Earth lead burnt out?

Right been done at me car today to spin the engine over,been doing it a few times with the plugs out,noticed my power lead gets abit bit when constant turning over(which I can understand),so today I out the spark plugs and leads on,to get the oil pressure up,so the light goes out,but it won't turn over,just cuts out as if the battery is dead but its just been charged,also was spinning over fine without the plugs in, then I noticed some smoke and a little flame me earth lead was on fire,also my power lead was really hot too,can't work out why it won't spin over with the plugs in,but will without them,I took a pick of my earth lead as I took it off,puzzling me this

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/b...46D9CC12D1.jpg

check the engines earth strap got good connection still, take it off ifs its still on and clean the connection, may be the cause

It's not turning over because the live is shorting to earth somewhere, follow where the hot live wire goes to

It's the lead straight from the battery,will make a new earth strap up,just wondering why it spins over fine without the plugs in, but when they are in its like there is too much pressure or something,was thinking could it be the starter motor sticking

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Originally Posted by Jon_nova1

It's not turning over because the live is shorting to earth somewhere, follow where the hot live wire goes to

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Its the live that goes to the starter motor

could be a faulty starter then, i'd take a jump lead straight from the block to the battery to help diagnose

the cables are too small, or not rated high enough.. or there is a duff connection in the circuit...

spinning an engine over till the oil is pumped up is an awful lot of load for some cables to do....you should wedge the throttle open to make it less work, but you also need to disconnect the throttle sender or you will flood it

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Originally Posted by Jon_nova1

could be a faulty starter then, i'd take a jump lead straight from the block to the battery to help diagnose

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Will give that a go when I'm next down there

Getting to a point where I have had enough of it grrrrr

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Originally Posted by mowgli

the cables are too small, or not rated high enough.. or there is a duff connection in the circuit...

spinning an engine over till the oil is pumped up is an awful lot of load for some cables to do....you should wedge the throttle open to make it less work, but you also need to disconnect the throttle sender or you will flood it

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It wouldn't even turn over with the plugs in,it was fine before,just getting it ready to get the base map loaded on by my mate,but another set back again,its the original cables it had on it before been fine with them until now,will have a look see if there's anything shorting out,but its gonna be one of those pain in th butt things,I already disconnected the throttle sensor,plus took the fuse out the fuel pump,

get your battery discharge tested.
then get your starter motor checked out.

it shouldn't struggle to turn over with the plugs in, then burn out the cables with them out...

battery leads do get hot when cranking over, but you have some sort of fault to cause that level of heat.

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Originally Posted by mowgli

get your battery discharge tested.
then get your starter motor checked out.

it shouldn't struggle to turn over with the plugs in, then burn out the cables with them out...

battery leads do get hot when cranking over, but you have some sort of fault to cause that level of heat.

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Battery is brand new varley red top one

How I get the starter tested

It was fin before,my mate just said to me he put some oil done where the plugs are,could this cause it to not turn over just a thought

I knew they get abit hot but to catch on fire there's something not right

I do think its the starter in one way, but it should do the same with the plugs out tho baffled

There is more pressure in an engine to turn over with the plugs in, if your starter is gooosed and shorting itself out, it will struggle with the pressure of turning with plugs in and as mowgli said, the cables will heat and in this case overheat.

This is my totally unsafe and obviously unrecommended methid for starter testing. Remove the starter and use your battery and a set of jump leads. Thick gloves and put the earth lead and current lead to the appropriiate places, it should spin fast and freely.

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Originally Posted by marc69

There is more pressure in an engine to turn over with the plugs in, if your starter is gooosed and shorting itself out, it will struggle with the pressure of turning with plugs in and as mowgli said, the cables will heat and in this case overheat.

This is my totally unsafe and obviously unrecommended methid for starter testing. Remove the starter and use your battery and a set of jump leads. Thick gloves and put the earth lead and current lead to the appropriiate places, it should spin fast and freely.

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Thought it would be capable of doing that

Thinks its gotta be the starter,can I get them recondition or is it worth buying a new one

Will give that a go when I'm next down there

Thanks everyone

Wi let to know the outcome

The motor factor I use swapped my old one for a new one plus £65. This was about 5 years ago and it was my 1.0.

a recon is just as good as a new one.

and yes, putting oil down the bores will give higher pressure with the plugs in, but won't do much with them out

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Originally Posted by marc69

The motor factor I use swapped my old one for a new one plus £65. This was about 5 years ago and it was my 1.0.

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Should be able to get one cheap or cheaper,will ask my mate to get one through his work if he can

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Originally Posted by mowgli

a recon is just as good as a new one.

and yes, putting oil down the bores will give higher pressure with the plugs in, but won't do much with them out

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Will see how much a recon is or get mine done,or see how much my mate can get one,do they all fit the same ie xe and let engines

change of topic for 2 secs, sorry....what is a xe (think it's a redtop?) and a let?

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Originally Posted by marc69

change of topic for 2 secs, sorry....what is a xe (think it's a redtop?) and a let?

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Yeah mate xe (red top)the let (c20let),I should of put that lol

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Originally Posted by tony k

Yeah mate xe (red top)the let (c20let),I should of put that lol

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thanks, its just me, I have no knowledge of the big engine stuff. whats a c20 let? Excuse my ignorance.

a calibra turbo money pit engine

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Originally Posted by mowgli

a calibra turbo money pit engine

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to the point lol!

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Originally Posted by mowgli

a calibra turbo money pit engine

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Spot on there mowgli lol

Just a quick one guys,do you have a earth off the starter as well,also what side does it go on,just wanna be on the safe side

Cheers

you have an earth going tht bolts onto the battery tray (the one that burnt out) and an earth strap that goes from the gearbox to the inner chassis leg, just make sure the connections are clean and rust free

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Originally Posted by Jon_nova1

you have an earth going tht bolts onto the battery tray (the one that burnt out) and an earth strap that goes from the gearbox to the inner chassis leg, just make sure the connections are clean and rust free

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Haven got a fire wall on mine, but my earth goes to a bolt then to my battery ,which has clean and good contact,also have th one that goes to the gearbox to my bias pedal box,as done this on my old one,don't think ive got a earth on the startermotor,will have to double check that tho

I may be wrong here but, i think the starter earths through the bolts that attach it to the engine. I had an issue with my track car at first witrh a lazy motor, I remover the bolts, cleaned the surfaces and a year later it's still a great starter.