Battery Earth

[richteex]

Afternoon and a merry xmas to all. Decided to check under the bonnet today......... just in case. Found that the earth wire coming from the battery is snapped. I Havent noticed any problems with the car (TOUCH WOOD) but. Is this likely to vause some issues? And, can i just reconnected it with some wire and a roll of insulation tape?

Ta

[mjb]

Is this likely to vause some issues?

YES! There's 2 earths, one goes to the body and the other to the engine block. Bad things can happen if both these paths aren't fault-free, ranging from unexpected electrical niggles to the complete failure of a BSI or ECU.

[steve_earwig]

Or even fire!! - Don't try to start it until you've sorted it. What size wire? Needs to be comparable size, preferable solidly crimped or soldered.

[richteex]

Serious then??

[richteex]

just to clarify..... its the small lead covered in green wire coming off the left hand terminal.

[mjb]

Small lead? Green wire? Left hand (positive) terminal???

I think we're going to need a picture of this, but it sounds like it could just be a power lead for a phone kit

[richteex]

i will send in a snap tommorrow morning

[steve_earwig]

So, not so worrying then thankfully. As an aside, when this used to happen to the engine earth lead on things like Corsets the starter would earth through the next available earth - the choke cable which would get extremely hot. I'm not sure what it would find on a 406, possible all the electronics. Dot dot dot.