[TenTec] I dont get it.

[Paul Herrera]

Vernon Erle Ikeda wrote:

>    From what I was told by an automotive electrician, it prevents
> the radio ground return from becoming part of the automobile
> return circuit.   If the fuse was not there and the battery
> grounding strap failed, all the current would try and return via
> radio ground wire.
>
>         Vernon
>

There was just such a incident discussed on Car Talk a few weeks back. A
man went in to have his transmission worked on. Several weeks later, his
clutch cable broke. He had it replaced. Then a few more weeks passed and
another clutch cable breaks. He takes it back in to the transmission
repair shop thinking that they had somehow caused the problem. They
can't find anything wrong but they replace the cable FOC. A few more
weeks pass. Then one day as he cranks up the car and pushes in the
clutch, the cable breaks again. He get an independent mechanic to come
and look at the car. After hearing the guy's story, the mechanic
ventures a guest that now that the cable is broken the car won't start.
The guy gets into the car and as the mechanic guessed, it doesn't start.

What had happened was the battery grounding strap had failed. The car
circuitry was using the clutch cable as the grounding wire. The cable
being relatively thin and carrying all that current, heated up from
resistance and would periodically burn out.

Paul Herrera KD5DXK


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