triumphs
[Top] [All Lists]

Re: '74 TR6 coil connections

To: mtgaines@cs1.presby.edu, TRIUMPHS@autox.team.net
Subject: Re: '74 TR6 coil connections
From: DANMAS@aol.com
Date: Fri, 14 May 1999 21:25:41 EDT
In a message dated 5/13/99 5:42:47 PM Eastern Daylight Time, 
mtgaines@cs1.presby.edu writes:

> 
>  To Dan Masters or anyone else who can help me with a wiring problem:
>  
>  I have a question about wiring on a '74 TR6 for you.  My Haynes manual,
>  which came with the car when I bought it in October, does not have
>  a wiring diagram which matches my car.  The previous owner has
>  made a number of changes associated with the ignition system.  First,
>  he bypassed the original ignition switch which was torn up but still
>  mounted on the steering column.  I have removed the original one and
>  the replacement the DPO put on and have installed a new correct one.
>  But the DPO also bypassed the fat white/red wire from the ignition
>  switch with a shunt to the relay? under the bonnet on the left.  From
>  experience with my Spit I suspect that the fat wire is the coil ballast
>  resistor.  He also installed a HUGE coil which has its own ballast
>  resister alongside.  Two wires connect to the ballast resistor from the
>  harness; a brown one and a white/yellow one.  I suspect that normally
>  the white/yellow one would carry the reduced voltage from the resistor
>  wire during running and that the brown one would carry full voltage only
>  at startup.  I have ordered a new coil and plan to use it with the
>  original ballast resistor wire in place.  My problem is that the white/
>  yellow wire has been cut right next the two relays under the bonnet
>  and I can't tell where it should connect.  I think I could figure it
>  out if pressed to do so, but I would feel much better if someone could
>  tell me for sure.  I checked a buddy's '76 TR6 but the wires to his
>  relays are a little different and there is no white/yellow one.  Thanks
>  for any help you can provide.  If I'm off base here I'd sure like to
>  find out before I do something stupid!

Tim,

Let me see if I can help. From your description, it sounds like the PO 
bypassed the seatbelt interlock system.

The '75 and '76 TR6s used a wiring scheme that is slightly different than 
your '74, so you won't get much help there.


As equipped, your car was wired as follows:

The white/yellow wire carried EITHER the full 12 volts OR the reduced ballast 
voltage, depending on the state of the starter relay. One end of this wire 
connected to the + terminal of the coil, and the other end connected to the 
C4 terminal of the starter relay. 

The ballast resister was a piece of pink and white wire, looking like a 
"shoelace" and was bound up in the harness. One end of the ballast wire was 
spliced to the white/yellow wire, close to the coil. The other end was 
spliced, inside the harness, to the white wires coming from the ignition 
switch. The white wires are hot when the key is in the "RUN" or "START" 
position.

When the starter relay was energized, it supplied the full 12 volts to the 
white/yellow wire, bypassing the ballast resister. When the key was in the 
run position, and the starter relay was de-energized, the 12 volts was NOT 
supplied to the white/yellow wire, and the coil got its power from the white 
wires through the ballast resister, supplying the lower coil voltage.

Your starter relay was wired:

C1 - white/red
C2 - 2 brown wires
C4 - white/yellow wire
W1 - white/orange wire
W2 - black wire (ground)

When the relay is de-energized, C1, C2, and C4 are isolated from each other. 
When the relay is energized, these three termionals are all connected 
together inside the relay. The brown wires are hot ALL THE TIME, so when the 
relay is energized, power is supplied from the brown wires to the to both the 
white/yellow and the white/red wires. The white yellow wire is the ballast 
bypass to the coil, and the white/red supplies the power to operate the 
starter solenoid.

The white/orange wire came from the seat belt interlock module, and had power 
on it when the ignition key was in the "start" position AND all the seat belt 
interlock conditions were satisfied. 

The white/red wire from the ignition key is hot when the key is in the 
"start" position only, and went to the seat belt module. This white/red wire 
connected to the white/orange wire inside the seat belt module when all the 
seat belt interlock conditions were satisfied.

So, now what?  First, check to see that the relay is wired as I described 
above. If not, let me know, and I'll try to figure out what to do. If it is, 
connect the white/red wire from the ignition switch to terminal W1 of the 
relay. Connect the end of the white/yellow wire that's near the relay to 
terminal C4 of the relay. If you have the white/orange wire still connected 
to the relay, disconnect it and tie it back out of the way. Probably nothing 
would happen if you left it where it's at, but it's better to be safe and 
disconnect it.

Connect the end of the white/yellow wire that now goes to the ballast 
resister to the + lead of the coil, and remove com-letely the brown wire.

All of the above is assuming the ballast resistor is still intact in the 
harness. If it is not, the car will start, but it will stop as soon as you 
release the key from the start position (unless the PO has done something 
strange with it).

In a seperate post, I'm sending you a copy of the '74 schematic.

Hope this helps!

Dan Masters,
Alcoa, TN

'71 TR6---------3000mile/year driver, fully restored
'71 TR6---------undergoing full restoration and Ford 5.0 V8 insertion - see:
                    http://members.aol.com/danmas/
'74 MGBGT---3000mile/year driver, original condition - slated for a V8 soon
'68 MGBGT---organ donor for the '74

<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>