Starter relay: a cautionary tale

[andy b]

A few months ago, my Beta developed the familiar reluctant starter syndrome, with erratic starting, especially on days when you choose to park in a tight spot facing uphill... The cause (contact corrosion) and cure (a simple relay) will be well known to readers of this forum, but what is often not mentioned (and I certainly didn't realise) is that you must be very careful about where you position that relay. Having finally decided to install a relay, I got instant strong starting and was very pleased with the result. But after a day or two, I noticed that the relay would sometimes stick, so that the starter motor would keep on spinning after the engine had started. I would just flip open the bonnet, tap the relay, and everything would go back to normal, but there was obviously something wrong. I guessed the relay must be faulty. Then I woke up one morning to find that my car had climbed the step in front of where I had parked it (with first gear engaged). Luckily, it didn't make it any further up the steps, but it all looked pretty weird, and since I didn't have a hang-over that morning, I couldn't figure out how I could have parked in that position the night before. I tried to start it, but it was completely dead. When I opened the bonnet, I found that the end of the main ground cable to the battery (an old-style clamp made of lead) had melted away, so that the cable had sprung away from the battery and cut the power supply. Basically, the starter motor had switched itself on, powered the car up the step, and when it could push the car no further, the battery terminal had become so hot that it worked like a fuse and melted away. Luckily, the whole thing didn't catch fire, and it hasn't even wrecked the starter motor. The moral of the tale? DON'T do what I stupidly did, which was to position the relay right opposite the alternator. Sure it was convenient: permanent 12V supply close by, and the old red wire from the solenoid could reach the relay. But the magnetic field generated by the alternator is strong enough to pull the relay contacts closed and keep'em there. I'm 99% certain that's what happened to me (unless someone has another theory?).

[Huib]

Good story and excellent input.
It is some time ago I drove Beta's (now only Fulvia's) but I seem to remember there was a bracket behind the left head lights which seemed to be made for mounting a relay and that is where I put the relay.

On one of the Fulvia's I did once install a relay near the ignition coil which switched the 12V to the coil. I figured that it would give better sparks if the 12V did not run all the way through the fuses, contact switch etc. That did not work as the relay would not switch off so the engine kept running.

[Fintan]

Hi,

I have a Trevi which had a very poor starting record.

I placed a relay with its own fuse direct from the battery. I fixed it to
a nicely placed bracket positioned between the headlignt and battery.
It cured all my bad starting problems.
I also used a similar wiring layout to increase the voltage to the Headlights.
This transformed my night time driving without changing bulb strength.

My own feeling is that the original wiring is of poor quality and where possible
it should be replaced or bypassed by newer material.
Also dismantling cleaning and re-assembling the Fusebox
will reduce problems, especially with the fault indication lights.

Are there many Trevis left in UK. Trere are possibly a half dozen in Ireland.

Fintan.