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Triumph TR6 - 75 starter relay wiring

My project is a 1975 TR6 that is undergoing a complete body off
restoration. I have installed a new wiring harness and have hooked up
most of the components but the starter relay is a mystery. The manuals
(Haynes, Bentley and the original Triumph) are all a bit vague. I have
the following wires available:
Double wire black
Brown heavy gauge
Brown standard gauge
White/red
White/orange
White/yellow
The terminals are marked per the manuals:
W1, W2, C1, C2 and C4
I believe the Black goes to the W2. The manuals say the White/orange to
W1 but on the other end of these it is White/red so not sure this is
correct. Any ideas on how this goes, or is there a better wiring diagram I should
consult/purchase.
Bruce Martin

Bruce
Let me see if I can help you out. I am going to look at it from the stand point of where does the connection go to/from not only what colour of the wire.

1: W2 has a black wire and goes directly to ground.
2: C2 goes directly to ground...colour?? probably black and jumpered to W2. (double wire black?)
3: W1 is a White/Orange and some where ( double bullet connector?)changes to colour White/red and goes to Ignition switch connection #1 ( engine start position)and to the starter motor...Also W1 goes to the seat belt timer (W/O) ....WHAT ..for an ejection seat! I would by-pass that crap.

Now comes the problem as the remaining terminals ( C1+C4)do not show their connection points.


I stopped for a bit on this post and have had time to think about it.. The only purpose of the relay, that I see, is for the seat belt timer/buzzer, the seat belt warning light and the door switch/key switch..what is a key switch? The connection of the relay does not affect the engine start or anything else. Your wiring harness may be semi-generic meaning it covers a few years. It appears that the relay was 1975 and if I recall was eliminated after 1975 because of complaints from customers. It WAS a dumb idea.
The stupid thing is called a starter relay but only looks to deal with the stupid buzzer ( 8 seconds) and light.
Ok, so what about all these wires. The heavy gauge brown is a direct to battery wire. It should go to the ammeter. The others could be for an OD switch.
Bruce, your best bet is to try and find the other ends of the wires. This might give you a clue as to their purpose.
The only place I see a W/R wire is from ignition key to starter motor...you should have this with the relay after with the W/O wire. the W/Y could be feed for a radio. Does it come off the ignition?
Black wires are always ground.
Brown wires are battery + and are constant hot feed.
hope this little bit helps.
Good luck
Rick C
Rick Crawford

Rick thanks for the comments, I'll give this a try and see what happens.

Bruce Martin

Since I just went through this with my car, one thing I now know is that the white/orange wire at the starter relay goes to the seat belt timer which was located naer the heater in the RH footwell. The white/red stripe wire goes from the ign. switch to this timer and then from the timer is white/orange to the starter relay. It is the trigger wire for the starter relay. The white/red stripe wire at the starter relay then sends power to the solenoid. Via one of the large brown wires of course.
Gene H

I could use a little help here also. Does anyone know if a 72 had/has a starter relay. Thanks Dave
dave

Dave, don't believe that the 72 had a starter relay. Doesn't show in the Bentley Manual and this was confirmed by my local Triumph parts supplier.

Bruce Martin

Hi Dave

No starter relay on 72 which is what I have. We just get to burn out ignition switches.

Bill
Bill Brayford

I had the same dilemma as Bruce with the starter relay/wiring confusion. But it has continued. Using the Bentley, there are actually four diagrams that one might refer to, not one the same as any others, and none correct. The diagram showing the back of the gauges & switches shows an ammeter where mine has a volt-meter, and wiper switch where the headlight switch is on my early 74. A friend checked his Haynes, and told me it wasn't any better. (I have yet to see it.) As I am building a car that was disassembled in '83 by another person, there is nothing to refer to as far as what is currently on the car. I have replaced the harness with a TRF unit, and it looks correct compared to the old one. I am a bit reluctant to go on armed with the sketchy info I have at this point. So, finally, does anyone have a better reference to rewire this thing? Any suggestions would be appreciated!

Thanks in advance..........Rod
Rod Nichols

Rod--Dan Masters is THE electrical expert for the 250/6 series Triumphs. He's a retired EE and has prepared an excellent electrical handbook for purchase. Never leave home without it. Just shoot him an e-mail at DANMAS@aol.com for the details.

His website is interesting as well http://britishv8.org/swaps/

Rick O.
Rick Orthen

This thread was discussed between 26/11/2002 and 21/01/2003

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