Help - 1969 w115 - Correct Starter Wiring

[Topher39]

My w115 came with no starter, I purchased a used one on ebay and have it hooked up. I turned over the car yesterday but found that rather than the starter engaging on the final turn of the key, it engaged on the ignition switch position just before. This obviously means I have screwed up the wiring in some way. I have all the power leads for accessories coming off the same post so it "now" makes sense why the solenoid is tripping on when it does. How the heck am I supposed to wire this correctly??

I have a photo of the solenoid posts from my starter, perhaps you can shed some light on how I am screwing this up and how to fix! HELP Please!

Currently I have my all my accessories and Violet solenoid (I believe) on post B. What am I doing wrong and where does the feed for the solenoid go?

I did bench test the starter way back when I purchased it and I did get the solenoid to trip but I believe it was on post B only???

Thank you all for the help

[250 Coupe]

Do you have a multimeter? You can figure it out by process of elimination.

One of the small posts is the solenoid, the other will only have voltage on it when the starter is pulled in.

The post that shows no continuity no matter what you compare it with (i.e., ground and all the other posts), will have a single wire that goes directly, or nearly so, to the coil to bypass the ballast resistor. When the starter is pulled in, there will be full battery voltage on this terminal, this gives the coil full power to compensate for voltage drops and a weak battery. You may not have this wire, up to December 1970 it was not used. After December 1970, it looks like it was red with a violet stripe.

The other small post will pull the starter in when battery voltage is applied. Only one wire should be on this terminal and it sounds like it's the violet one in your case. If you are not sure which wire goes here, set your meter for DC voltage and have an assistant turn the key while you watch. No assistant? Connect something noisy (I've got an old Napa backup alarm that works for this) or that lights up to it. Just be sure to isolate all other small wires so you don't pop a fuse or start a fire.

The rest of the small wires go to the big terminal that the large cable from the battery connects to.

Michael

[Topher39]

250 Coupe - You are a huge help! A few questions:
When you say "when the starter is pulled in" are you meaning turned-on/activated etc right?

Note/Question: I do see a wire that is RED with a PURPLE STRIPE that is part of the bundle at the starter, and is currently joined to the Violet wire that I believe is the Solenoid trip. On the coil I see only a single + wire that comes off the ballast resistor - it would appear the Red w/Purple stripe wire is either not used or not hooked up - should I hook one up direct to the coil along with the wire that comes off the ballast resistor???

"The rest of the small wires go to the big terminal that the large cable from the battery connects to."

OK - I have the two main/large RED power leads already on the main + post so I was good there.

Now I do have a White wire that comes from a small relay/box? that is mounted on the fire wall, passenger side, has 4 posts, 3 have wires on it, a WHITE, BLACK & GREEN - what is that for?? This white wire was attached to the solenoid trip, (wrongly) - ideas??

[250 Coupe]

Originally Posted by Topher39

250 Coupe - You are a huge help! A few questions:
When you say "when the starter is pulled in" are you meaning turned-on/activated etc right?


Yes, when I say "pulled in", I mean the the solenoid has been powered and the starter motor is turning.


Note/Question: I do see a wire that is RED with a PURPLE STRIPE that is part of the bundle at the starter, and is currently joined to the Violet wire that I believe is the Solenoid trip. On the coil I see only a single + wire that comes off the ballast resistor - it would appear the Red w/Purple stripe wire is either not used or not hooked up - should I hook one up direct to the coil along with the wire that comes off the ballast resistor???


Do you have two ballast resistors? I don't remember what the 250/8 had but it seems to me that both of my coupes had two ballast resistors and that the bypass wire may have connected between them rather than on the coil side of the last resistor.


"The rest of the small wires go to the big terminal that the large cable from the battery connects to."

OK - I have the two main/large RED power leads already on the main + post so I was good there.

Now I do have a White wire that comes from a small relay/box? that is mounted on the fire wall, passenger side, has 4 posts, 3 have wires on it, a WHITE, BLACK & GREEN - what is that for?? This white wire was attached to the solenoid trip, (wrongly) - ideas??

Not off the top of my head but could it be an aftermarket ignition or an alarm? Maybe a picture is needed for better ID

Michael

[Topher39]

Well I got the starter working great, seems the extra red w/purple wire was the culprit in causing the starter not to work properly, I just used the vilot wire for the solenoid trip. Now onto the timing and carb adjustment!

Thanks so much for the help, could not do it without the help!


Chris

[250 Coupe]

Sweet, glad to help.

Look for a PM from me.

Michael