14 replies to this topic

[GreaseMonkey]

Hi,

I want to stick on an additional engine earth to see if its causing the sluggish starting prob (new battery). Can I bolt one from the flywheel cover to the body or does it need to be from the block itself?

Cheers

Edited by GreaseMonkey, 05 December 2010 - 09:53 PM.

[Shifty]

Before you get too involved, try using a jumplead as an earth.

[danrock101]

Hi,

I want to stick on an additional engine earth to see if its causing the sluggish starting prob (new battery). Can I bolt one from the flywheel cover to the body or does it need to be from the block itself?

Cheers

Earlier minis had the earth, running from one of the wok bolts to the inner wing.

ahh my 850 has got both, I thought the bottom one was added extra but obviously not
I'd make sure the current earth straps on the engine and battery are in good condition first, I don't see why extras are needed when the originals should be enough

[Brams96]

Why not try upgrading your battery earth first. Get yourself to Maplin or an automotive store and get a length of 4ga cable and replace the battery earth with it, you'll need new lugs as well. If you still want to earth the engine just go from anywhere on the block to a decent point on the chassis.

[Guess-Works.com]

You can never have too many earth straps....

[AVV IT]

just go from anywhere on the block to a decent point on the chassis.

.....finding any point on the "chassis" might be a bit difficult on a mini, let alone a decent one!! (if you do find a chassis on your mini though, please let me know where as I think mine might be missing!! )

[Brams96]

(Brams96 @ Dec 6 2010, 06:36 AM) just go from anywhere on the block to a decent point on the chassis.

.....finding any point on the "chassis" might be a bit difficult on a mini, let alone a decent one!! (if you do find a chassis on your mini though, please let me know where as I think mine might be missing!! )

By 'chassis' I mean any chassis earth point ie the body of the car (where the negative of the battery is connected to).

[phil_clubman]

I have issues with starting aswell, were would a good place to put another engine earth ?

[lrostoke]

think its all been mentioned above

 

from wok (clutch housing) to inner wing.

 

also attached to both ends of top engine steady is a standard place. If thats in good condition should be plenty.

 

then most important check the battery to boot floor is a good clean tight connection

[phil_clubman]

Ok cheers

[andy159]

i have a second engine steady from the thermostat housing to the body could an extra earth strap be added there too?

[lrostoke]

The earth runs through the shell of the car...

 

So pretty much anywhere you can attach it to the shell and then to the engine/gearbox unit will be fine as long as nothing spinny or movey can tangle on it :)

[tiger99]

The original and perfectly satisfactory earth was indeed from one of the "wok" bolts to the inner wing, but later it got moved to the top steady, which is actually not very satisfactory. It is a good idea, with no downside, to add one to the inner wing. You could also go from one of the diff casing studs to the toeboard, on one of the subframe mount bolts.

 

Remember that if the earth is not good enough, the heavy starter current has several alternative paths available to it. One, well-known, fries the choke and/or accelerator cables, but the other one, which does expensive and initially unseen damage, is through the diff, pot joints, driveshafts, hub bearings, top balljoints, top arm bearings, subframe, and on rubber mounted subframe cars, the main brake pipe. And yes it does go that way, we had someone here a while back who was finding that the brake pipe was getting so hot that the fluid was boiling. Rolling element bearings are damaged by fairly small amounts of current, so bad earths are very likely associated with short-lived diff, hub and top arm bearings, the hub bearings being the most vulnerable as the diff also has plain bushes and the top arm current may pass through the thrust washers..

Edited by tiger99, 17 October 2013 - 11:06 AM.

[psychobob]

I had a classic a few weeks ago. my hornet had a massive short through the unearthed light circuit, and unbeknown to me, my earth strap had rusted through. it was only earthing through my braided clutch hose. I found out when the hose melted and burst into flames! bit of a panicky moment. 

[MrBounce]

Checking the condition of the battery earth is essential and not just the lead itself, but where it bolts to. On my first car, a quick glance & it looked "ok". Closer inspection after EVERYTHING died was that it had been hanging on by about two threads of wire. Whoops...