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Car Forum / MINI / May 2005FIRE!!
After a few weeks of everything going right, its all gone wrong. Managed to fit head gasket and radiator and my confidence got too great. I've just spent all day installing a stage one kit and on completion, test drove the car to the end of the road where it cut out and the cabin filled with smoke. Everything electrical went dead. Checked the battery and the negative cable looks crispy. I can only asume i've accidentaly cut through the + cable somewhere and shorted it to the car. Its the Bristol mini show today and now i have to go in an Astra. Do you think i've caused major damage or is it just a cable and new battery required? I think i'm giving up working on it myself, too dangerous. Any ideas what it may cost to put right. Its a 1981 mini HL. Thanks Ian > After a few weeks of everything going right, its all gone wrong. > Managed to fit head gasket and radiator and my confidence got too great. [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > Thanks > Ian Firstly, congratulations for deciding to work on the car yourself, you will find it immensly satisfying to know the job is well done. As for your current (no pun intended) situation. I think you have done EXACTLY what I did (mumble) years ago, and what many have done before and many more will do in the future. When you fit the stage one system the manifold normally touches the main battery cable. When it gets hot it melts the cable causing a short circuit. As for the cure, almost certanly the battery will be history, but try to charge it with an external charger, you may be lucky. Also the main battery cable will need replacing, This you may want to entrust to a garage as it has a crimp connector rather bigger than most people want to tackle. Just ask them to route it away from the exhaust. In some ways you were lucky, it is not unheard of for the battery to catch fire when this happens. I once saw this happen right outside the fire station in Brighton, they still didn't save the car. Drew. > After a few weeks of everything going right, its all gone wrong. > Managed to fit head gasket and radiator and my confidence got too great. [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > Thanks > Ian Hello If the pos cable is okay then check that the earth form the battery to the body did not not have a bad/loose connection this would have caused it to heat up and fail. Check to the one from the engine to the body this usually heats up the choke and accelertor cables.Did you re-tighten up the earth after you worked on the car? If it is this Should be a cheap fix £5 for new cable. If you have shorted the positve cable to the body, perhaps where it goes round the frontsubframe (could it have been burnt through by the exhuast on the stage one kit?) then on a mini that age new battery,cables, Pos+ and Neg- and i dont think that the alternator will have like being shorted out. If you need battery, alternator, and cables (check the cable from the alternator to). I would think that your looking £100 plus in bits. >>After a few weeks of everything going right, its all gone wrong. >>Managed to fit head gasket and radiator and my confidence got too great. [quoted text clipped - 25 lines] > If you need battery, alternator, and cables (check the cable from the > alternator to). I would think that your looking £100 plus in bits. OK, i am going to do the stupid thing of trying to fix it myself. The only cable available is for a later spec mini 127" long. Does anyone know if i will have any probs fitting this? I notice some were over 130" but are unavailable. How easy would it be to route the cable away from the exaust? I don't know yet how it is held in place or exactly what route it takes. Is running it through cabin a good idea? Thanks for your replies, settled my nerves a bit. Ian >>> After a few weeks of everything going right, its all gone wrong. >>> Managed to fit head gasket and radiator and my confidence got too great. [quoted text clipped - 36 lines] > Thanks for your replies, settled my nerves a bit. > Ian Well done for having a go yourself! from what you are saying I presume that ready made cables are avaiable. The different lengths will be for the different places that the starter solenoid has been fitted over the years. If memory serves yours would have the solenoid on the inner wing under the water bottle, if so this would probably be one of the shorter cable runs. The battery cable runs in a metal sheath affair spot welded to the underside of the floor, the cable simply pushes in, but you may need to just open it a little to get the cable in. The cable only touches the exhaust right at the front where in curves up towards the front subframe, you just need to move it away from the exhaust and attach it to a convenient point with a cable tie or two. Rally cars route the cable and all the other services like brake pipes and hydro pipes through the cabin, but it is not really nescessary for a road car unless you intend to do some night rallies or just like the rally style. HTH Drew. drew at rileyelf dot co dot uk > Rally cars route the cable and all the other services like brake pipes > and hydro pipes through the cabin, but it is not really nescessary for a [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > HTH > Drew. I always route the battery cable inside the car. Even on a road car, stones can damage the cable and create a BIG short. That sounds like a contradiction I know. I would also advise a battery master switch, possibly even two, one in each lead. My car has one inside in the +ve lead and one outside just below the RH rear light in the -ve lead. If you use the type with a removable key inside, it makes a reasonable anti theft device as well. If you have radio memories to maintain or want to be able to leave the side lights on, put a 5 amp fuse across the isolator. John >>Rally cars route the cable and all the other services like brake pipes >>and hydro pipes through the cabin, but it is not really nescessary for a [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > > John 'Tis good advice, just for interest you can buy isolator switches designed for road cars with the radio keep alive by-pass fuse built in. This is also now an issue for some race and many road cars that use a 'learning' ecu like MPI Minis and modern Fords. If you disconnect the battery you need to re-teach the ECU, My Mondeo (family barge) will not even idle after the battery has been disconnected. It needs to be driven at various speeds to teach the ECU how I drive. Drew. > 'Tis good advice, just for interest you can buy isolator switches > designed for road cars with the radio keep alive by-pass fuse built in. I've not seen these. Where are they available? Of course, if you use them as an anti-theft, you are guaranteed to blow the fuse. I always leave a duster or something on the steering wheel to remind me. John
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