I have an older car I don't use much. The battery was running low so I removed it and trickle charged it on a ' clever ' charger until it was fully juiced .
On connecting it back to the car , suddenly smoke emerged from the engine bay - I quickly disconnected it... I investigated and saw that a cable ( no more than 2mm core ) covered in red insulation and feeding the starter solenoid off the main loom had begun to melt ... or rather the red insulation begun to melt and expose the cable
I will call the 4th emergency service out, but beforehand , anybody got any tips on what could have been the root cause and what I can do to cure it ?
many thanks
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motorprop
Which terminal on the solenoid does it go to? I don't recall red main feeds on a Mini; they tended to use BS colours and the unfused battery feeds were brown.
There would be a white/red to the solenoid energising terminal; but that shouldn't be able to short to ground.
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Just been for a look at 12.55 am , with a torch .. the cable connects with one or two others , to what looks like a big bolt at the back of the solenoid. It's not the thickest cable going there , but it definitely is red , as is another joining the solenoid.
the cable in question is sheathed in an extra wide sleeve as it passes the over the distributor.It looks like it comes off the main loom, although as a sub - branch to the main cable .
One thing worth noting is that as I tried to connect the battery and before noticing the smoke , the car horn began to sound ..
Could this cable ( which I now estimate as 3 mm core ) be the alarm / immobilizer ?
you say you don't recall these Minis having them , but bear in mind this '95 Mini is reasonably modern, with catalytic convertors and an ECU
thanks for your comments anyway
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Could these be the alternator main output cables? It sounds too thick for an alarm cable.
If they're on the bolt terminal, then they are the main feeds and the short will have fried it's length up to the shorting point.
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A ridiculous point perhaps, but check the battery voltage, and in particular the polarity. It is possible that you have reverse charged it. It has been done before......
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I'm an idiot - edit by wm - connected battery to wrong terminals .... luckily no serious damage done. Thanks for replies
Edited by Webmaster on 30/08/2008 at 15:02
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I think you might need to check that the alternator is actually charging, and all 3 phases are still working.
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