Starter Issues HELP!!!!

[Nacks]

Hi,

no worries, glad to be able to help.

I haven't been around too much lately sorry. I presume, from your last post, that it all went well?

[dogma420]

Nacks,

Is this another 'upgrade' that anyone should do to their old 240z? Kinda like doing the headlight relay to bypass all the voltage going through the light switch?

Let us all know.

[Arne]

Nacks,

Is this another 'upgrade' that anyone should do to their old 240z? Kinda like doing the headlight relay to bypass all the voltage going through the light switch?

Let us all know.

Since it fixed the original poster's problem, it was probably an OK thing to do in this case. But for most cars I doubt that this would be necessary. Because the full current to the starter does not go through the ignition switch anyway - the switch sends a much smaller current signal to the solenoid, which does the heavy lifting.

In fact, I would say that - unlike the headlight relays - this one would only be necessary on cars that are having a problem sending enough current to trigger the solenoid.

Also, I'm still betting that the original source of the problem is bad contacts in the electrical portion of the ignition switch itself, not the wiring. The contacts in the switch are probably not able to pass enough current to reliably trigger the solenoid. One solution is to use an additional relay, as was done. But I strongly suspect that replacing the electrical part of the switch would have fixed the problem also.

The problem with using an additional relay to "cure" a problem with the contacts in the switch is that if the contacts continue to get worse, eventually they won't be able to send enough current to trigger the relay either, and then the no-start problem will return.

[Nacks]

I don't recommend that everyone do this for their old car unless they're already having trouble with the starter circuit and they can prove, through diagnosis, that a relay will cure the problem.

It was a simple solution in this particular case that stopped Spieg16 from selling his car. That's a pretty good result I reckon.

Sure, the ignition switch might have been the problem but people who've come to me with car trouble, when faced with either:

a) replacement of a relatively expensive component that MIGHT fix the problem or paying for the labour to find and replace the cause, or

fitting a much cheaper alternative that WILL fix the problem and stop it from happening again,

will go for fitting the starter relay every time. They just want their car to work.

I fitted a starter relay to my car about 8 years ago and it's still going strong. The relay draws about 0.5 of an amp instead of the normal 20-30amps.

I don't expect to have starter problems caused by voltage drop or ignition switch, as my ignition switch has about 2% the load through the Start contacts as it did prior to fitting the relay.

I've also fitted a relay to my thermo fans, and two to my headlight circuit and EFI fuel pump circuit. I love them. They beat the hell out of wasting my time locating something that's probably caused by old age anyway. Plus they take the load off expensive components or allow me to fit components that weren't around when my car was made eg. 100/90watt quartz halogen headlights and twin thermos.

I've seen so many posts that suggest replacing an expensive component with little or no consideration given to troubleshooting the fault, ESPECIALLY with regard to electrical problems eg. "my battery is going flat" and responses like "replace the alternator/regulator/fusebox/battery/insert-expensive-part-here" with only a basic description of the problem. All I can suggest is to get a second opinion before you spend the money on something that may not fix the problem.

Please don't misunderstand this post. I'm absolutely not interested in flaming anyone, trying to win a pissing contest, pointing the finger or trying to provoke an argument, I've just lost count of the number of people who've said to me stuff like "my battery went flat so I replaced it, then it went flat again, what do I do now?" without talking to me first. I simply just like helping people and if I can contribute, I will. As does everyone else I hasten to add.

Nacks