Battery + Alternator + Starter wiring question

[dieselnutjob]

So

 

I had my 604 up on ramps to do an oil change. I remembered that last time I hadn't liked the way that one of the battery cables was really close to the downpipe / exhaust manifold, so I had a bit of a fiddle. The starter motor is right behind the left bank downpipe and someone had attached the cable so that it was much nearer than necessary.

 

I noticed eventually that the threaded post that comes out of the starter motor solenoid just spins. The post has (had) two terminals on it sandwiched between two nuts. The nut nearest the starter solenoid is a slim one and I don't have a 13mm spanner slim enough to get in there to hold it still. The nut on the other side is accessible but turning it turns the entire post and doesn't release the terminals. Access is pretty bad as it's above the crossmember and steering rack.

 

With all this twiddling one of the wires that goes to the starter motor snapped off

 

To get the thing off the ramps I found some cooker cable and a 35 amp crimp joiner and just extended the wire to the battery (still going past the downpipe )

 

Then I came in and had a look at the wiring diagram. It's most odd how Peugeot arranged it.

 

From the battery there is a cable to the starter motor and a smaller one to the relays that supply dipped/main beam.

From the starter motor is a smaller wire that I think goes around the back of the block, round the other side, and up to the alternator.

Then there is a wire from the alternator that supplies the rest of the car.

 

So it goes battery <--> starter motor <--> alternator <--> fuse box

 

This might explain why so much alternator noise gets into the radio...

 

Isn't it more normal to connect everthing together at or near the battery?

 

Anyway, if I could get a new cable made up to go directly from the alternator to the battery, not via the starter motor it would be miles easier to install. I could just ignore the old broken cable and leave it disconnected at both ends. Also I wouldn't need to route it anywhere near the exhaust.

 

Also anyone know of any kind of terminal block that I can use to connect starter motor, battery cable, alternator and fuse box cable all together that I could bolt to the inner wing?

 

Last question. Is it a problem that the post coming out of the starter solenoid spins rather than being solid? It seems to work okay.

[504GL]

With all this twiddling one of the wires that goes to the starter motor snapped off

 

Wasn't the wire for the starter solenoid was it? It broke off on my 504 leaving it stranded. Only time the thing ever broke down on me. RAC guy turned up, crimped a new connector on and I was on my way.

[M'coli]

Isn't it more normal to connect everything together at or near the battery?

You'd think so, wouldn't you; but consider the fact that the battery is only the place where electricity is stored to be used to start the car - once the car is running and the alternator providing the power, the battery no longer needs to provide power, so just run everything off the alternator and the excess can be used to recharge the battery. It probably saves about 20-30 foot of copper cable per car, so increasing the profit margin for the manufacturer.

[dieselnutjob]

no it was a big fat one that connects to the alternator and from there to the fuse box

powers everything

 

Anyway I think I might have found the answer

http://www.demon-tweeks.co.uk/Motorspor ... /1451/1294

 

I can put it near the battery and star everything together at one place. Nice and neat.

[simmo]

no it was a big fat one that connects to the alternator and from there to the fuse box

powers everything

 

Anyway I think I might have found the answer

http://www.demon-tweeks.co.uk/Motorspor ... /1451/1294

 

I can put it near the battery and star everything together at one place. Nice and neat.

 

That would be the proffesional way of doing it, but for a budget shoddy AS solutiion use an old cotten reel type exhaust mounting

[Pete-M]

I just had to get the starter reconditioned on my 604.

 

When it came to removal and refitting the bloke in the garage (who's a mate) was all cocky and "Hard job? Nah, it's just a challenge, it won't beat me, won't even be expensive"... a day or two later he'd got the starter off. To me he was all "Wasn't that hard", but to chaps I know who've got garages near him he was cursing the bloody thing like you wouldn't believe.

 

Hopefully it'll last a good few years now.

[dieselnutjob]

have a look underneath and make sure that none of the cables are touching the exhaust

if one of these melts through they are unswitched and unfused and I'm pretty sure it would catch fire

[dieselnutjob]

well here's the thing

 

the alternator is on the drivers side but the battery and the starter motor on the passenger side.

I think it's a 70A alternator (google) but I don't know how you tell

So you have to get the alternator cable from one side of the engine to the other

 

Peugeot have run it close to the block, between the block and the downpipe on each side.

The other alternative is to run it across the front of the engine but that will look crap and probably be a fire risk in an accident, or, to run it along the inner wing on top of the chassic rail on the outside of the downpipes, and across the back of the engine that way. Of course this adds another foot or so to the cable run.

 

I don't mind spending a few extra quid on another foot of cable so I think I'll run along the inner wing and acroos the bulkhead behind the engine to a terminal block near the engine.

 

No one seems to sell a 70A cable. 16mm² cable seems to be about 110A so I guess I need something at least 10mm²

[Station]

Use jump-start cable for your 12v starter wiring! Or Maplin sells the stuff. I'd recommend doing the earths on this as well (battery terminals, etc). Halfords sells new 'terminated' cable which I've used on all my cars. Poor grounding points really puts a strain on the starter.

Wire to the alternator can do with less than 70a, it is wired directly onto the battery to starter. If the threaded post is spinning, is it merely connected to the starter solenoid by being held in place with the casing. If you took it out, it's just a bolt with a serrated surface to mate with the solenoid terminal. The second wire on the starter goes straight to the ignition switch (on the barrel).