• Hi Guest!
    If you appreciate British Car Forum and our 25 years of supporting British car enthusiasts with technical and anicdotal information, collected from our thousands of great members, please support us with a low-cost subscription. You can become a supporting member for less than the dues of most car clubs.
    There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Subscribers don't see this gawd-aweful banner
Tips
Tips

Bugeye electircal help please

Share this page

I

ichthos

Darth Vader
Country flag
Offline
It was my big moment tonight - I was finally going to listen to my car start for the first time in decades. I pulled the starter button...nothing. I checked the starter switch, and found it was bad. Put in the new starter switch and tried it again...nothing. It was then that I realized that there was no electicity working anywhere in my car. My lights, wipers, heater were all working before. Now there is nothing working on my car. I don't know if it makes a difference, but the ignition light was staying on even when the key was not in the ingnition switch before all of this happened. I checked the battery. I checked all the fuses. I put in a fuse between the batterey and brown wire going to the dash and it was good too. I am totally baffled. What do I need to do? Any ideas?
Kevin
 
One step at a time.

1. did you remember to reconnect your battery? (don't ask me how I thought to ask that)
2. do you have juice in your battery?
3. did you hook your solenoid up backwards? (don't ask me how I thought to ask that either)
4. do you get juice to the front of the fuses?

if it is everything, it is likely obvious. take a breath, go have a drink and come back and work our way through.
 
Hi Kevin,
Life and BEs can be like that, one step forward and two steps backward. If you have lost all power, like the horn too, then the main probelme child would be the battery connections. Do you have a grounding strap from the transmission to the body under the car? Is the grounding battery cable really grounded to the body? You said the ignition light was on even when the key was off. How long was that, and did it run the battery down? Take a 12v light and put it across the battery. Does it light? Then follow it to the starter switch. Follow it inside to the battery connection on the ignition switch. I'm sure you will find it. Remember electricity is just like plumbing, need a pump (battery), pipes (wires) valves (switches) and water motors (devices of resistance, lights, motors, horns, etc). Just follow the water (electrons).
Good luck,
Scott in CA
 
Had a beer, took a break, and went back out to the garage. Checked everything, and finally figured it out! Would have never thought to check it, but it was the grounding strap from the negative terminal to the body. The hole in the grounding strap is bigger than the bolt, so the two were not touching. Thanks for the suggestions and encouragement. The engine did turn over, but I found more things I need to correct. I feel like a Bugeye addict.
Kevin
 
Kevin, oh you are are a Bugeye addict all right. Big time. I can see the monkey on your back from here.

Did you solve that problem with the generator or is the light still on even when your ignition switch is off? As stated that would not have anything to do with your grounding strap issues, I'm ust curious.

Charlie
 
The_architect said:
Kevin, oh you are are a Bugeye addict all right. Big time. I can see the monkey on your back from here.



Charlie
Click to expand...

My name is Kevin, and I am a bugeye addict.

(you fit right in, we're all sitting in that circle of chairs.)
 
No, I never did get the light problem solved. Dr. Entropy mentioned changing the brushes in the generator, so I will try that first and then see what happens. I'm still waiting on parts. By the way, where is the solenoid located? Kevin
 
Kevin, on a Bugeye the "solenoid" is the switch between the battery cable and the starter cable. You activate it by putting the starter button on the dash.

Charlie
 
The_architect said:
Ha ha the only difference is that we're not trying to stop being addicts. We're trying to enable each other.

Charlie
Click to expand...

Of course - co-dependent.
 
The_architect said:
Kevin, on a Bugeye the "solenoid" is the switch between the battery cable and the starter cable. You activate it by putting the starter button on the dash.

Charlie
Click to expand...

On the square bodies, it is mounted to the front of the battery tray. follow the battery cable from the battery, first stop solenoid.
 
On Kevin's the solenoid is the switch next to the battery that is activated by pulling the starter switch cable
BillM
 
So, I think what you are saying is that the solenoid is the same thing I am calling the starter switch? How is it possible to hook this up wrong? I did not see anything that designates top or bottom. I am going to be limited now in my time spent on the Bug for a while. It kills me that I am so close to driving this thing. All I can think about is solving the next problem, and when I do, it always seems like there is something else I have missed. I am so close!
Kevin
 
Kevin, yes. Same thing. On mine, you have to pull the cable from the dash side very hard. Pull on that wire from the engine side rather than the dash.

I thought exactly what you are thinking the first time I started my car after the rewire I did. What did I do wrong?

Alternatively, you can do this from under the hood. Also push on the rod that protrudes from the back of the solenoid. Push it REAL hard.

Charlie
 
and, fwiw, what I did wrong was all the other (brown) wires on the wrong side of the solenoid. :blush:
 
My name is Jack, and I am also a bugeye addict, Miss Agatha is her name.
 
Back
Top