Yes, I feel like ive advanced a rank in my wiring. Not a tenderfoot anymore, perhaps second class. Long way from Eagle.
Some help getting engine started
- Thread starter e9Leveque
- Start date
Great news!!! No need to go do all those tests unless you feel compelled. I have a new starter on my M90 engine, so I can explore that when I return home.
Congratulations!!
Congratulations!!
With car wiring there really is no "Eagle"...These systems are typically so convoluted that you have to really tinker with them to fully understand what the designer was thinking. A good example is the alternator light, which is powered from both sides when the alternator is spinning, which means no current flows and the light goes out. If the alternator is not spinning, then the alternator coils provide a path to ground on one side of the lamp, so it lights up. WEIRD, but it works.
There are also a lot of odd things done to save wires, so some things don't make immediate sense, and a trained electrical engineer would not ordinarily approach them that way (AMHIK)..
I was working on a software system for designing automotive wire harnesses about 20 years ago. Talking with folks at GM, they commented that there are some wires in their harnesses that nobody understands the function of, but nobody wants to risk removing them.. That sort of tells the entire story...
I recently was given a Tesla Model Y by my son (he works for Tesla, and gave me his old one when he got a new one). On that car it seems like they went the complete opposite way. EVERYTHING is controlled by a computer. Even the adjustment of the air direction from the vents is done by moving the animated wind blowing on the touch screen using your finger. Here the wiring is simple (its all networked), but the software is complex, and it takes a while to figure out how to do simple things like tilt the mirrors, or adjust the air vents...
I have a Tesla model S and recently had some rentals of a Mercedes and a BMW that we just drove across the country. In the cases of all three (less so the BMW), I find the use of electronic controls to be a case of a solution searching for a problem. The old style buttons are more intuitive and thus much easier to use.
Completely agree - having owned quite a few electric vehicles (a few Teslas, currently Rivian) the controls for wipers, HVAC etc all really seem more optimal by physical controls. While the animation concept is neat, it's hard to achieve the equivalent of "I want the air blowing at the top of my head but not right into my eyes".
Yep!!. Having spent the last 30 years in the advanced automotive business, I have found one of the key complaints from users is having to sort out how to perform simple operations in the car. And in most cases when the car tries to second guess the user's intentions, it gets it wrong.
Some recent examples in the Tesla:
- There is no conventional key or key fob. Given that most of the rest of daily life involves keys of some sort, having a credit card based "key" means it needs to be carried separately from all of your other keys.
- The card key can be extended to your phone, which is convenient, until you forget your phone, or it is out of charge, in which case you better hope you are still carrying that card key...
- If two people both set up the phone key system, then if they both get into the car, it freaks out, and reverts to the card key. In this case it would be better if it simply asked which driver was driving instead of going stupid.
- A great improvement in turn signals was the short tap, three blink feature. Works like a charm, and you don't accidentally leave the blinker on when you change lanes. In the Tesla they revised this tried and true feature. tapping the indicator stalk causes the blinker to start blinking, but it seems to blink longer than expected, and it doesn't always turn off. I think it is using the cameras to determine when the lane change is complete, but if it misses a lane line it never turns off. Overall the blinkers seem to have a mind of their own..
All that said, I also find the oddball wiper speed control on the E9 console a bit weird.
Totally second the e9 wiper “feature”. Given that this is still a relatively new car for me when I reconnected everything and powered up the electronics I was convinced I had wired something wrong because I couldn’t get the wipers to stop. Push/pull button has positions 1,2 and 3 which I assumed were 0, 1 and 2. Then luckily remembered the end of the wiper stalk push-in…
Yeah, that whole thing is truly "inspired"... and the switch stalk is about the most complicated thing on the car!
After spending time in the e9 I end up getting used to the turn signal on the right side of the steering column. When I transition to my daily driver I end up turning on the windshield wipers.
We are creatures of habit.
We are creatures of habit.
I tried to put a clip or my multimeter on the 12:00 starter post but I can't see enough to get it in the proper spot. Has anyone else tried this so we can definitely say whether it is energized or a ground?
I thin my SF Don engine has the newer starter. I'll check it when I get back home from Austin, Sunday
I ended up after several years with rewiring the stalks to the later model - now my turn signal sits on the left, and my wiper control sits on the right. I repurposed the wiper speed switch in the center console for the heater hose bypass.
And the upside: the later style stalks are available new for reasonable cost. The early style are super-rare and super-expensive.
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I would tend to say no;
there was some time and effort to map out what goes where, as I did keep all the original wiring harness, but built a "bridge" from the new stalks into the old plugs.
See below the schematic for the new right-hand wiper stalk.
You have several elements at play:
-the new wiper stalk (right side)
-the wiring from the old wiper speed switch (center console)
-the new indicator and high beam stalk (left side)
-the wiper/washer relay
it took me some time to figure all of this out, document the old vs. new wiring and different colors of wires, and then implement it. As always in E9 terms, a mini-project.
Now it works nicely as it should, and I created my own documentation and my own wire labels.
You may want to copy/paste all of the above into the E9 projects subforum with a relevant title. This is a nice description and would make it easier for others to find instead of buried in my thread lamenting my inability to start my engine
Pictures of the final product would also help if you have any/can take any
I hear you - I will plan in some time to create a proper post and documentation, including pictures over the summer. Thank you for the nudge!You may want to copy/paste all of the above into the E9 projects subforum with a relevant title. This is a nice description and would make it easier for others to find instead of buried in my thread lamenting my inability to start my engine
Pictures of the final product would also help if you have any/can take any
I was at the shop today and measured the starter on my new engine. This is the M90 with the new starter. The small solenoid post is open circuit. I believe this one goes to the ignition switch for starting. The larger of the two side posts has 0.5 ohms to the large post that connects to the starter motor. It also has 0.5 ohms to ground, which tells me that it is connected to the starter motor winding. When there is no current flowing in the starter motor, the DC resistance is probably about 0.5 ohms, and the other end of the winding is surely connected to ground.
So when the starter is cranking, this terminal probably has 12 volts on it, and when the motor is not cranking, it is effectively shorted to ground through the starter winding.
This seems consistent with what we have heard about using that terminal on the coil. When the coil is powered from ignition, via the ballast resistor, the current will go through the ballot resistor up to the coil, and then back down the starter wire to the starter motor coil. There is not enough current or voltage to cause the motor to turn, but there is enough current to cause the ballot resistor to heat up. I suspect it is also effectively shorting out the coil primary.
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