Where is the Starter motor/Solenoid?

[loneranger]

Can anyone tell me where the start motor or solenoid is located. I don't want to remove any unnecessary covers and I can't find it.

I'm needing to wire in my driving lights on my Rijidij bullbar.

Thanks

[Dopey]

Maybe it would be better if you took the vehicle to an auto electrician if you cannot find the starter or solenoid....

Just out of interest, what vehicle is it?

Regards,
Mike.

[loneranger]

Maybe it would be better if you took the vehicle to an auto electrician if you cannot find the starter or solenoid....

Just out of interest, what vehicle is it?

Regards,
Mike.

2014.

For the record I've changed starter motors on just about every single car that's been in my family and I've never had a problem finding them. So how about being helpful or don't bother responding.

[Dopey]

Fair enough....
It's on the passengers side of the vehicle (right hand drive vehicle)....
Just above where the oil filter goes....

I'll attach a pretty crappy picture of my starter solenoid that I just took....
It's the silver canister just to the right of the wire with the red insulation on it.

Regards,
Mike.

[Dopey]

Sorry, lone ranger,
I wasn't trying to make fun of you at all,
The starter and solenoid is pretty hard to get to on the newer defenders,
Not much room from underneath with the engine mount in the way,
And not much room from the top with the pipes in the way, probably easier from the bottom if you are trying to attach at the solenoid though...

Just remember to disconnect the battery before playing around in there or at least make sure that the vehicle is OUT of gear.....

Regards,
Mike.

[loneranger]

Got it.

Is there an easier spot to connect the driving light. All I'm looking to do is connect a +ve to anything that will provide a current whenever the car is turned on.

The earth i can put anywhere.

[Dopey]

Try looking at the back of the alternator for access, I know some on here have gone that way, others have used the starter solenoid, some have gone all the way back to the battery box, and some have used the same wiring as their winch wiring.

Regards,
Mike.

[loneranger]

Next question is where is the alternator? :o

I'm used to working on big fords where there is plenty of room.

[loneranger]

Sorry, lone ranger,
I wasn't trying to make fun of you at all,
The starter and solenoid is pretty hard to get to on the newer defenders,
Regards,
Mike.

No probs. The location of the starter motor reminds of a Renault 12 we used to own where it was cheaper to wreck the car then replace the starter motor as it required a full engine removal.

[Dopey]

Next question is where is the alternator? :o

I'm used to working on big fords where there is plenty of room.

Alternator is on the front right hand side of the engine bay, immediately in front of the turbo charger.

I've taken another dodgy picture, look down where I'm pointing, it is hidden just a bit further down...
Access from further back for the wires attaching to the alternator, try burrowing down into the engine bay between the air box and the brake booster....

Regards,
Mike.

[Dopey]

Bugger, bloody picture didn't seem to load properly...

[loneranger]

Alternator is on the front right hand side of the engine bay, immediately in front of the turbo charger.

I've taken another dodgy picture, look down where I'm pointing, it is hidden just a bit further down...
Access from further back for the wires attaching to the alternator, try burrowing down into the engine bay between the air box and the brake booster....

Regards,
Mike.


Thanks. Your picture is showing as having an error on it.

[Dopey]

Hopefully this works....

[loneranger]

Got it. Thanks. That one was where I though it was now I've got to work out how to get to the wires. ;)

[Blknight.aus]

No offence, but from the line of your questions if your driving a ford or a td5 stop and get a spark to check your work and buy a copy of the rave from incisors shop

[loneranger]

No offence, but from the line of your questions if your driving a ford or a td5 stop and get a spark to check your work and buy a copy of the rave from incisors shop

Its a 2014 2.2 110 wagon and as I've stated I just wanted an easy spot to plug in a positive wire. As I'm not a mechanic I tend to only want to undo what is necessary to get the job done.

A big thanks to 90@ for answering my questions and taking the time to post photos.

[jimr1]

I've enjoyed this post , because I'll have this job to do soon , and like looking how others go about It , how they wire up there driving lights . The ones I currently have are wired from next to the battery , If there is an easier way I'll be in on that , so please let us know which way you go , and how they came out !!.. Jim

[Blknight.aus]

I'd already worked out that your neither a sparky or mechanic from the questions you were asking and the way you were asking them.

That would be why i recommended you buy the rave (or it's equivalent) cd so you had the manuals so you had a heads up on what you were doing and then to have a sparky check over your work preferable before you hook it all up.

Your car your call, but it's not like working on the old clunkers your used to hacking on.

If you'd like you can call it me presenting you with a warning or the opportunity to avoid an I told you so.

[Dopey]

Loneranger,

Dave (Blknight.aus) is not having a go at you,
He's just speaking from experience in helping people out on Aulro.

Lots of stuff can go wrong if you do make a stuff up or whatever and it will probably save you money and time to get it done by an auto electrician.

Regards,
Mike.

[Pocket Rocket]

I've enjoyed this post , because I'll have this job to do soon , and like looking how others go about It , how they wire up there driving lights . The ones I currently have are wired from next to the battery , If there is an easier way I'll be in on that , so please let us know which way you go , and how they came out !!.. Jim

So far we've used the traxide kit to do the headlight relays and also have the kit (from traxide) to do the spotties.

As for the driving lights, the biggest issue was trying to work out the anatomy of the Defender. We knew what needed to be done and why but just couldn't for the life of us find the 'where'.

Once we've got the whole lot done and checked we'll put an update on our thread in the members ride section.



That would be why i recommended you buy the rave (or it's equivalent) cd so you had the manuals so you had a heads up on what you were doing and then to have a sparky check over your work preferable before you hook it all up.

Thanks for the heads up, didn't know the CD's went up to the current model - thought they were only for the older ones. Will pay a visit to Dave's shop and also a visit to a sparky to make sure it's all okay.

Not being professional mechanics we do like to get our work checked by a pro. Actually have done for a couple of decades now ever since bleeding brakes on LoneRangers 1958 Wolseley 1500. The RAC checked that one over and were impressed by the workmanship given the difficulty of the job and that we were only teenagers at the time. But definitely better to be safe than sorry.

[Blknight.aus]

So far we've used the traxide kit to do the headlight relays and also have the kit (from traxide) to do the spotties.

As for the driving lights, the biggest issue was trying to work out the anatomy of the Defender. We knew what needed to be done and why but just couldn't for the life of us find the 'where'.

Once we've got the whole lot done and checked we'll put an update on our thread in the members ride section.



Thanks for the heads up, didn't know the CD's went up to the current model - thought they were only for the older ones. Will pay a visit to Dave's shop and also a visit to a sparky to make sure it's all okay.

Not being professional mechanics we do like to get our work checked by a pro. Actually have done for a couple of decades now ever since bleeding brakes on LoneRangers 1958 Wolseley 1500. The RAC checked that one over and were impressed by the workmanship given the difficulty of the job and that we were only teenagers at the time. But definitely better to be safe than sorry.

Unfortunately very rarely now is the spanner spinning you can hit ? with a hammer class hardware the difficult bit(other than the headscratching "whichue chineese octopus did they use to bolt that bit in there" factor) it's a lot more to do with the electronics and the magical electrons that you can't see that to let out. And the newer vehicles these days are so frugal with the electrons they don't even have the decency to let the smoke out and char the wires so ou can tell by sight which bit you broke.

I'm not sure if the fords manual is called a rave cd but it should be in the same area of the shop.

[loneranger]

Thanks for your advice. And yes I will get it all checked.

Just for some background, the reason I am doing all of this work myself is my experiences with our Dmax where I paid for everything to be fitted.

The canopy resulted in a trip to the panel beater for the back end to be resprayed when the canopy came loose on a gravel road and caused about $3,000 worth of damage.

The so-called tow bar fitting professional wired in the towbar electrics that caused a short which resulted in a visit to another professional to fix.

When I had my Anderson plug rewired from the battery to the auxiliary battery they cut the terminals on the battery and left them with live wires exposed.

When the bushes went on the upgraded suspension (product defect) they replaced the back ones and not the front ones even though they knew they were all faulty.

When the upgraded suspension was fitted there was a bracket for the brake line to be bolted to. It didn't fit so they left the brake line rubbing against the bracket instead of cutting the bracket off.

When the bullbar was fitted and the front end cut to allow the fitting they left a flap hanging down which rubbed against the tyre when turning.

A certain well known suspension shop here in WA fitted suspension to our Fairlane and fitted a part upside down because they didn't notice the bend. The same shop seemd to break something on my car whenever they did any work on any of them. After the third time we decided it wasn't a coincidence and never went back.

Also we paid $10,000 to have driveway gates fitted before we got our Defenders. One bracket broke which was replaced. They refused to fix the other bracket and when that one broke it resulted in my 6 week old Defender needing a trip to the panel beaters.

Hence, I am doing all this work myself as I don't have a lot of faith in tradesman.

[jimr1]

Thanks Pocket Rocket for your reply , Trackside is something I will consider . I have a 110 county , and a 110 td5 . I wired up my driving lights on these going through relays , taking my time and making sure all wires were clipped tied and installed to a high stranded . I have a new 110 on order , but the Puma is a new toy to me , so not sure how much room there is in engine bay , or how to get through the fire wall , This doesn't bother me I will work It out . If I can't I'll have to get my son to give me a hand . I'm luck because he is a Land Rover trained Mechanic , In saying that getting him to do anything for me is like trying to win the Lottery . lol. No he's not that bad really . I do enjoy reading members questions , and all the help that is shared by members , collectively there is so much knowledge !!.. Jim

[Dopey]

These links might help too,

http://www.aulro.com/afvb/90-110-130-defender-county/185022-wiring-driving-lights-high-beam.html

In the link above Judo has a very good easy to understand simple wiring diagram in post no: 12.

http://www.aulro.com/afvb/90-110-130-defender-county/153983-puma-spotlight-wiring.html

http://www.aulro.com/afvb/90-110-130-defender-county/199967-traxide-spotlights-genuine-switch.html

Regards,
Mike.

[Blknight.aus]

I know the feeling and pain loneranger. Theres a reason I spend a lot of time giving advice for free on this forum and why I charge next to diddly for the work that I do when I do it for people from the forum.

If you had an old school Landy I'd have been amongst the first giving you tellingly exact instructions on how to do what you were trying to do. Hell I'd probably be throwing down a better way to do it that you were wanting to while admonishing you for being shy on the tools.

Not a luxury you can take with pretty much any post 1999 Landy unfortunately.

[loneranger]

I know the feeling and pain loneranger. Theres a reason I spend a lot of time giving advice for free on this forum and why I charge next to diddly for the work that I do when I do it for people from the forum.

If you had an old school Landy I'd have been amongst the first giving you tellingly exact instructions on how to do what you were trying to do. Hell I'd probably be throwing down a better way to do it that you were wanting to while admonishing you for being shy on the tools.

Not a luxury you can take with pretty much any post 1999 Landy unfortunately.

Cheers. All good got the relays wired in today and all the cabling run. There's not a lot of room behind those headlights but I managed to fit in 3 New Era 6 post relays and the associated wiring behind the passenger side headlight. Tomorrow hopefully will connect up the spotties, lightbar and uhf then I can start on the rear worklight.

Once this is all done I might tidy up the battery box now I've got some spare cable.

[Pocket Rocket]

I've enjoyed this post , because I'll have this job to do soon , and like looking how others go about It , how they wire up there driving lights . The ones I currently have are wired from next to the battery , If there is an easier way I'll be in on that , so please let us know which way you go , and how they came out !!.. Jim

So we got a professional opinion on the jobs we did and apart from a bit of tidying up there was one change in regards to the way the driving lights were wired.

Instead of running to the alternator we've run it to an ignition wire in the dash plugged in through the cigarette lighter. The reason for this was that the driving lights were staying on until the traxide isolator isolated the starting battery which was taking anything up to 15 minutes depending on the length of the drive.

Hope this helps