Starter Relay driving me to adult beverages!

Hello fellow Jag lover citizens!
I’m working on my 1970 E Type series II OTS Vin. 1R11831 It won’t start.
I’ve been told (local wrench) that I have a bad starter relay. It’s a 7 terminal 22RA that SNG tells me it should be replaced with a 6RA and I have ordered that. The 6RA has less terminals. Does anybody happen to have a photo or diagram of just the section for the starter relay? This current relay is so faded I can’t read the “w” from the "c"s . I had another older 22RA relay unit in my parts that I tried for a replacement, but this must me bad also. I hooked up the terminals as they had been on the original relay but as soon as I re installed the battery ground cable the starter started cranking with the ignition switch off! I had to pull the battery ground back off to stop the cranking. Thank goodness my wife was in the car making sure it was out of gear. Any light shed on this is greatly appreciated. Thanks Much
Jack

You might want to note whether your ignition has a big ballast resistor or not. I think you’re near the change point and it will affect the wiring used. Might also say whether the relay is on the firewall or under the dash.

Thanks GEO The relay is on the firewall next to windshield washer . Give me a hint on this ballast - appearance and location? Thanks

Pic of the firewall relay on a '71…

What the ballast resistor looks like (white ceramic block, sits on the top of the picture frame next to the coil…

PS - Ignore the coil wiring as this car had a Pertronix distributor.

Great! Thanks GEO

You mean this sort of diagram?

image

It’s problematic to replace a 22RA with a 6RA, since the 22 is double contact. I suppose you could double up the WR and WU wires on C1, but I bet the points burn quickly.

What was wrong with the original relay? You can usually open the can and dress the points for a second life.

The original relay was a Lucas 33231 which is a double contact relay from the 6RA family.

There are Lucas double contact relays in both the 6RA and 22RA families. @jack_coulter what needs to be emphasized here is that 6RA and 22RA are relay families, each of which contain multiple relays for different functions. Specifying 6RA or 22RA is therefore pretty meaningless without the full relay number. As I understand it, the 6RA family of relays have a coil resistance of around 75 ohms, whereas the 22RA relays have a much lower (around 16 ohms) coil resistance. The 22RAs therefore draw a much higher current when activated. I imagine that they therefore have much strongr return springs and (perhaps) are used in cases where a quicker action is required to reduce contact sparking?

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Thanks Michael
Car wouldn’t start. My local wrench jumped the relay and started the car. It’s got a high torque starter that’s only about a year old. Nobody seems to stock the 22RA anymore, SNG advised me to change it out with the updated 6RA. My problem is getting a bunch of electrical tape off the leads to identify the colors for hook up. I didn’t know I could open it>

Jack

I have a spare 22RA – it’s a 33356. If I’m reading the other letters/numbers correctly - it is a '73. May not be period correct, but it is a 22RA.


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I’ll leave it to the relay experts to say if it’ll work in your situation. I can’t understand a bit of their gobbledygook
If so, we can talk

My old XJ6 had a bad starter relay. When i won’t start, I took a large object and gave it a good smack, then it worked fine. Friend of mine had the same issue and was amazed when i took a good smack at her relay and her car started right up.

My car is VIN 1R9120 and is about 6 months older than yours. My starter solenoid relay is under the dash just to the right of the glove box as you face forward. As far as I know it’s original but I’m not the original owner. It’s a four prong relay and matches the Series 2 wiring diagram in Bentley, page 386. The wire colours are:
W1 white yellow (starter position on ignition key switch)
W2 black/black green (ground or inhibitor switch, if an automatic)
C1 white red (to starter motor)
C2 brown (battery power, always energized–there’s no switch or fuse between the battery and C2)
Connecting the white red wire to the brown wire will engage the starter motor regardless if the key is in the ignition or not.

I think yours is before the relay change point and Jack’s is after.

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I’m not sure if you have the answer to your problem or not. If I understand your initial entry correctly, you want to know how to wire your new relay when you receive it. I found this link that may be helpful.

XKE Wiring - Starter - #3 by abowie

I’m not 100% sure I understand this thread correctly as to whether this diagram is correct or not. It seems to make sense to me. In summary,
W1–white yellow
W2–black (ground)
C1–white blue
C2–it says tan but I suspect it will be brown
C4–white red
The picture that Geo Hahn posted shows the same colouring for the wires but I couldn’t read the Ws and Cs. Geo was correct, my car has an earlier relay.

I would start by opening the relay up and seeing what’s up with it. It’s pretty easy to do if you carefully bending the crimps on the case back. There is a good chance that the contacts on a 53 year old car are corroded or even stuck. Use a small file and carefully clean the up the contacts like you would the ignition points. Put twelve volts on the W1 & W2 contacts and watch to see that the contact actually close/open. If you are careful these relays are fairly easy to repair. Just be careful of to re-position the ‘gasket’ that seals the phenolic base to the case to keep water out. About the only thing that renders the relays un-fixable is a burned up coil and this is not that common.

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