Hey guys, i have an 86 gxl 5-spd that i'm doing a motor swap on, My question is this:

I have two heavy gauge battery wires, one for EACH battery terminal,
but there is ANOTHER heavy gauge wire leading FROM the positive terminal, it has a steel ring on te other end, like a ground wire, and I dont know where to connect it!

I thought this large positive wire might be for the starter, but there seems to be two other "ground" wires that are right next to she starter,
and they appear to be the perfect length to connect ONE to the starter terminal, and the OTHER to the starter bolt that goes through the tranny


So what do you guys know, where do all these wires go?
I dont want to fry my car as soon as i connect the battery!!

 

Not sure but that sounds right... I know that the starter has like 3 wires goin to it and one of them is a clip... you are supposed to ground the starter on the bolt that goes through the tranny housing... the other wire is supposed to go to the starter on the screw that doesnt have a wire already attached to it (the starter has a wire that attaches one piece of the starter to the other... the solenoid I think)... Sorry cant be specific... I just know how to take the thing of and put it on dont know the specifics... try looking for pics or something... I try and look stuff over and memorize the setups either before or after I start taking stuff apart so it'll be easier to put it back together...

 

There is only one high current + connection that goes to the starter.

Are you sure it's not the alternator? What is the diameter of the ring terminal?

 

Well Aaron, it looks like the diameter of the hole is 10mm, while the outside of the ring terminal is 14 mm wide. does that help?

i already have the small ring terminal connected to the alternator (the one with an 8mm bolt) so thats not it,
what else could it be?

 

Maybe its this. The ground cable splits off and attaches to the chassis just below the left strut tower. Then it continues on to the bellhousing/starter attach bolt. That's the ground wire.

 

I compared it to another rx7's wiring, and it looks as though it was added later, possibly for an amp or alarm?

Is there anywhere useful I could connect it to "strengthen" my electrical system?
like extra grounds, but positive instead of negative?

 

bump?

 

Is it possible this wire is supposed to connect to the engine fuse box??? To feed the engine fuse box???????

 

There is a cable that goes from the positive battery terminal that goes to one of the bolts holding in the 80A EGI fuse in the egine compartment fuse block.

 

If the wire is FROM the positive terminal on the battery, would it damage anything to bolt it to the "positive" bolt on the starter?

and just for clarification, which bolt is the "positive" one on the starter?

 

This is how the starter should look.

The negative from the battery goes to the engine block on the long bolt that goes through the starter, tranny bell housing, and engine. It also should have a branch that goes to the chassis so it grounds the engine and chassis.

Damn, this seems like the weekend for starter problems. All sorts of post about starters and cars not starting.