GeorgetheLandy Posted April 24, 2022 Share Posted April 24, 2022 So I went out for a drive in my 1963 Land Rover Series 2a (positive earth) and pulled up to a stop sign and balanced the clutch and accelerator to keep her steady on the hill and she cut out. I went to try and start her again and she was dead, not even any turning over or any sound whatsoever. I managed to let her roll back down the hill and find a safe place to rest but still, nothing happened when I started her. On my battery, I have a positive lead connected to the battery cradle and the negative lead goes to the ignition switch and then on to the starter motor. My immediate thought was the starter motor had stopped working but my friend said I should have another lead coming from the battery cradle to the engine block, I could not see one and wanted to see if this was true. I could not see anything in the manual stating there should be one or where it fits but thought I would ask all of you. He said to run a jumper from the positive terminal to the engine block and then to try starting her again. I did this and it did work, but I have never had this problem before nor can I see the lead connecting the positive feed to the engine block. I may buy a new started motor and fit that to see if that resolves the issue but wanted to ask for advice on here, any thoughts...SincerelyG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve b Posted April 25, 2022 Share Posted April 25, 2022 The standard location for the engine to chassis earth is from the starter mounting stud to the bulkhead to chassis bracket . There is sometimes a tab on the chassis to connect the earth to . Your existing earth to the battery carrier completes the circuit for body electrics . Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Escape Posted April 25, 2022 Share Posted April 25, 2022 Current from the starter motor needs to finds it's way to the battery, so all engines have a wire to the chassis (or battery) regardless of positive or negative earth. You can sometimes get away without a dedicated earth wire, if there is not too much resistance going through the engine mounts etc, but that's not a very good or reliable solution. Standard test is indeed to add a jumper cable as an earth wire to the engine. As this works, your starter motor should be fine but you need to add the earth wire. Running without one can/will cause a voltage drop and put extra load on the starter, which could lead to failure later on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gazzar Posted April 29, 2022 Share Posted April 29, 2022 Yep, it's not uncommon for defenders to melt the handbrake cable when the earth cable fails. A chunky cable from the battery to the block is a good idea, and make sure you cover both ends of the cable with grease, to prevent corrosion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snagger Posted April 29, 2022 Share Posted April 29, 2022 50 minutes ago, Gazzar said: Yep, it's not uncommon for defenders to melt the handbrake cable when the earth cable fails. A chunky cable from the battery to the block is a good idea, and make sure you cover both ends of the cable with grease, to prevent corrosion. My Tdi RRC did just that, so I added an extra earth cable after replacing the hand brake cable and the block earthing strap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smallfry Posted April 29, 2022 Share Posted April 29, 2022 I think it is good practice to have an engine/gearbox earth strap, even if the vehicle (whatever it is) does not appear to have one. Also an extra one ! You can never have too much earth, this goes for mains electricity too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gazzar Posted April 30, 2022 Share Posted April 30, 2022 Landrover electrical fault? Answer: it's the earth, what's the question? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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