Starting my series 3 without a loom

Hi guys,

I have a 3 series 2 1/4 petrol that im in the progress of restoring, the motor and gearbox are installed, but as i've done nothing too them i want to make sure they work.

The starter motor, coil, distributor etc are all in place, but i havent got round to sorting the loom out (was cut when removed, not by me i must add).

So to cut a short story long i want to know the simplest way of getting the old girl to turn over and hopefully run.

Thanks

You say the coil, starter, etc. are all in place... if they are all wired up then i think all you would need to do is:

Give coil a 12v live feed, give starter motor a temporary 12v feed to turn engine over, once running remove.

To stop engine remove 12v live feed from coil.

Ok so i need power to both the coil and the starter motor..

Ill give it a try tonight, fingers crossed it works..

Yup, coil provides power to spark plugs, spark needed to ignite fuel.

Starter motor needs power to get engine going, but after that doesn't need power.

I think I'd wire the battery -ve to chassis, +ve to the starter via the solenoid using the appropriate thick cable then apply +ve to the + terminal of the coil, -ve coil terminal to the dizzy, HT lead from coil to dizzy then apply a sniff of +ve to the solenoid to turn it over. Disconnect coil connection to stop.
Or, if it's petrol, just wire the coil and turn over with the handle......

When mine had no loom/wiring, I did the following

+12V lead on croc clip to coil, -ve from coil to chassis.
+12V lead for starter solenoid,with terminal on end to touch on battery

and don't forget
+ve feed to starter (big cable)
-ve earth strap (big cable)from chassis to battery

Just remember to remove the 12V to your coil after stopping engine, otherwise you'll cook your coil - don't me why I know this.

Mark

As above 'cept mark forgot to say the neg lead of the coil goes to the dizzy not the chassis.

In short + lt side of the coil, thin wire to battery+.

- lt side of the coil goes to the white/black wire on the dizzy.

Black jump lead from battery - to engine (clutch housing is ok)

Red jump lead to battery + then- 'flash' this against the 3/8" terminal on the back of the starter, watch out for sparks without the solenoid there will be a lot of power through the jump lead.

To stop the engine remove the black jump lead.

Its easy I've done this loads of times, even in breakers yards and a couple of times with later engines with electronic brains.

your battery will not be charging while your doing this, so dont go down the shops in it.

dr pepper said:

As above 'cept mark forgot to say the neg lead of the coil goes to the dizzy not the chassis.

Its easy I've done this loads of times, even in breakers yards and a couple of times with later engines with electronic brains.

your battery will not be charging while your doing this, so dont go down the shops in it.

Click to expand...

Dam and I was waitin for the "it bwoke down on the way to the shops" post op2:

I wouldnt be too dissapointed soccy, it'll probably do that when its finished anyways.