Mothra SR20DE Swap in Florida

[sfdaugherty]

The starter ground may be through the engine block but the block should be grounded too.

I don't know about an "extra" wire to the battery . . . if you are talking about a ground, I would recommend not just grounding to the body. The Ron Francis grounding system brings the ground from the battery to various parts of the car using a very large gauge wire. Paint and powder coating are NOT good grounds.

[spl310]

I have your number Mike. I will send you a text tomorrow.

[Bigtaku]

The starter ground may be through the engine block but the block should be grounded too.

I don't know about an "extra" wire to the battery . . . if you are talking about a ground, I would recommend not just grounding to the body. The Ron Francis grounding system brings the ground from the battery to various parts of the car using a very large gauge wire. Paint and powder coating are NOT good grounds.

The extra wire is a direct positive cable from the battery and is plenty heavy enough. I have the really really thick positive cable/wire going to the harness and the 2nd normal thick positive cable going to the starter. ( I forget what size they are.) I have ground off all the paint to each ground so I am guessing that this has something to do with my ignition. I think I have found someone to help with the electrical so I'm hoping this confusing nightmare should go better for me soon.

[bobd]

My negative battery cable is bolted to the trunk floor. On the bottom side of that bolt is the same size cable going all the way to the engine block. There are multiple other grounds to the harness, frame and body. JMHO, but you can never have too many grounds!

[Bigtaku]

My negative battery cable is bolted to the trunk floor. On the bottom side of that bolt is the same size cable going all the way to the engine block. There are multiple other grounds to the harness, frame and body. JMHO, but you can never have too many grounds!

I will try your trunk to block set up today. If I keep getting hot grounds I would think I could narrow the problem down to two things. 1. That it is because of a short. Not sure how I could have a short with all new wires 2. The ignition wires are messed up.
The first time I tried to start the car with my ground connections not on good enough clean metal the car grounded to the throttle cable. I have no idea if that is still a problem but will try again today with the cable off the throttle.

[Bigtaku]

Morning update. When I tried to connect the battery to the block I had a big arc on the battery negative side. so I immediately disconnected. Never even got the main negative hooked up. I understand that I can get a small spark but this is like a welding arc. ugh. Not sure what to try next

[spriso]

Michael.

Disconnect everything engine related. You have managed to hook up one of your power wires to ground. I suspect it will be one of the wires with a loop end that you have grounded instead of running to a power-- and my guess is that it is a wire that pulled power from the starter terminal.

Start over. Slowly, and methodically re-connect each wire. Since you are using a Wiring Specialties harness, each connector should be labeled. Don't assume anything, but make 100% sure that each connection that you are making is going to the correct location.

In situations like this I recommend disconnecting everything, and one-by-one re-connecting each plug. To put your mind at rest, you can touch the positive connection at the batter after each one to make sure you don't have that spark-- which is telling you that you have things incorrectly wired!

Also, make sure that you don't have any pinched wires--

Good luck,

Michael

[peter]

It could also be the dynamo that is connected to the ground, I made in the trunk a ground and also from the engine to the chassis.
It was very easy to make a mistake to the starter and dynamo.
And if you don't want to use a dynamo light in the car it's not necessary, the battery will be loaded also without a dynamo light, only not under 2000 rpm when started, after you go over the 2500rpm you can loose the throttle and it's loading at all rpm's.

[Bigtaku]

It could also be the dynamo that is connected to the ground, I made in the trunk a ground and also from the engine to the chassis.
It was very easy to make a mistake to the starter and dynamo.
And if you don't want to use a dynamo light in the car it's not necessary, the battery will be loaded also without a dynamo light, only not under 2000 rpm when started, after you go over the 2500rpm you can loose the throttle and it's loading at all rpm's.

When you say dynamo I am confused. Sorry my knowledge of electricity is not very good. I thought I had an alternator. Dynamo generates positive current always and an Alternator generates both positive and negative current. Does my alternator have a dynamo? I am just trying to get a better understanding and really appreciate your input. So thanks.
I have a ground to the alternator casing (part of my 5 point grounding kit) but as you say things get pretty tight down there with hoses and wire.
One thing that is on my list of things to check is my Subaru Justy alternator wiring. I failed to let Wiring Specialties know that I did not have a Silvia alternator and rewired the plug myself with a plug I bought on ebay. It was one of the first attempts at wiring and could be an issue. Hopefully today will shed more light on the problem as I have removed my harness again and will be (as Michael Spreadbury suggested) checking each wire as I plug it in. I have a qualified electrician coming by today as well. My poor negative battery terminal looks like a bomb zone.

[peter]

The black part at the Dynamo(alternator) is the + who is also connected to the Startmotor.
And don't forget to ground the dynamo to the chassis as well.
In Europe we use the name Dynamo, you call it as alternator.
B.t.w. this is a ca18det but I belief the alternator is the same.

[spriso]

You should not have had to re-wire your alternator-- the beauty of the Subaru Justy alternator swap is the wiring is exactly the same as the Nissan SR20DE(T) wiring and uses the same plug.



There is an earlier version of the Subaru Justy alternator that does have a T-plug, and if you can't find a later version of the Subaru Justy alternator with the correct "Nissan Style" plug, it would be wired like this:



Michael

[Bigtaku]

I got her to turn over today without arcing. It's a big day for me! I had to remove the alternator wiring to stop the problems but OH MAN it was a good day. Tomorrow I will figure out whats going on with the alternator. I took it to have it checked and it passed so the problem is getting narrowed down. The good rum is being poured tonight!!!

[spl310]

Very good!

[spriso]

Check the wiring for a ring terminal from your Wiring Specialties harness which is marked "Ground", I suspect that in your alternator wiring, you have connected that to the "battery" terminal on the back of the Subaru Justy alternator (which would be a dead short to ground). The Subaru Justy alternator does not have a "Ground" terminal on the back of it as you ground the alternator thru the case, so I suspect that you may have hooked the ground wire to the positive battery terminal on the back of the alternator by mistake.

Also, something else that could cause you an issue as you attempt to start this car for the first time-- since you have a late model ign switch in there, make sure that you connect the "IG" Ignition and the "R" resistor wires together to provide a constant "key on" power while the engine is cranking over. What happens if you just connect your new wiring for "Key on" to the IG terminal on the switch is that some Datsun switches will momentarily drop power during Key-on" and you will lose power to the IGN wire while cranking, because it is going to the "+" side of the ballast resistor.

So, connect the IGN and R wires together out of the back side of the switch, and then connect that to your key-on power wire and the car should start!

Good luck,

Michael

[Bigtaku]

Problem solved! The generator needed a non-conductive washer for the power from the starter. I looked at it a hundred times and never saw I was connecting positive to the casing. Two weeks lost but I have a running roadster!