relay setups discussed above would be a great improvement, and take a huge load off the ignition switch, which otherwise has all car current running through it. No wonder they fail!(But they can be re-built): http://www.mirafiori.com/faq/content/switch/index.html

Not sure about the inline fuse - sounds like someone might not have really solved any problem, just tried something to see if it would help or maybe prevent something.

Doing an electrical connector "tune-up/overhaul" is worth considering, for lots of stuff. See:

http://mirafiori.com/faq/content/electr ... estore.htm.