selawman

Member
Just replaced my starter motor (separate thread).
When removing the old one the wiring touched the chassis and lot's of sparks!
Thought I may have got lucky But no, I now have no electrics whatsoever!
Battery good so must be main fuse.
Question is where is it. I have the 19J so believe that I only have one location for the fuses. Checked all behind the centre panel & ok, so should I be looking at one of the relays behind said fuse panel?
Thanks in advance.
 
Just replaced my starter motor (separate thread).
When removing the old one the wiring touched the chassis and lot's of sparks!
Thought I may have got lucky But no, I now have no electrics whatsoever!
Battery good so must be main fuse.
Question is where is it. I have the 19J so believe that I only have one location for the fuses. Checked all behind the centre panel & ok, so should I be looking at one of the relays behind said fuse panel?
Thanks in advance.
When you say checked, do you mean visual, or removed and tested?
Always good to disconnect the battery first! ;)
 
Yes, schoolboy error with the battery! :(
Removed & tested every fuse as I have no reference for what they connect to individually.
All the fuses are good.
I am making an assumption that the main ignition circuit relies on a relay to protect rather than a fuse?
If so, which relay is it likely to be?
Thanks all again.
 
If you got sparks (and assuming the ignition was turned off at the time) then the only cables involved at the time are the main battery feed cables, none of the fused supplies should be damaged. You have probably burnt either the negative battery cable to chassis lead or the positive battery to the starter (or possibly both). Make sure the battery terminals are still in good condition (not melted), then put a black jump cable from the battery neg terminal to a good clean chassis point. If your ignition now comes on you have damaged the negative battery lead. If that doesn't work try a red jump lead from bat+ to the starter main battery connector, if it works now then the batt +ve lead is damaged.

Just a second thought, do you have a battery isolator switch? if so, that is the most likely failure point if you have had a major short.
 
My friend did this year's ago on a motorbike. It fried everything by sending a spike up the earth, blew ecu, regulators etc.
I'd start by testing fuses with multi meters and checking for smells of burnt wiring
 
Fantastic response, and I will investigate all the suggested possibilities, but, can anybody answer my original query, which is where is the main ignition circuit fuse or relay'
Thanks.
 
If you got sparks (and assuming the ignition was turned off at the time) then the only cables involved at the time are the main battery feed cables, none of the fused supplies should be damaged. You have probably burnt either the negative battery cable to chassis lead or the positive battery to the starter (or possibly both). Make sure the battery terminals are still in good condition (not melted), then put a black jump cable from the battery neg terminal to a good clean chassis point. If your ignition now comes on you have damaged the negative battery lead. If that doesn't work try a red jump lead from bat+ to the starter main battery connector, if it works now then the batt +ve lead is damaged.

Just a second thought, do you have a battery isolator switch? if so, that is the most likely failure point if you have had a major short.
Thank you sir.
Did The lead test as you suggested and the +positive feed is at fault.
Just need to trace which part now. Thanks again.
 
If you don't have an isolator then it is probably the lead itself. Normally its a one piece item between battery and starter, old age / corrosion and a good 'sparking' session will cause the damage. Fix by replacement.
 
As you have discovered - but just to clear this up, there isn't a fuse in the main feed to the starter.
 

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