2G New owner electrical problem

[DSM newbie]

Hey everyone,

I’m glad to be the new owner of a 1999 Mitsubishi Eclipse GS. Car has a 420A motor with a manual transmission. I am in the process of tearing the car apart and then rebuilding it but I am having problems with some of the wiring the previous owner did to the car. I would like to get that sorted before moving on with the rest of the build. Please bear with me as this
may be a longer post.

First problem I am having is my starter wiring. I have everything hooked up correctly to the starter for it to draw power from the battery (power wire and ground) I need to know where the starter relay wire from the center of the car comes in and what it looks like. The previous owner took this wire off and rigged another switch in the engine compartment to the starter. When a wire with 12v is connected to the starter the car cranks and starts as it should, it is just finding the wire that does this when I am sitting in the car turning the key. I would like to get is back to OEM without the modifications. If someone can show me where the starter wire is in there car and how it should looked wired up I would appreciate it!

The 15 amp fuse that controls the rear running lights and interior dash lights keeps blowing when the headlights are flipped on. Has anyone else had this issue/ have a fix for it?

Like I said I am doing a full rebuild on the car and I am not afraid to rewire the car if need be but if I can help it I would obviously love that. I have lots of parts on the way interior, exterior and engine but like I said I would like to get all the wiring fixed before installing those parts!

Thank you for your help! Glad to be apart of the forum with so much knowledge about these cars! I attached some pictures of the car. I got it for 1200.00 so don’t mind the imperfections

 

[dustyboner]

here is the starter harness, the arrow points to the intermediate connector.
the wire is black with a yellow stripe, it goes from the solenoid to the intermediate connector

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then from the intermediate connector the wire should enter the harness as indicated below.
I cant tell from the pic if that wire is going to the capacitor or to the solenoid but it doesn't matter, they both split from the harness in the same spot.
The wire routing is in the big harness going thru the firewall , not the ones going in from under the drivers side fender

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The 15 amp fuse that controls the rear running lights and interior dash lights keeps blowing when the headlights are flipped on. Has anyone else had this issue/ have a fix for it?

sounds like a short, i bet Mr. Electrical Manual can help you

 

[DSM newbie]

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Thank you so much for the responses and the pictures! It’s giving me a good idea of what the wiring is supposed to look like.. I have a few more pictures of the starter and some wires that maybe you can help me out with!

The first is I believe the yellow and black wire that you mentioned going into the intermediate connector. Can you confirm? It was just hanging out of the harness without the correct/any connector on it.

next us a black and red wire coming from the same harness that was connected to the third pictures connector. Again the connections are wrong. It looks like he just added a female end to rig it so it works. It is supposed to be there and what is that connection for?

last would be on the starter. Is that the correct connector for the starter that the starter wire connects to? It also looks like it was added/ rigged just as a temporary fix. I would like to get all these connections taken car of! Lol

Thank you again for your responses and the wiring diagrams (Mr. Electrical) they will help out a ton while I am going over the car.

 

[luv2rallye]

Yes the black-yellow wire goes from the starter to the starter relay (you can apply +12v on it to activate the starter when it's connected to the starter). The starter relay is under the radio here: https://www.dsmtuners.com/attachments/starter-door-lock-power-1-relays-98-99-jpg.160706/.
From there a black-red wire goes to the ignition switch (Start position).

Note that the starter relay is normally closed on a M/T. It only opens (activates) to DISABLE the starter - when the clutch is not pressed or for the theft alarm. If you don't care about this you can remove the starter relay and replace it with a jumper.

 

[dustyboner]

the black/red wire goes to the capacitor. here is what the connector looks like. it appears that your has the terminal crimped on but the plastic piece broke off.

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for the starter, just take a piece of wire and crimp an insulated female spade connector on one end. plug the spade into the terminal on the starter solenoid and then attach the other end to the black/yellow wire.

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here is what the original connector looks like

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[DSM newbie]

Is there anyway to get these connectors other than going to a junk yard and finding them? I just want them to be really secure and not unplug themselves.

 

[dustyboner]

you could buy a new battery harness, the part number is:
mb920192
that will get you the solenoid connector and the female end of the intermediate connector.

for the connector your missing for the capacitor and the male end of the intermediate, junkyard might be the only option.
If you cant find them at the junkyard, let me know.
I know i have the cap. connector and should have the interm. connector. Can't promise i'll be able to find them.

 

[luv2rallye]

Is there anyway to get these connectors other than going to a junk yard and finding them? I just want them to be really secure and not unplug themselves.

You might try these:
https://www.ohm-racing.com/product-category/connectors/electrical-connectors
http://connectors.sheridanengineering.com/index-2.htm
http://terminalsupplyco.com/Store/Product.aspx?pc=2973781
https://www.dsmtuners.com/threads/brand-new-oem-connectors-and-pins.422985/
http://jnztuning.com/product-category/connectors-wiring/
https://www.extremepsi.com/store/OEM-Replacement-Connectors/

 

[DSM newbie]

You guys are great! Thank you for your help I will be figuring this out tomorrow evening and will let you know if it all works. Thank you for the offer Dusty!

 

[DSM newbie]

Hey guys got everything wired up and the car turned over once. The battery that was in the car was crap so I am getting a new optima red top for the car. With that said it should start up no problem, my question is, is there a wire that connects to the positive terminal from the alternator? I have read on here somewhere that it runs to the fuse box then to the battery.. is that correct? Reason I am asking it because the previous battery only had the starter wire and fuse wires connected and nothing else. Thanks guys!

 

[dustyboner]

it goes from the alternator to one side of the 120A fusible link (in engine bay fusebox), the other end of the fusible link goes to the battery.

 

[DSM newbie]

Thanks Dusty, now back to the starter... I changed the battery and it still would not start. I took off the starter to test it and it worked out of the car when attached to the new battery. So, I tested the wires leading to the starter again and I was getting 12.4 volts to the starter as well as the starter switch wire when the clutch is engaged. I was getting 11.8 there. Am I missing something?

 

[dustyboner]

so your getting voltage to the solenoid and its not starting?

 

[DSM newbie]

Yes getting voltage through the wire that connects to the solenoid when the ignition is on and the clutch is pushed in but the starter would not kick on. Once it was out of the car it worked as it should.... not sure what is going on

 

[dustyboner]

i would say the theft alarm starter relay but you wouldn't be getting voltage at the (black/yellow) wire to the solenoid. i don't see how it would work out of the car but not installed unless either
-- you have a bad connection
-- the motor is was seized up

you have the negative battery cable (black/yellow) on the starter mounting bolt, right?
if you have a multimeter, check the resistance of the battery cables. They should be 0.1 or 0.2 ohms

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