I am sorry if this has been answered before, but as I am losing the will I have probably missed it...

I will try to give as much info as possible...

The question is: What is wrong?

• 1989 Grand Finale 1500cc UK Model
• 26000 Miles
• Has been off the road for four years, but DID have the same fault before.
• When you turn the key you hear a click. Then the starter turns very slowly. Sometimes if you retry it will turn quicker other times it just clicks with no turning.
• Removed old alarm and all wiring, making sure any breaks into the loom were repaired.
• Replaced the starter motor with a used, but working one.
• Cleaned the contacts on anything connected to the starter.
• Cleaned the Earth cable contacts around the battery and the chassis.
• Cleaned the Earth cable contacts between the gearbox and the chassis.
• Had replaced the battery twice before so charged up both 12V 40AH batteries, but both are the same! (Both say fully charged on charger)
• The car WILL start on 2nd or 3rd try WHEN jumps leads are attached.
• Car runs and drives perfectly.
• Turn car off and it will NOT start again. Hot, Cold or in between!
• If I put a voltage meter across the battery I get 12-12.4V. When the key is turned to start the voltage drops to 4V.
• On accessory the lights, radio etc work. If the key is turned to start everything goes off….clock, dash lights etc
• Jump leads on and away she goes!
• Going to buy a new 60AH battery tomorrow to try!

As you can see, I think I have tried most thingsapart from the ignition itself. What I need please from here is pointers onwhere to test voltage etc and what else to try and clean. Again as I said thecar will start with jump leads, but it will not start on its own!

Thank you in advance!

It sounds pretty much like mine. Try opening the fuse box and fiddle with the thick brown wire. You may notice that the door lights will flicker a bit. The brown wire connects to a small black box, which is nothing more than a junction box. If you clean and tighten all of the contacts that go into that box, you're likely to experience a marked improvement. Also likely to be a temporary one, but at least you'll know where to look next time.
The next step will be the "brown wire mod", I guess. Haven't tried it, but it sounds logical.

Yes wyz - if you look on the xwebforums theres a 'Brown Wire Mod' that'll fix your issue.....http://x19.xwebforums.org/wiki/index.php?title=BrownWire Thats the boy....

Nello said:

Yes wyz - if you look on the xwebforums theres a 'Brown Wire Mod' that'll fix your issue.....http://x19.xwebforums.org/wiki/index.php?title=BrownWire Thats the boy....

Click to expand...

What he said

It is a combination of bad earth, water ingress and corrosion of the cables.
Soft the brown wire out *and* the main cable to the engine bay.

Thanks everyone!

Would you believe that the new 60AH battery sorted it! Starts first time every time. Now on 30th start without fail.

Going to do the brown wire mod anyway!

Oh did try three new or recharged 40-45AH batteries first!! Strange??!!

The current draw on the battery shouldn't require a 60Ah battery to turn the engine over. I would however agree that it is a good idea to have as much cranking capacity as you can fit in.

It may not be urgent any more but I seriously recommend following through on the brown wire mod if you can. Your battery will last longer, charge quicker, lights will be brighter, window winders (if you have electric windows) will be quicker, etc.

The wiring in the X1/9 is a work of art, sadly it isn't a particularly good work of art and degrades. It comes from a time that, while Italy was a world leader in electronics, they weren't allowed to source parts from outside of Italy. The result is decidedly second rate workmanship, still years ahead of anything being build in the UK of course but thanks to the sheer complexity it is a nightmare to fix when something goes wrong. The degradation of the main power circuit is thankfully an easy fix since it only needs a couple of cables to be changed.

I've just spent some time looking at the wiring diagram and the brown wire mod, and can't see much sense in doing the mod the way it is described.
As far as I've understood it, the "junction box" that I was writing about connects the brown wire from the battery to the brown wire from the ignition switch and the red wire that powers just about everything. The three wires appear to be of the same gauge, so assuming that the one that comes from the battery is overloaded is valid.
You could run a brown wire parallel to it and connect it to the same box, as there is actually a spare connection there. That would sort the overloading and look "stock".
The biggest problem is of course the bad quality of the connectors, but these can be easily replaced by new ones, since they are common spade connectors and this box in particular is accessible. No fuses are required, since the original brown wire is also not fused.
My concern is with the wire that runs directly from the battery to the starter, and how it may be beefed up. Also worth checking is the connection between alternator and starter. I'll keep you posted.