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What have I done.
I had not run the car in two weeks. Rain, rain.It started but decided to charge the battery.Hit the steering assembly when taking off the Poz. cable and sparked.charged Battery, put the battery back in and nothing.Turn key, no light, turn on lights they do not come on.All the fuses look ok.Have looked in the Muir book for a hint.?Did the wrench ground out against the steering column or the pos cable hit the steering and sparked?
Does the battery have a charge after it shorted?
The battery is hooked up right – pos-pos and neg-neg?
FWIW, you should always remove the neg cable first and install it last, for safety reasons, then the battery doesn’t get shorted out.Sparked on steering when the wrench hit the column while taking off the pos cable.
I hooked the battery back up to the charger and shows full charge.yes battery hooked up pos-pos-neg-negtks for that safety hint.Not sure if it would prevent starting…but you may have blown out the voltage regulator.
Would it be out of place to note that your screen name is REALLY appropriate right now?Paul Mossberg
Former Owner of a 1981 Classic Roadsters Ltd. Duchess (VW)
2005 Intermeccanica RoadsterIf you own a TDr and are not in the Registry, please go to https://tdreplica.com/forums/topic/mg-td-replica-registry/ and register (you need to copy and paste the link)
Tks, that is another place to check.
Like all us big kids, none of us are happy when our toys are broken.Something similar happened to me.Going down village road it just quit. Nothing at all.Went to local store .Replaced all female wire ends and shined up male ends in engine compartment .A very easy $5.00 fix
Do you have a voltmeter or just using the idiot lights on the charger? You could have burned/melted either of the battery terminals inside the battery and get no juice out of it. You also could have burned/melted the ground cable where it attaches to the body of the car or engine, or the cable itself. Check that connection and the cable. If you have the pos red wire connected to the battery, you could try a temporary battery jumper cable from the neg battery terminal to the engine block, and see what works. Somewhere you have an open circuit if nothing works at all.
No voltmeter, Ground cable looks ok. tried jumper cable, with the neg. and tried connected to another car. Still nothing. Guess time for tow in.
You wrote your battery charger showed a full charge. That should rule out any problems within the battery.
Are you double sure about the fuses? You’ve had to write twice now that you had checked them and they are ok. But it is really hard to believe you could short the main hot wire off the battery and without blowing a fuse.
If you have a locking steering column, you also will likely have a fuse in the main power wire to the ignition switch. I know I do. It will be tucked into the column underneath.
A dash mounted ignition switch may have this also, not sure.
Also not sure if VW’s have a fusible link in the main power wire to the starter. Wouldn’t hurt to look there as well.
PMOSSBERG2012-05-21 18:28:32
Paul Mossberg
Former Owner of a 1981 Classic Roadsters Ltd. Duchess (VW)
2005 Intermeccanica RoadsterIf you own a TDr and are not in the Registry, please go to https://tdreplica.com/forums/topic/mg-td-replica-registry/ and register (you need to copy and paste the link)
I concure with Paul. There is a fuse your not finding. You have to hold that ground or spark to burn any wires or cause any damage other than fuse. Theres a master someplace.
A huge long-shot, but I read this on the Samba forum:
…check the fuses and headlight switch. Remember
that the headlight switch controls the headlights AND when you turn the
key for ignition that circuit also runs through the headlight switch. a
bum switch will knock out the engine and headlights.And while you are inspecting the fuses for the umpteenth time, check ALL the connections, make sure they are tight.
PMOSSBERG2012-05-21 18:35:35
Paul Mossberg
Former Owner of a 1981 Classic Roadsters Ltd. Duchess (VW)
2005 Intermeccanica RoadsterIf you own a TDr and are not in the Registry, please go to https://tdreplica.com/forums/topic/mg-td-replica-registry/ and register (you need to copy and paste the link)
Or bring it to Carlisle next year, park it in the hotel parking lot with a help wanted sign on it. It’ll be fixed in ten minutes.
This year, the Speedster guys changed a cracked front wheel bearing on Saturday morning and pulled the other side to inspect it, in an hour and a half.
Then they moved on to fix another rough running car, which turned out to be clogged jets on both carbs.
Paul Mossberg
Former Owner of a 1981 Classic Roadsters Ltd. Duchess (VW)
2005 Intermeccanica RoadsterIf you own a TDr and are not in the Registry, please go to https://tdreplica.com/forums/topic/mg-td-replica-registry/ and register (you need to copy and paste the link)
The speedster guys were Tom and Myself. Changed bearings and fixed brakes. All inside of 2 hours. Now on to you, there is a secondary fuse or relay on all original VW. Should be on yours as well its either located near fuse box or in engine compartment to the right. They used to be located behind or under rear seat. Now if you have a ford or cheavy type its in the engine compartment generally on the firewall. Trace the wires from the starter to the small tin can that looks like a film canister and to primary fuse box. the relay is that canister. Check that. Now you might have a secondary fuse box these generally had 4 fuses in one place and then behind the glove or mitten box was a second one this one had 2 fuses in it. Ild start following wires from my starter back. Sounds like a fuse or relay. There was a show on stacy davids garage sunday that talked of this very problem. You really had to arc bad to get this result. Did it hurt.
If there no fusible links in the wire , if you hot wire the starter will she turn over ? if it will turn over than i would look at the solenoid wire back to the fuse box and ignition switch . check the ground at the frame , make sure all are tight . I know it will be something simple
DanThanks All
I will keep looking and tryingBack under the dash to look for more fuses, did not see with ignition.Wiil try tracing and recheckingThanks againI may have missed it somewhere in the thread but when you say you checked the fuses did you check them with an OHM meter for continuity or just visual? If visual, don’t trust your eyes, the break can be deep in the metal socket.
with power lead and ground lead.you might try using a continuty checker. Pointed probe with light bulb and an alligator clip. or basic garage light socket with 2 leads.
Place probe on positive battery post place other end on negative battery post. Light should light up if ground is good. next go to ignition switch check in same manner. No light here means ignition switch is fried.How do I know fried wires to ignition coil and switch also got fried.Hope this helps.Checked fuses by removing and replacing. Will need to buy the garage light. At least another start. Tks
I would not expect grounding out the positive terminal of the battery at the battery would blow any fuses. At that point, fuses are no longer in the circuit. What I would look for is a connection in the negative circuit has opened up.
Shorting the pos battery terminal to the steering post would not energize the horn or send any current through it, that comes from a positive wire through the horn button. The steering post is a ground.
Like I said above and Al Greig said, a direct short from the pos battery post to ground doesn’t involve any wiring or any fuses, other than the ground cable. There has to be something that burned out on the ground side of the circuit and I think you should start tracing that backwards from the battery, and then also check the connection to the ground wire to the fuse distribution panel if it comes off the same place..All the same, I’d look at the wire (or wires) that connect the two bits of the steering shaft over the rag joint.
You’re right–it should not matter, because everything is grounded elsewhere. But it might matter.
edsnova2012-05-22 10:01:01
Going through wiring diagram in manual section switch gets power from the fuse panel. Not like vw wiring. so light switch should be out of picture. No electrical working at all is major supply or ground issue. Being battery was being charged, was posts and cables cleaned to bright and shinny condition? Oxidation causes a dull gray scale on the posts and cables and sometimes can cause no electricy to flow. If posts were cleaned and are bright and shinny, next to check is poweer getting to starter motor? Regulator? Test light is easy way to check for power at each component. Check for power at cable attachment and were it ends. Disconnect component place test light between cable and component light should light. If light lights cable is good. Cables sometimes corrode internally and no current will flow. They also sometimes will seperate internally.
A jumper wire could be placed between battery and ignition switch. Key in ON position not START. should have lights. Headlights. If lights come on problem is in main power cable from battery to were power is delivered.
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