When we my brother and I were wiring the new starter to my car the other day, I think we had it right but the starter wasn't cranking but I had power to the dash and all that, but then we moved the wires around and got nothing, no volt reading or any of that. So what did we do wrong, and how should it be wired, any help or maybe a diagram would be appreciated, I looked at haynes but it didn't explain it well enough.
Thanks
Jon
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"Put a marine in a padded room with two ball bearings and he will loose one and break the other"

the last starter i messed with only had 2 wires, a 12v+ and a ground, so i cant really help u unless the fiero has one like this as well

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A nuisance, who sent, you sent for me?


Open Manifold Pushrod 3.4, Lunati Camshaft, 19# Injectors, ZR-1 Cowl Induction Hood,
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Um the fiero starter has four wires and three possible posts for them to go to. If that helps any.

That's wierd...

Every one I've seen has a big one and a small one. Pretty simple.

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"Its a Fiero thing... Heck, even I don't understand!"

Timothy E. Smith
1986 SE V6
1984 Coupe
1996 Ford Probe GT
1999 Chevrolet Silverado Z71
1975 Chevrolet ElCamino SS

Every one I've worked on has had two wires......a big hot one from the battery and a small on from the ign switch. That's all you should need.

It's possible that some came with a fuseable line cluster that would also attach to the big post......but it would be obvious......usually 3 or four fairly large wires (red) clustered together and most often on the same terminal, but I've never seen one like that.

See if you have 12v at the small wire when you turn the ign switch to the start position? You should....it';s what engages the starter solenoid to make the starter work. Make sure the big wire to the battery is tight ( be careful when tightening it at the starter or you can break the solenoid) and make sure there is no corrosion on the battery terminals and make sure they are tight.

If this is all OK and the car still won't start, put it in neutral or park and jumper from the small post on the starter to the big wire. Sparks will fly, but the starter should turn........

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GTDude
25 years GM experience

Thanks gt dude skitime had me do that once well actually it was jncomutt but whatever, he didnot mention the sparks he just said to jn (its gonna scare the **** out of you) oh and it did. I will try that. If you put the wires on wrong you wont get any power right, because if that is so then that means we had it right and we just needed to ground the starter like you said. So thanks for the info I would still like a picture if anyone in "fieroland" has one!

Thanks for all the help from everyone!!
much appreciated.

As GT Dude said, and I checked mine to verify, There are two post and one large wire (from + side of battery) that connects to the larger post, and a smaller post that had a group of smaller red wires bundled together (in my case two and they looked like fusable links) that connected to the smaller post. The starter motor gets it's ground from the engine block itself, unless yours has an extra post for a ground, but I doubt that.

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Well avengador I dont know what the deal is now Im so screwed cause i have no money to get it fixed and i cant get the solinoid to even click and I just bought it today. Jnco said my wires are weird. I need help real bad. I need my car to go to work every day and I can seem to figure out what the problem is. Its so annoying, it the little things like this that makes me want to get out of fieros and back into imports cause i know them so much more. I dont know maybe im just irratble because I cant figure this out.

bumb

Here's the pictures I promised you. The first one will be of the starter motor with the battery + cable(Thick Black cable) still connected the second picture will be the wires from the starter and you can see the fusible links on one of the wires(these wires are red but are dirty right now). Sorry if it's a little out of focus. These wires go on the smaller terminal on the starter motor(it's below the other terminal on the solenoid). You can see the nut that holds them on in the first picture. Hope this helps. Yours should be very similar. and

[This message has been edited by avengador1 (edited 06-21-2002).]

Bump for Fieroman if he didn't see the pictures.

final bump.

quote Originally posted by GTDude: Every one I've worked on has had two wires......a big hot one from the battery and a small on from the ign switch. That's all you should need.

What Dude Said. If you have the Positive Battery wire to the Starter Solinoid and the ignition wire connected to the small terminal of the solinoid then your proble is elsewhere...UNLESS your starter itself is shorted-out. Got a spare starter to test?

My honest opinion is that the starter itself is shorted out. It came off of a car of mine that I replaced because the solonoid was cracked. The reason Fieroman has an extra wire is because on one of those 'eye connector' things, there is supposed to be 2 wires coming from it (Like John Posted). On Fieromans, one of those wires was broken just after the connector, so the previous owner must have just put another 'eye connector' thing on it, and put it on the solonoid bolt like that. Which, seemingly to me, was a smart and effective solution. The pos. batt cable and 2 others fit on the main bolt (obvious) and the other has too small of a connector to fit. (For the smaller terminal) When connected like this, everything inside the car works, and has power, but the starter doesn't kick. If you jump it, the sparks fly, but still no action.

So, this leaves me to believe that the untested starter from the parts car was no good to begin with... Any agree?

i agree of course

Well guys we fixed it last night, thanks to everyone, Avengador I owe you one. As it turned out the starter motor was crap. Im going to return the new solinoid I purchased the other day.