mr2's. fires. ground potential. what you NEED to be doing to your car right now.

[countyboy3188]

my friends na burnt up a few months back. it was def a sad thing to see.

[MidnyteRunner]

Can you provide pictures of what it looks like and how to do it? im a noob and just got my MR2 last thursday. i would hate to see my first car to go in flames so i want to get this done ASAP

[PainBreak]

Hey Tom, you might want to correct your OP.

Do not, I repeat DO NOT smear dielectric grease on there before making the connection.

Dielectric grease is non-conductive. You're essentially undermining any benefit you hoped you achieve by adding a redundant ground.

Dielectric grease is meant to be smeared on the outside of electrical connections as an electric and moisture insulator.

Pretty damned funny, though, that you spent so much time and effort on this post, then effectively told everyone to add an insulator between the negative terminal and the chassis.

[runabout93]

^ I didn't even notice that he worded it that way... but, now that I read it over again, it certainly sounds it. So, I concur... make sure you have mated the connection before applying Dielectric grease. I use wd40 to clean the area, make the connection, and then apply the grease. Remember dielectric grease was designed to seal off contaminants and not short out the adjacent connections. That's why you can smear or spary it across a circuit board and it won't fry.

[SR20FL]

When I did my first engine swap, I left that exact transmission big ground cable disconnected. I tried to start the engine I had just put in, and the starter used my brand new just installed SS braided clutch line for a ground. Then the firewall padding had caught on fire. I grabbed the garden hose and quickly put it out. Lesson learned.


From then on I made sure all my grounds were clean and secured.

[blackdemon]

You guys just saved me, I also just got my 2, and I'm in the process of rebuilding, and I almost caught fire Saturday, cuz of an intercooler fan switch, that was possibly just jerry rigged together. Again not offending the previous owners, it was dark (5am) and I went to turn the fan on, and notice the light wasn't on, so I reattempted and the exposed wires touched, sparked, and started a small fire by my leg, luckily all I had was a rag, so I smoothered it that way, did scare the daylights out of me. I already have a fire extiguisher in there just in case, and I"ll be adding the additional accesories that were listed here as well, even though my tool box has some of them.

[mr2swol]

Originally Posted by BRAUVIC

He makes an outstanding point. I have done my own maintenance for years. I do projects and custom stuff all the time, but when I stop to think about it... I never pay attention to my grounds. Well here is first hand work of what can happen if you don't keep up with grounds:

i dunno know man.... if i was in your place. the captain goes down with his ship.