Bren Posted October 21, 2018 Share Posted October 21, 2018 After having a new solenoid fitted I have tried to start the car today. Nothing except the throttle cable glowing red hot. I cannot understand what has gone wrong with this car other to say my mojo for it has gone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobblers Posted October 21, 2018 Share Posted October 21, 2018 That's the engine earth strap missing/broken/not connected, so it's earthing via the throttle cable. Tamworthbay, chaseracer, Stevebrookman and 8 others 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Six-cylinder Posted October 21, 2018 Share Posted October 21, 2018 My MGB GT would not start, the earth strap did not look damaged in anyway but the Auto sparks found it was not doing its job by simply putting a jump lead from engine to negative of battery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bren Posted October 21, 2018 Author Share Posted October 21, 2018 That's the engine earth strap missing/broken/not connected, so it's earthing via the throttle cable.Yes - times like this makes you question the wisdom of braided brake hoses. Seen this before and handbrake cable has melted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobblers Posted October 21, 2018 Share Posted October 21, 2018 Aye, I've seen a pair of front brake hoses go on fire after someone persisted and just held the key turned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tamworthbay Posted October 21, 2018 Share Posted October 21, 2018 It’s surprising how much current a car battery can give out given a chance. I welded a spanner to the chassis on my Robin Hood kit car when I dropped it and found a bit of the chassis that I hadn’t painted well enough near the battery. It glowed orange along its whole length for best part of a minute as I frantically tried to pull the earth off (sadly I didn’t have the right sized spanner as it was doing an impression of an early Edison light bulb at the time) richardmorris, Christine, chaseracer and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derskine Posted October 21, 2018 Share Posted October 21, 2018 Definitely engine earth strap. I was welding my Volvo 340 a while ago and the throttle cable caught fire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bren Posted October 21, 2018 Author Share Posted October 21, 2018 I removed the majn earth - from the alternator bracket to the body. Structurally it looked ok however the copper colour is long gone and it is now grey. Gave everything a clean but I will try it with a jumplead tk the - on the battery tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lesapandre Posted October 21, 2018 Share Posted October 21, 2018 I removed the majn earth - from the alternator bracket to the body. Structurally it looked ok however the copper colour is long gone and it is now grey. Gave everything a clean but I will try it with a jumplead tk the - on the battery tomorrow.I had this on my Citroen. Would not start - the earth seemed fine. Had it taken to garage - they tightened the strap and hey presto it started. Red face here... Bren 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy18s Posted October 21, 2018 Share Posted October 21, 2018 Almost every car I worked on has another big earth running off the gearbox to the shell,nice and close to the starter so it's got less distance to travel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bren Posted October 21, 2018 Author Share Posted October 21, 2018 Just checked with my meter - I have 12.7 volts where the earth attaches to the body. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JuridicalGrunt Posted October 21, 2018 Share Posted October 21, 2018 bren is yours a v8 if so thier is another earth strap on the passanger bank of the engine it goes from the block to under the coil and ballast resistor here is a couple of pictures of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bren Posted October 21, 2018 Author Share Posted October 21, 2018 Thznks for that - I will check tomorrow. Mine is a series 2 efi. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bren Posted October 22, 2018 Author Share Posted October 22, 2018 Had the car running. Throttle was sticky but freed itself. However the brake pedal simply went to the floor.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bren Posted October 22, 2018 Author Share Posted October 22, 2018 Rear flexi has melted. It will be getting a rubber replacement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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