No electrics after swapping solenoid

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cococola
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No electrics after swapping solenoid

Post by cococola »

I replaced the starter solenoid on my Minor yesterday and I went to start it today and there is no power at the ignition switch when I turn it over.I have no lights,wipers or horn either.
I have checked fuses, battery reading 13v (inc swapping it) swapped the solenoid back again and still nothing, I have also checked any loose wires can anybody help please with test ideas etc. I have an alternator fitted instead of regulator box.
PS. Solenoid swapped as I had a very occasional click from the starter when turning over and as I had a new solenoid I swapped it to eliminate.
many thanks
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nwxh
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Re: No electrics after swapping solenoid

Post by nwxh »

The terminal from the solenoid to the rest of the car's electricals should be connected to the battery and not the starter motor. Is it possible the lead from battery and to starter motor were swapped round?
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geoberni
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Re: No electrics after swapping solenoid

Post by geoberni »

Sometimes what people write isn't what they actually have, or they've left bit out.
cococola wrote: Sun Jun 13, 2021 8:14 pm I replaced the starter solenoid on my Minor yesterday and I went to start it today and there is no power at the ignition switch when I turn it over.I have no lights,wipers or horn either.
So there's no power at all. You changed the Solenoid yesterday, but you didn't actually attempt any functional test until today? You just changed it and walked away? Personally I find that incredible. It's like replacing a dead light bulb, on the car or in the home, and not switching it on for a moment to see if it's OK..... :cry:
Or was it working yesterday?
So let's assume that you didn't check it at all.....
cococola wrote: Sun Jun 13, 2021 8:14 pm I have checked fuses, battery reading 13v (inc swapping it) swapped the solenoid back again and still nothing, I have also checked any loose wires can anybody help please with test ideas etc. I have an alternator fitted instead of regulator box.
Battery reading 13v? Either your meter is over-reading or the battery has just come of charge. A 12v battery after standing for a short while after being on charge is going to be reading around 12.8v or 12.9 at very best... :-?

If it was all working before you changed the Solenoid, then you have most likely connected it up wrong.
Having an Alternator is irrelevant when it comes to having battery power available at the ignition switch.

As nwxh say, look at the connections you've been interfering with; it was working before you changed the Solenoid, now it isn't, ergo you affected something in the connections.
Either you broke something or connected it wrongly.
You should be able to spot it within a few moments.
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oliver90owner
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Re: No electrics after swapping solenoid

Post by oliver90owner »

First question I would ask is: Is the starter operated from the key or manually by a pull wire?

If a pull-wire starter switch, are the lights, horn, wipers, etc working while the starter is operating?

Could just be a coincidence that the starter has gone dead short while you were messing with the solenoid, but more likely something has either not been reconnected properly or a connection has gone high resistance (or even open circuit).
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geoberni
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Re: No electrics after swapping solenoid

Post by geoberni »

oliver90owner wrote: Mon Jun 14, 2021 7:19 am First question I would ask is: Is the starter operated from the key or manually by a pull wire?

If a pull-wire starter switch, are the lights, horn, wipers, etc working while the starter is operating?

Could just be a coincidence that the starter has gone dead short while you were messing with the solenoid, but more likely something has either not been reconnected properly or a connection has gone high resistance (or even open circuit).
He says he replaced the Solenoid. The Manual Pull doesn't have a Solenoid, just a big hefty switch, that's what the Solenoid replaces....
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oliver90owner
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Re: No electrics after swapping solenoid

Post by oliver90owner »

He says he replaced the Solenoid.

Yep, seen it so many times, but don’t always believe what is written without checking. That is why I referred to ‘switch’ in most of my post.🙂. They are all switches - whether electrically or manually operated.
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geoberni
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Re: No electrics after swapping solenoid

Post by geoberni »

oliver90owner wrote: Mon Jun 14, 2021 9:54 am He says he replaced the Solenoid.

Yep, seen it so many times, but don’t always believe what is written without checking. That is why I referred to ‘switch’ in most of my post.🙂. They are all switches - whether electrically or manually operated.
I know what you mean, some people seem to lead us a merry dance by using incorrect terms explaining their problems, but I think we're safe in this particular case (fingers crossed :wink: )
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cococola
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Re: No electrics after swapping solenoid

Post by cococola »

Solenoid yesterday, but you didn't actually attempt any functional test until today? You just changed it and walked away? Personally I find that incredible. It's like replacing a dead light bulb, on the car or in the home, and not switching it on for a moment to see if it's OK..... :cry:
Yes it would be incredible to walk away and not test it... In normal circumstances unfortunately I had a dash to the hospital with my wife. 😞
Further check today and I find that I had a faulty brand new solenoid, so have refitted the old one and I will order a decent quality replacement.
Many thanks for everybody's help.
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geoberni
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Re: No electrics after swapping solenoid

Post by geoberni »

cococola wrote: Mon Jun 14, 2021 10:55 am
Yes it would be incredible to walk away and not test it... In normal circumstances unfortunately I had a dash to the hospital with my wife. 😞
I hope your wife is OK. As already discussed, sometimes helping diagnosing people's problems here we are sent on wild goose chases by inaccurate or missing information.
cococola wrote: Mon Jun 14, 2021 10:55 am
Further check today and I find that I had a faulty brand new solenoid, so have refitted the old one and I will order a decent quality replacement.
Many thanks for everybody's help.
That makes no sense whatsoever, it's absolutely impossible if wired correctly. The car electrics are fed from the battery without going through the solenoid, they just connect at the terminal post.
and there is no power at the ignition switch when I turn it over.I have no lights,wipers or horn either.
Solenoid.JPG
Solenoid.JPG (58.81 KiB) Viewed 1377 times
Power from the Battery is picked up on the Solenoid Terminal Post and then goes to the rest of the car on the permanently live, or via the Ign Switch for 'switched' live, as on the line I've coloured yellow.
So before you go buying yet another Solenoid, you need to reconsider your past installation.
For example did you cross connect the Solenoid operating connection and the power feed.
The small brown should have been to the feed from the battery and the White/Red onto the Solenoid operating terminal on it's own.

See this past post 9 years ago where the owner had actually cross connected the 2 thick Brown Cables, to have a problem extraordinarily similar to yours...... :roll:
viewtopic.php?f=11&t=44670
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