Do these units come uniquely wired for positive earth & negative earth?

 

But when all else fails : READ THE INSTRUCTIONS or contact the supplier.

 

The strange thing is that my yellow card says exactly the same and in the instructions there is nothing about the cable. It is not mentioned and the image in the instruction doesn't have the cable either.
The supplier is useless because it is a cheapest possible solution not knowing anything about the products they sell.
I suppose I could try and contact Powerlite on monday.

 

I think that would be a very good idea.

 

Instructions attached. The spade is mentioned.

 

Re those fitting instructions it sounds as if the starter link spade is being used as a bypass to resistor systems used in series with ignition coil feeds.
I have used resistor coil starting systems for years and normally use a relay to bypass the resistor while cranking.
That relay is wired to activate closed when power is fed to the starter motor.
This tab gives an option to just go straight to the input to the coil or use it as a signal to activate the bypass relay.

 

It sounds as if the OP was provided with a lousy instruction sheet with the unit. Peter's instructions are far more precise.

 

I suppose the logic is: provide a battery volt supply to a low impedance coil; give the customer a plug for it; attach it to the power in bolt to make sure it doesn't get lost. All seems a bit confusing for the customer and pointless as no doubt the whole lot arrives in a box.

 

That means I can take off the cable and put it on without any extra's like the old starter.

I was trying to fit it into place but is there a possibility that this starter doesn't fit or do I need to wiggle some more to get it into place?

 

It just needs a wiggle and it is a lot lighter to wiggle than the original. With the original I had to remove the oil pressure sender from the top of the oil filter housing to get it in and out so when I fitted the new high torque version my oil pressure sender was off which gave me more room to wiggle.

 

I have tried for an hour but I cannot get it in.
The part of the starter that is sticking out must be on the top towards the engine but the gas metal pipe is in the way along with a hose and another piece of metal.
Am I doing something wrong?

 

Try rotating the starter motor by 180 degrees. The obvious way might not be the correct way.
I have just been out to try and get a photo of mine in situ but you cannot see the starter from the top of the engine with the carbs in the way. This is the only photo I have showing the starter in situ taken from the top when I had the carbs off last year. Hopefully from this you can see the orientation of the starter motor.

Now that I look at the photo I can see that I do have the extra wire attached, (Its the red wire) from the main nut to the spade connector. I must have read the instructions when I fitted it several years ago. The red wire must have come in a separate plastic bag and not attached to the motor hence why it is not in the previous photos I have shown of the starter on the floor.

 

I'm not sure thats correct, it looks like a pre engaged type starter to me where you need to power the solenoid on the starter first and what they have done for this application is just linked it out so that when the cars solenolid applies power to the starter it pulls in the solenoid on the starter which then provides power to the motor.

Without the wire attached I suspect the motor will do nothing when power is applied to it, we used to do exactly the same when fitting MG Metro engines into minis as the minis has a seperate solenoid like the Jaguar and the Metro starter was a pre engaged type with its own internal solenoid so we added the link wire.

The other way to do this would be to join the starter motor wire at the solenoid directly to the main battery terminal (bolt to the same terminal) and extend the starter solenoid operating wire (white/red?) directly to the starter motor so that you operate the solenoid on the starter motor from the start button and use the cars solenoid as a junction box. That would be a lot of hassle for very little benefit and so I would just fit it as supplied.

 

That is why I suggested applying 12V to the tab. To activate the solenoid prior to cranking. So it engages & saves your ring gear. Every time you started an old Ford Cortina that had the throw in pinion it made a loud racket & I used to think there goes a bit more ring gear.

 

Refresh page for edit.

 

You have to apply 12V to the terminal otherwise the motor does nothing, its not the case that the small terminal is optional and without it the motor flies in like an old bendix type, thats not how it works.

In its original application the motor would always have a permanent 12V supply to the large terminal, the driver then presses the start button/turns the key, power is applied to the solenoid which engages the motor and also the solenoid then provides power to the motor in that order to reduce wear on the starter drive and ring gear.

The wiring arrangement as shown means that it will work correctly as intended as a pre engaged motor, if no power is applied to the small terminal then nothing will happen even if there is power to the large terminal.

 

I've read the instructions more carefully and I'm sure Homer has it right.

 

Yes exactly. That is why I don't understand how Cass' system works with nothing attached to the tab. (Lucar connector, spade, whatever you want to call it)

 

Read the whole thread! See my posts No 38 & 40 onward suggesting exactly this. Nothing new here.

 

I am getting a little bit confused now because it is getting too technical and I don't understand everything.
What I got from this is that I do need to connect the cable (or leave it like it came) and attach the cable of the starter on top of that cable.
Is that right?

Cass thank you for the image of the starter. I tried fitting it that way as well but then the part that was sticking out of the starter was hitting the motor block.
I'll try that again this week and try to make a picture from underneath the car to see if I am doing something wrong.