Danny P Posted November 30, 2016 Share Posted November 30, 2016 Question: There was a ground strap secured with the negative earthing battery cable on the chassis cross member of my bedford MW (see arrow in below picture). Where is the other end of that strap attached to, if there is supposed to be a strap at all? Thanks, Danny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rampant rivet Posted November 30, 2016 Share Posted November 30, 2016 Hi Danny My earth cable runs from the neg terminal on the battery to that cross member then there is a seperate braided type earth strap the goes from there to the lower mounting bolt on the starter motor / engine block hope that is of some use. RR. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike30841 Posted November 30, 2016 Share Posted November 30, 2016 This is the earth (ground) lead for the engine, it attaches to one of the bellhousing bolts. Without it, neither the starter motor or ignition system will work. Regards, Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony B Posted November 30, 2016 Share Posted November 30, 2016 From battery to chassis to any convient place on engine or bell housing.To quote the old mantras though Electricity is lazy it likes clean metal. I now always use toothed anti shake washers for Earths, save a lot of annoying problems. Put another one on somewhere, you can never have enough earth. If the truck was intended to carry a radio virtually all sepreate metal parts were earth bonded. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danny P Posted December 1, 2016 Author Share Posted December 1, 2016 Thank you all, that's useful information! I'm afraid I do not really understand why the starter motor or ignition system will not work without that earth lead as it was not connected and my truck started very well? Could it be that the motor is running less smooth without it (hope this is not a very stupid question ... but it may explain why my truck is running not quite optimal at the moment). You're only stupid if you ask anything at all!:-D Danny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony B Posted December 1, 2016 Share Posted December 1, 2016 Could be it was earthing somewhere else, that is now dirty or loose. On the other hand....My Dodge 51 was a reliable as taxes, started, stopped then refused to start again. Despite every thing seeming OK, it was the earth lead. Clean and refit no further problems. Yes, it may cause intermittent ignition, check battery contacts as well , clean and tight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cosrec Posted December 1, 2016 Share Posted December 1, 2016 (edited) it will earth through many things but will do them no good. Stop Cables/throttle cables/ fuel lines/all the bearings on the way to back axle/ even seen the old fashioned temp sender glow when trying to start. Much simpler just put a nice clean earth strap on Edited December 1, 2016 by cosrec Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Suslowicz Posted December 2, 2016 Share Posted December 2, 2016 it will earth through many things but will do them no good. Stop Cables/throttle cables/ fuel lines/all the bearings on the way to back axle/ even seen the old fashioned temp sender glow when trying to start. Much simpler just put a nice clean earth strap on Smoke out of the (glowing) choke cable tends to be a bit alarming (plus you sometimes can't get it off choke after that happens). :wow: The starter motor current can easily be in the hundreds of amps range, and you need a good (substantial and low resistance) return path to the battery in order to avoid problems. Hence the substantial braid strap. Braid straps are cheap, replacing a smoked wiring harness is rather less so.:-D Chris. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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